SARASOTA, Fla. – Tadd Vandemark of Key Largo, Fla., and Kevin Shaw of Corpus Christi, Texas, caught a two-redfish limit weighing 15 pounds, 9 ounces to lead day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division event in Sarasota, where teams are competing for as much as $50,000.
“We are very pleased with the outcome today,” said Vandemark, who along with teammate Shaw won the 2007 FLW Redfish Series Western Division Team of the Year. “We had a very good afternoon bite today. The weather was beautiful and I believed it helped us a lot.”
Vandemark remained tight-lipped about the exact technique and area his team is fishing, but did say they were staying close to the marina and focusing on the tide.
“The tide is playing a big part in what we are doing,” Vandemark said. “We caught a total of 11 fish in two hours and our two best fish came fairly quickly after arriving at this key area. Tomorrow we plan to go out and do the same thing as we did today. Our goal is to catch two quality fish and stay in the top five.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Clyde Alstrom of Longboat Key, Fla., and William Alstrom of Longboat Key, Fla. (two redfish, 15 pounds, 1 ounce); Daniel Benson of Brandon, Fla., and Matthew Ryan of Belleair Bluffs, Fla. (two redfish, 14 pounds, 14 ounces); Blair Wiggins of Cocoa, Fla., and Travis Tanner of Titusville, Fla. (two redfish, 14 pounds, 13 ounces) and Roger Crafton of Boca Grande, Fla., and John Ochs of Englewood, Fla. (two redfish, 14 pounds, 11 ounces).
Teams caught 123 redfish Thursday weighing 657 pounds, 5 ounces.
Qualifying tournaments in the $1.9 million Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series – the most lucrative redfish tournament trail in the world – are three-day events. The full field will continue competition Friday, and the top five teams based on the heaviest combined weights from Thursday and Friday will advance to Saturday’s final round. The winning team will be determined Saturday based on the heaviest three-day accumulated weight.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 on Friday morning and 7 on Saturday morning from the Sarasota Cay Club. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at Sarasota Cay Club beginning at 4 p.m. The final weigh-in will be held Saturday at the Wal-Mart store located at 13140 S. Tamiami Trail in Osprey, Fla., beginning at 4 p.m.
The FLW Redfish Series consists of two divisions – Eastern and Western – and the $318,500 Redfish Open. Each division is comprised of four $170,000 qualifying tournaments. The top 50 teams from each division based on Land O’Lakes Team of the Year standings will advance to the no-entry-fee $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship to be held Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in Biloxi, Miss. The championship winner will take home as much as $100,000.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
Coverage of the FLW Redfish Series stop in Sarasota will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing April 13. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
Awards are based on a full field of 125 boats in every tournament.