by: Bo Snider
 
  
When I tell people what I do for a living, it usually takes longer than a fifteen second elevator pitch to describe my job as an outdoor television camera guy. Most people I come into contact with think it’s the coolest job a guy could ever want while others just don’t understand it at all. I’m sure some of them think I’m one of those techie guys that builds remote control cars and plays the latest video games while living in the downstairs of his parents’ home. That’s not true. I’m just an outdoor television guy who likes to spend as much time in the outdoors as possible.
 
In Galveston, Texas, my day began like most tournament days with the sound of my alarm at 4:30 a.m. I fought the temptation to reach over and hit the snooze button and, instead, I got up, stopped the incessant alarm, and turned on the coffee pot. Coffee is an essential ingredient and a top priority in the mornings. As I yawned and thought about why I was so tired I looked in the mirror and saw my sunburned face which quickly reminded me of the long day before. I sipped the scalding coffee and began going through my gear checklist of everything that I would need for a day on the water: camera, wireless mics, extra batteries, lens wipes, GoPro cameras, wireless remote for my GoPro, headphones, extra SD cards, and my camera case. Got it. Got everything I need for a day of “fishing”. I then began the ritual of applying a generous coat of sunscreen for another long day on the water under an unforgiving sun.
 
Once I arrived at the ramp, I was informed by the tournament director that I was going to be tagging along with Gritter Griffin who was sitting in second place after the first day of fishing. This was great news. I knew Gritter was accustomed to being filmed from his years of tournament fishing and it would be an easier day on the water than usual. On the other hand I was more than a little nervous. I wanted to work harder than the other camera guys he has had in his boat. I wanted to demonstrate a high level of professionalism because, well, this was Gritter!
 
I scanned the parking lot and located Gritter getting ready to launch his new Yellowfin boat. The humidity had just cleared up from my camera lens as I pressed the record button for the first time of the day. I pointed the camera at Gritter as he launched the boat and then at his truck pulling the empty trailer out of the water.
 
I went over to the dock to load my gear into the boat’s storage compartments. The first thing the man said to me was to take off my flip flops so I wouldn’t get any dirt onto his boat. “Great!” I thought, he’s one of those guys. But then I think to myself that I’d probably be the same way if I had a boat that nice. Bare feet or not, I knew I was in for a sweet ride that day.
 
 I filmed some shots of Gritter getting his tackle prepped and then checked the coordinates on his electronics. I got all my gear strapped down to survive the long boat ride that was surely to come. Then I asked Gritter about the style of fishing that we would be doing. I’ve tagged along with many redfish tournament anglers in the marsh, and it’s the same story every time. We ride for at least an hour, sometimes two, and then bounce from pond to pond in the calm waters of the marsh. However, the style of fishing Gritter described was far from what I expected.
 
Some of the anglers were running over a hundred miles all the way to the Louisiana marsh. Others were making long runs and fishing around the Texas marsh. But we were not going to be doing either of those. We were going to be chasing huge schools of redfish around in the open water! I had never heard of this kind of fishing before and couldn’t wait to see how it was done.
 
We lined up in the number two slot behind the leader and idled out until we came to the end of the channel. “Hold on to your hat”, Gritter said as the 300 horsepower Mercury on the back of the Yellowfin roared to life.
 
I was expecting a really long run but after about ten miles Gritter began to slow. I was a little surprised and looked over at the SimRad. I could see his waypoints and tracks from the day before. It resembled a plate full of spaghetti noodles with intertwined tracks of different colors circling and running in all directions. And we were right at the edge of those noodles.
 
“This is where the fish were yesterday, and I hope they’re back here today”, Gritter told me. Then he explained that he is looking for oily spots on the water where the fish are pushing up towards the surface to feed creating what is known as a “slick” that is fresh only if you can smell fish oil in the air.
 
While we looked for these slick spots, six other tournament anglers joined in the hunt. Tournament rules prevent anglers from physically assisting each other in catching fish but with this style of fishing several boats are needed to corral the school in the open water. Even though they are competing with each other it is necessary for them to cooperate as a single unit for this type of fishing to be successful.
 
This strategy was far from what I had imagined for the day. We idled along in a stop and go pattern and looked for the fish for a couple hours before Gritter finally located the first slick spot of the day. Some of the anglers were running around more than we were but they were all coming back to the area that we were fishing. No one had found the schools yet. Gritter continued to patiently idle along looking and smelling for the schools. The clouds began to burn off as the sun rose higher and that’s when Gritter pointed. He had finally located the right spot. He gave a loud whistle, made his first cast, and suddenly boats were coming from every direction to circle the school. It was redfish mayhem!
 
