Bostick-Sepe win Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series event in Englewood, Fla.
ENGLEWOOD, Fla. – Andrew Bostick of Marco Island, Fla., and Mark Sepe of Deland, Fla., caught a six-redfish total weighing 39 pounds to win the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division event at Stump Pass Marina in Englewood, Fla., powered by Tyson and $37,500 cash.
The win ended Bostick’s long road of anticipation and shattered hopes. Although he has garnered Angler of the Year honors in the Redfish Cup and the Redfish Tour, while Sepe earned a Redfish Cup victory in 2004, Bostick had yet to reach the top spot. “I’ve been trying hard to win one for three years so we’re on Cloud 9.”
Carrying a 7-ounce lead into Saturday’s final round, Bostick returned to Pine Island Sound where he and Sepe fished the previous two days. Working grass beds with potholes in 2 1/2 feet of water, the anglers located the same group of redfish and went to work.
“They were there waiting for us,” Bostick said. “There were two different schools of about 100 fish striking on top. We were idling into the area and we could see them. We were pretty pumped.”
The duo caught a dozen redfish Saturday and boated their weight fish by 10 a.m. Bostick said he and Sepe found the fish more jittery the first two days of the tournament, but Saturday showed a different mood.
“The fish were moving around a little more today, so we had to get a little more aggressive with them,” he said. “We got on the trolling motor, moved uptide and drifted in on the fish.”
The winners fished 1/8-ounce jigheads with 4-inch Berkley Gulp! Shrimp in root beer color. “There were times when all we had to do was cast it out and let it sit. They’d smell the bait and come running to it,” Bostick said.
Rounding out the top five teams were Jarrett Lombard of Port Charlotte, Fla., and Leland Symonds of Punta Gorda, Fla. (six redfish, 38 pounds, 9 ounces, $10,000); Jeff Totten of Englewood, Fla., and Ozzie Lessinger of Ft. Myers, Fla. (six redfish, 38 pounds, 7 ounces, $6,000); Bo Johnson of Cape Coral, Fla., and Richard Hudec of Naples, Fla. (six redfish, 33 pounds, 6 ounces, $5,000); Blair Wiggins of Cocoa, Fla., and Tadd Vandemark of Key Largo, Fla. (four redfish, 24 pounds, 12 ounces, $5,500).
Anglers caught eight redfish Saturday weighing 48 pounds 9 ounces all being released alive.
FLW Redfish Series qualifying tournaments are three-day events. The entire field competes Thursday and Friday, and the top five teams, based on heaviest combined weight, advance to Saturday’s final round. The winning team is determined Saturday based on the heaviest three-day accumulated weight. The next FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division event will be held May 18-20 in Titusville, Fla.
The FLW Redfish Series consists of two divisions – Eastern and Western. Each division is comprised of four events with a $200,000 purse for each event. The top 100 teams – 50 from each division after four qualifying events – will qualify for the three-day, no-entry-fee $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship to be held in Pensacola, Fla., Oct. 19-21. The championship winner will take home as much as $100,000.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series, as well as the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.
For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.