ENGLEWOOD, Fla. – Troy and Christine Perez, both of Mimms, Fla., caught a two-redfish limit weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces to lead day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division event in Englewood presented by Yamaha, where teams are competing for a top award of as much as $50,000 cash.
Fishing from an 18-foot Ranger Ghost skiff with a 150-hp Evinrude E-Tec outboard, the husband-wife team worked around mangrove edges in Pine Island Sound, south of Englewood. Casting 1/2-ounce gold spoons beneath overhanging branches produced 13 redfish including their weight fish, which bit around 10 a.m.
“We fished spoons because it was blowing about 30-mph and we had to make long casts,” Troy said. “I told Christine we needed to cast as far as we could because I knew how edgy these fish were.”
After a day of partly cloudy skies, Troy said that the amount of sunlight a day brings matters little to him, as he and Christine do not plan on sight fishing. However, wind does play an important role in his strategy.
“In tournaments, I hope it’s blowing because it camouflages you from the fish,” Troy said. “I honestly don’t want to see the fish. I think the wind helped us today.”
Taking that strategy a step farther, Troy said that he and Christine did their best to avoid spooking the redfish by staying out of sight.
“We actually didn’t see the fish – we’d just pitch up under the bushes,” he said. “We’d throw way out in front of the boat because we knew where they were sitting. I learned from the local guys not to look at the fish. We normally pole up to the spot and look for the fish, but now we stay back and blind cast.”
The leaders will likely return to the same spot on Friday. Troy said, “We’re going to go straight for those fish. I think we need to catch 12 pounds (to reach the final round). If we can get them to bite, we’ll be okay.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Chuck Cress, of Sarasota, Fla., and Gary Weishaar, of Nokomis, Fla. (two redfish, 14 pounds, 2 ounces); John Jernigan, of Venice, Fla., and Chris Joseph, of Holmes Beach, Fla. (two redfish, 13 pounds, 10 ounces); Cody Chivas and Kyle Chivas, both of Belleair, Fla. (two redfish, 13 pounds, 3 ounces); and Greg McCullough, of Lithia, Fla., and Richard Liles, of Ruskin, Fla. (two redfish, 12 pounds, 15 ounces).
Teams caught 202 redfish Thursday weighing 891 pounds, 2 ounces.
Qualifying tournaments in the $1.9 million Wal-Mart Redfish Series – the most lucrative redfish tournament trail in the world – are three-day events. Up to 150 teams compete 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.
Boats will launch from Stump Pass Marina each morning at 7 a.m. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at Stump Pass Marina beginning at 3 p.m. The final weigh-in will be held Saturday at the Wal-Mart store located at 2931 South McCall Road in Englewood, beginning at 4 p.m.
The FLW Redfish Series consists of two divisions – Eastern and Western. Each division is comprised of four qualifying 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 Orange Beach, Ala., Oct. 18-20. 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 Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most-respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Walmart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.