Gritter’s heavy jig got snagged by a nice fat red and I recorded the catch as he popped the fish over the side of the boat and then onto the measuring board. Disappointment clouded Gritter’s face as he saw that the fish was over the slot limit of 28 inches.
 
I try not to take much time in getting the pics for the anglers because they’re trying to get their lines back into the water but I have to make sure I get a few good pics quickly. So, I made Gritter pause with the fish for a quick picture before he tossed the oversize fish back into the muddy water.
 
Gritter caught a few more oversized fish, and even a catfish, at this spot but none of them were the ones he was looking to catch. It was, however, several minutes of absolute madness. All around us anglers were hooked up and catching redfish of all sizes but mostly oversize. I got some great shots of other anglers hooking up with fish and, on occasion, even a keeper fish.
 
Casting into the schools is a risky tournament strategy involving more than a little luck as the anglers don’t know what size fish they're going to catch. Several of the anglers around us were boating keeper fish - but not us. All Gritter could do was keep casting and catching while looking and hoping for that fat redfish under 28 inches.
 
The sun was now far past noon and Gritter still doesn't have a fish in the live well. The time to fish is growing very short. Gritter is slightly disgruntled and talking aloud about how luck just wasn’t on his side today. I understand completely and try to keep up a conversation with him. A camera guy is there to capture the angler’s day on the water but we are also there to try to provide moral support for the frustrated angler.
 
After coming up empty through another thousand blind casts, Gritter decides that it is time to head back to the weigh-in with an empty live well. I listened as he talked about his years of tournament fishing and the many different situations, both good and bad, he has experienced. I began packing up all my gear for the boat ride back to land. The veteran angler was in obvious pain, tired, frustrated, discouraged, and talking about hanging it up after this season.
 
He was talking about how tournament fishing is a young man’s game and that the physical demands of this kind of fishing are growing more difficult for him by the year. I think I understood what he was saying and, although I’ve never fished a redfish tournament, I offered every word of encouragement that I could think to offer.
 
We climbed onto the raised console and, as we got set to take off, Gritter tuned the XM radio to the Jimmy Buffet radio station. Just as Gritter put his hand on the throttle to power up, the station came on and the iconic song “Don’t Worry be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin began. Gritter sat, unmoving, with his hand on the throttle. After a few seconds passed and we hadn’t throttled up, I looked over at Gritter. He had a huge smile on his face. He looked directly into my eyes and said, “Nah, I ain’t quitting”. We both laughed out loud as he shoved the throttle forward and we headed home.
 
I guess we both needed to hear that song after a tough day on the water as it reminded us that things could always be worse. We got to enjoy a day of fishing in the outdoors while pursuing a passion that we could only be dreaming about from our land locked homes.
 
As an outdoor camera guy, I’m blessed to work in the outdoors. A work environment that beats any land based day job I can think of. On my days off I can trade my camera for a fishing rod to go in search of slicks and huge redfish. It’s like the old saying goes: a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.
 
And, if you truly enjoy what you do, you will never work a day in your life. 

 For Immediate Release May 10, 2019

CHALMETTE, Louisiana and SPRINGFIELD, Missouri – The Redfish World Series and Bass Pro Shops / Cabela’s Boating Center today announced an agreement making Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Boating Center the title sponsor of the 2019 Redfish World Series.

Bass Pro Shops/ Cabela’s Boating Center involvement begins with this year’s 2019 World Championship and the event, as indicated in the new logo, will be re-named as the Bass Pro Shops /Cabelas Boating Center Redfish World Series. The World Series, an exclusive invitational professional redfish tournament, will take place in St Bernard Parish, Louisiana September 26-29, 2019.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Boating Centers as the title sponsor and partner in the Redfish World Series,” said Redfish World Series Producer and pro angler Gritter Griffin. “The sport of competitive redfish angling is growing faster than ever before and, with this partnership, the future of a solid professional level for this exciting segment of the angling world is brighter than ever before.”

St. Bernard Parish, long known to redfish anglers as the World Capitol of Redfishing is just five miles from downtown New Orleans and is a community with a long and colorful history, scenic beauty, cultural treasures, and beautiful waterways.

 “The Parish” as it is known locally, has welcomed the Redfish World Series with open arms and they are more excited than ever to learn that Bass Pro Shops/Cabelas Boating Center will be the title sponsor of the World Series tournament.

