ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Bennie Hatten, of Deer Park, Texas, and Randy Macik, of Bay City, Texas, caught a four-redfish total weighing 24 pounds, 13 ounces to lead day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship presented by BP in Orange Beach, Ala., where teams are competing for a top award of as much as $100,000 cash.
“The fishing wasn’t as good as it was yesterday,” said Hatten, who, along with Macik, qualified for the championship as the 49th-ranked team in the Western Division. “The bite wasn’t nearly as aggressive. Yesterday we had our fish in about 45 minutes, but today it took us about an hour and a half to get those fish.”
Hatten said the team caught six fish Thursday and eight fish on the second day of competition by fishing off of the Mississippi Sound. The team made the 75-mile one-way run to their spot for the second day in a row in hopes of repeating their first day’s performance of two redfish that weighed 12 pounds, 6 ounces.
Hatten remained tight-lipped about the bait the team used to catch their redfish, but did say that they have found a bait that could secure them a victory in the championship.
“The fish were just kind of nipping at the bait, so we had to make some adjustments,” Hatten said. “We tried everything that we had, and we found only one bait that we could get them to hit. They won’t even hit a different color in the same bait.”
Hatten said that wind will play a major factor in the team’s strategy and chances of success on the final day of competition.
“The area we’re fishing is wide open and back in the marsh,” Hatten said. “We’re going to have to find a way to fish the shorelines that the waves are not blowing into, because the fish are hitting on the shorelines that are calm. If the wind stays calm, say under 10 to 15 knots, we’ll be able to fish our spot the way we normally have.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Steve White, of Petal, Miss., and Barnie White, of Brewton, Miss. (four redfish, 23 pounds, 4 ounces); Kris Walter, of Hudson, Fla., and Danny Winters, of Tampa, Fla. (four redfish, 22 pounds, 12 ounces); Mike Patterson and Brett Phillips, both of Rockport, Texas (four redfish, 22 pounds, 7 ounces); Gary McKenzie, of Bartow, Fla., and Sam Bertha Jr., of Bunnell, Fla. (four redfish, 22 pounds, 1 ounce).
Teams caught 110 redfish Friday weighing 459 pounds even.
The Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship presented by BP is a three-day event. Up to 100 teams – the top 50 from the Western Division and top 50 from the Eastern Division after four qualifying tournaments in each division – 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 The Wharf, located at 23101 Canal Road in Orange Beach, Saturday morning at 7 a.m. The final weigh-in will be held Saturday at The Wharf beginning at 4 p.m. Children will also be treated to a Family Fun Zone at The Wharf prior to Saturday’s weigh-in from noon to 4 p.m. All activities are free and open to the public.
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, call (270) 252-1000.