PORT ARANSAS, Texas – Tadd VanDemark, of Key Largo, Fla., and Kevin Shaw, of Corpus Christi, Texas, caught a four-redfish total weighing 30 pounds, 13 ounces to lead day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Western Division event in Port Aransas presented by Evinrude, where teams are competing for a top award of as much as $50,000 cash.
After topping Thursday’s standings with 16 pounds, 4 ounces, the leaders ran about 50 miles south of Port Aransas to the site of their day one success in the Lower Laguna Madre. They focused on fish foraging in 3- to 5-foot depths and secured 14 pounds, 9 ounces.
Fishing ¼-ounce DOA C.A.L. jigs with avocado red tails dipped in Carolina Lunker Sauce fish attractant, the leaders caught 10 redfish Friday. They secured their weight fish early and then guarded their honey hole.
“We were done by 11 a.m.,” VanDemark said. “So we just kind of stayed away from our hole to make sure no one saw it. We watched to make sure no one went in there.”
VanDemark said he and Shaw backed off of the spot once they had reached their stated objective. “We figured it would take 30 pounds to make the top 5. Our idea was to get 30 and change, and then protect our spot. We could have caught a lot more than we did but we decided to leave the fish alone until tomorrow.”
VanDemark said he and Shaw will return Saturday to the same spot that got them into the final round. After saving fish for two days, the anglers will likely fish aggressively to boat the maximum weight their spot can produce.
“We want 16 pounds tomorrow,” VanDemark said. “If we get that, there shouldn’t be any doubt about it. We have a 9-ounce lead right now and we didn’t really hammer the fish. Tomorrow we’ll really hammer them and stick everything we can stick. We have plenty of fish there for tomorrow and we hope they cooperate.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Travis Holeman and Peter Young, both of Luling, La. (four redfish 30 pounds, 4 ounces); Blake Pizzolato, of Montgomery, Texas, and Dwayne Eschete, of Mandeville, La. (four redfish, 29 pounds, 5 ounces); Danny Adams and Scott Isabel, both of Rockport, Texas (four redfish, 29 pounds); and Chief Tauzin and Clark Jordan, both of Pearland, Texas (four redfish, 29 pounds).
Teams caught 133 redfish Friday weighing 725 pounds.
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 Port Aransas City Marina Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. The final weigh-in will be held Saturday at the Wal-Mart store located at 2501 West Wheeler in Aransas Pass, Texas, 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 Wal-Mart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.