When asked for his reaction to the title sponsorship announcement St. Bernard Parish President Guy McInnis said, “I am beyond excited that Bass Pro/Cabelas Boating Center has chosen to partner with the Redfish World Series. With great corporate partners like Bass Pro/Cabelas the World Series will be bigger than ever and there’s no better place to have it than St. Bernard.”

He then added with a smile, “St Bernard is a world class parish with world class fishing and the home of a world class redfishing tournament. Now, with Bass Pro/Cabelas, we have the distinction of having a world class corporate title sponsor as well.”

For more information and updates on the BassPro/Cabelas Boating Center Redfish World Series go to redfishworldseries.com

​by Tony Gaskin

After a long month of being on the road, only being home four days in the month of April, I’m proud to say home is no longer on my mind. As I write this blog I am in the comfort of my recliner, home sweet home! It’s always nice to return home after an IFA Redfish Tournament and just be home. This was the first time some type of event, or the combination of events or Tournaments, kept me away for nearly the entire month. I find myself conflicted with happy to be in my own space and separation anxiety from where I just left.

Anxiety may be a slight exaggeration. I departed from my home away from home as I affectionately refer to Quality Inn Georgetown. With a big cup of hot coffee and an awesome night’s rest I’m ready for the three hour drive to get home. With music turned up loud in my Durrence Layne Chevy I find myself in a great mood with time to reflect on my trip. The end result of our Tournament plays a factor in my cheerful demeanor for sure. Eighteenth out of sixty-five was not where we wanted to finish the IFA Georgetown SC event but considering all the hurdles we had to overcome, finishing better than three quarters of the field doesn’t feel too bad.  

It was nice to sit at the weigh in and watch team after team weigh in their catch as in the early stages we were in the top ten and that lasted until we got bumped out the money near the end of everyone weighing in. It was a long week seeking out the perfect Redfish. I would have to say the weather was better for this tournament other than some windy days during pre-fishing. One such day changed our chances dramatically. 

On Thursday, fishing a very small canal with the wind whipping, my partner Dan Connolly and I had really got on some nice fish BUT... as we made our way out it was so narrow I had to find some kind of wide spot to get turned around to not have to back out on the trolling motor. I have become quite efficient doing this but today was not my day. As I carefully aligned the rear of the boat to make this happen perfectly, a gust of wind caught the boat. This put me off my mark as the tail of the boat stopped short of the opening necessary to pull off this turn-around off. Throwing the bow into the opposite bank in a matter of seconds. Before I could turn around and even get my hand on the stow button of my Minn Kota it was too late, and the crunch was gut wrenching as I realized I had just cracked the shaft of my trolling motor. 

It happens to us all eventually, the ones who fish at this level. I am far from the first, but it seems my number was up. It is rare that at least one team per tournament is  not going through this, reason being we go places we shouldn’t looking for that big boy Red that’s gonna be a winner on tournament day. These practices explain having an extra trolling motor with you on the road. Tournament fishing without a trolling motor in twenty-five mile an hour winds is impossible so our day was over. 

Y’all pray for me because I said a few cuss words (few being a reverse exaggeration) knowing on the way back to the landing and after making a few despite phone calls that this was gonna take us out of the event. No one close had time or parts to get us fixed in time for the tournament. After loading the boat on my Magic Tilt trailer and fighting almost feeling like throwing up from my current situation an amazing thing happen that made me realize what a close-knit fishing family I am proudly a part of. 

I had fellow anglers trying to help me out from all over! One offered to make repairs to get me by until he could get the parts, two hours away. One of my fishing partners got his repair guy who had the parts to offer to fix it while I went and ate breakfast, but he was five hours away. Both of these options were on the table and I was considering them both. The good Lord was looking out for me although I may not have deserved it. As I told some of my new friends who have recently started fishing the tour what happened his reply was “ya  need to borrow one?”
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As luck or blessing would have it, my friends had an extra trolling motor for me to use and was on their way with it. Needless to say, all these friend efforts to help me will not go unrecognized and I am very thankful to them all. 

I enjoy sharing all that it takes to be a professional Angler. Most people have no idea about the things that happen behind the scenes like changing out a trolling motor until ten o’clock the night before a tournament.

The portrayal of sunny skies and beautiful on-the-water scenery being played out like a good Beach Boys song and catching tons of fish all the time is not reality. I certainly don’t share this for pity because I truly am living the Dream with all the highs and the lows that this profession brings. I am hopeful that this blog is found to be enjoyable to read and gives a perspective to those that never think about such events.

