VENICE, La. – Todd Dufour, of Marrero, La., and Alden Bourgeois, of Barataria, La., caught a four-redfish total weighing 33 pounds, 1 ounce to lead day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Western Division event in Venice, where teams are competing for a top award of as much as $50,000 cash.
“We’re fishing in water that’s real muddy, real skinny and real grassy,” said Bourgeois, who has had four top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors events. “We have been catching them in a foot or less of water with a lot of color and a lot of grass.”
Bourgeois and Dufour used Saltwater Assassins and Johnson Spoons to catch their redfish and had a limit by noon.
“Yesterday we only fished one area, but today we fished three and tomorrow we’ll probably do five,” Bourgeois said. “We’ll go in the areas where we can get the fish tomorrow. Hopefully we won’t have to go to all of those areas, but that’s the plan.”
Bourgeois said cloud cover on both days of the tournament made sight fishing difficult, and the team plans to do the same thing tomorrow.
“We’re going to stick to what we’re doing-it’s working well,” Bourgeois said. “Today we only caught one good fish in one of our areas, and yesterday there were good fish all over. I think we’re going to have to move a lot-I just have that feeling. It changes every day out on the water; we have a rising tide, so the water’s higher each day and scattering the fish.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Tony Grose, of New Orleans, La., and Sal Fontana, of Metairie, La. (four redfish, 31 pounds, 15 ounces); Dwane Eschete, of Mandeville, La., and Blake Pizzolato, of Montgomery, Texas (four redfish, 31 pounds, 7 ounces); Steve Reupke, of Port Aranas, Texas, and Frank Duxstad, of Port Aranas, Texas (four redfish, 31 pounds, 5 ounces); and Steve Snopek, of New Braunfels, Texas, and Trey Hallmark, of San Antonio, Texas (four redfish, 31 pounds, 4 ounces).
Teams caught 183 redfish Friday weighing 1,189 pounds, 3 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 Venice Marina Saturday morning at 6 a.m. The final weigh-in will be held Saturday at the Wal-Mart store located at 1501 Manhattan Blvd. in Harvey, La., 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 Biloxi, Miss., Oct. 30-Nov. 1. 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.
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, browse FLWOutdoors.com or 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.