In closing I ask you to consider this...The next time you see an Angler in any venue, on stage with tears in his or her eyes overcome with emotion or two sunburned guys sitting on the sideline after giving their all in a tournament just hoping their weight gets them a check know that their path to victory or getting paid enough to come back to compete in the next one didn’t come easy. Be proud for them, respect their effort, their passion, and their love for the sport of tournament fishing.

I am fortunate to have the great Sponsors and friends who support me in this industry. I truly can’t express how thankful I am to have you all in my life. Thank You all for your support of all the great men and women that make our sport awesome. Until next time!

by Danno Wise
(This article first appeared in Texas Parks and Wildlife June 2018)

Red drum, more commonly known as redfish, have always been a popular target species among anglers along the Texas coast. In fact, at one time, their popularity almost did them in — and at the same time led to their resurgence.

Gillnetters and commercial fishermen sought redfish to feed the blackened redfish food craze that started in the 1970s. Scarcity gave rise to the creation of the largest saltwater fishery conservation group in the country, the Coastal Conservation Association, which famously started as the Gulf Coast Conservation Association in a Houston tackle shop.

After decades of conservation, wise management and aggressive stocking programs by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, redfish are plentiful in every bay in Texas.

In large part due to the mystique surrounding this bronze beauty, it seems as if everyone wants to catch redfish. There are just as many opinions on how best to do so. There’s no single path to follow to consistently tangle with redfish. As this popular gamefish has multiplied, so have the methods that anglers have perfected to catch them.

As a result, the common question of “How do I catch a redfish?” can hardly be answered in a single sentence. But, that’s one of the great things about the official state saltwater fish of Texas (as designated by the 82nd Legislature) — they can be caught in a wide variety of ways and in different habitats. While reds can present a tactically challenging target for technically advanced anglers sight-casting on the skinny flats, they can also give a good pull for inexperienced fishermen. Along the Texas coast, anglers and guides have preferred methods and areas for targeting spottails.

Back lakes and marshes

The Texas coast is peppered with back lakes, marshes and bayous. These small offshoots from the main bays are particularly prominent along the middle and upper Texas coasts. Although they are relatively small bodies of water, they can hold a surprising amount of redfish.

Captain Greg Verm, a Galveston guide, says he spends as much time as possible looking for redfish in these backwater areas.
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“Our back lakes and bayous are loaded with reds, beginning in spring,” Verm says. “When water is flowing out of backwater areas, fish will stack up in front of the drains and fishing can be phenomenal. Really, the back lakes hold fish throughout the year, but spring and fall are particularly good.”

Shallow flats

Fishing the flats for redfish is as iconic as it gets for Texas coastal fishermen. Sight-casting with artificial lures is the preferred method for Baffin Bay husband-and-wife guide team, Captains Aubrey and Sally Black. They don’t get to fish together often, but when they do, they work efficiently, helping each other sight fish. Although Baffin is best known as a big trout destination — and the pair still target trophy trout — they’ve begun spending more time chasing what Sally refers to as the “ghosts of Baffin Bay.”

“Our fish don’t leave like they do in most other bays,” Sally says, “so we end up catching some really big redfish in shallow water. That’s what makes fishing for reds in Baffin so cool. There are not many places where you can catch fish in the upper 30- to mid-40-inch range in a foot or two of water. But you can here!”

Most people think Baffin’s water is too murky for sight-casting, but that’s not true, Sally claims.

“Our grass has really flourished and, as a result, we have some really nice, clear flats that are awesome for sight-casting,” she says.
Port Mansfield guide Captain Steve “JR” Ellis also loves to sight-cast but prefers to use a fly rod.
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“Fly fishing takes sight-casting to a whole different level,” Ellis says. “It’s a more direct connection to the fish.”
Anglers can use a fly rod when wading, drifting or poling, even if the water’s not completely calm.

“It’s actually easier to see the fish with a little riffle on the surface,” he explains. “When it’s too slick, the surface of the water reflects and makes it hard to see beneath. When there is a little riffle or even a slight chop, you can use the face (front) of the wavelets like windows to see down into the water. So, while you do want it to be kind of calm for fly casting, you do want some wind to help you see the fish.”

Of course, not all anglers who use artificial lures are sight-fishing. Laguna Vista guide Captain Mike Mahl likes to power-drift the flats using popping corks with artificial lures pinned beneath.
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“I like to cover a lot of water when I’m fishing for reds,” Mahl says. “I’ll work my popping corks a lot more aggressively than most people do. I also like to make long casts to cover a lot of water. A lot of times, I’ll hook a fish at the end of a long cast, so I use braided line (less stretch) to help set the hook.”

​While many flats fishermen choose to target redfish with artificial lures and flies, just as many (or more) employ natural baits in various manners.

One such individual is Rockport guide Captain Scott McCune. Even Hurricane Harvey, which destroyed McCune’s home and ranch, couldn’t dampen this former rodeo competitor’s enthusiasm for fishing. His natural zeal is on full display as the “Saltwater Cowboy” and his pair of retrievers — Kona and Trigger — explore the bays surrounding Rockport in search of redfish.

“I’ll target redfish with live croaker and piggies (pinfish),” McCune says. “People think you only catch trout on those baits, but redfish will eat them, too. If we sit for 10 or 15 minutes without getting bit, we’ll move. We’ll do the same thing with live shrimp.”

McCune says sometimes he fishes these baits below corks, but he prefers to freeline them, using just a leader and hook.

“If the current is strong, I’ll add a little bit of weight,” he says, “but I like to keep my rigs simple.”

While speckled trout prefer live bait, redfish aren’t quite as picky and will readily gulp down dead baits as well. Port Isabel guide Captain Andy Salinas says his main method for catching redfish is using dead bait on the bottom.

“We can almost always catch redfish using cut bait on the bottom,” Salinas says. “Whether it is ballyhoo, ladyfish or shad, redfish are attracted to those smelly, oily baits.”

Salinas says he prefers two methods: humping and anchoring up to fish potholes. Humping involves casting downwind from the boat and drifting toward the bait, then repeating the process again. This allows anglers to cover water while fishing a bottom rig.
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“You won’t cover as much water when anchoring, so you need to pick a spot that is likely holding fish,” Salinas advises. “In either instance, the key is to look for baitfish activity or wakes or schools of redfish to let you know fish are in the area. Then, just let the scent of the bait draw them in.”

Surf and jetties

One of the more fabled annual angling events — the bull redfish run — makes the surf and jetties popular venues among redfish hunters during late summer and fall. Captain Mike Segall, a Freeport guide, says anglers are missing out by targeting giant reds only at that time of year.

“There are bull reds at jetties all year-round,” Segall says. “During winter and early spring, you’ll find those bull reds in 28 to 40 feet of water. We just fish for them with sardines on bottom. They’re there and they’ll bite.”

Good bull red action begins as soon as the water starts warming up.
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“Of course, they will be there in even greater numbers in summer and fall,” he says. “We’ll fish for them pretty much the same way throughout the year, except in summer and fall we’ll also see schools near the surface at times, which makes them much easier to target.”

Any time of year

It is also worth mentioning that there is no “season” — legal or otherwise — for catching redfish. While spring through fall are the most common times for fishermen to target reds, they can be caught throughout the winter as well. In fact, Captain Tommy Countz, a Matagorda guide, says some of his finest days have come in the dead of winter.

“One of my favorite things to do during winter is to run to West Matagorda Bay and look for redfish,” Countz says. “After a hard front knocks all the water out of West Bay, the fishing can be fantastic. With all the water gone, the redfish come out of the back lakes and get stacked up in the guts.”

Countz says that when conditions are right, there can be great redfish action in December and January.
“There are times in West Bay during December when you can stand in one spot and catch redfish until you get tired of it,” he says. “I’ve seen it happen.”
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So, regardless of season, time, place or method used, redfish remain the most highly sought-after species among inshore anglers in Texas. Since fishermen can target them throughout the year and use a variety of methods to catch them, it makes chasing redfish an exciting, ever-evolving game of cat and mouse.

In Part One of this two-part article I discussed some of the various facets of women in competitive redfishing. I contacted some of the women and asked them how they felt about this topic. I asked them to discuss and list some of the advantages/disadvantages of women entering competitive angling. I got some interesting answers.

Stacy Fretina believes that women are capable of fishing with equal expertise as men and makes several observations:

“It is a male dominated sport and it is very difficult to break the barriers and get men to accept us as anglers just like themselves.”

“There has never been a push to support and expose women anglers with women-specific events until the past year.”

“I don’t believe women have an advantage over men. In fact, I think they have a disadvantage until they can prove themselves as anglers and not just women posing with fish.”

“I would like to see more women-oriented fishing seminars where we can learn the things that make us better anglers.”

“It would also be very helpful if more men would accept and mentor women anglers the way they were taught when they started.”
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Hallie Burnett also believes women can compete on the same level and with the same expertise as men and notes that:

“There are no physical or mental limitations that should restrict competitive angling to men only. Many other sports require size, strength and speed to be successful whereas in fishing these attributes really don’t matter.  In fact, fishing has more to do with patience; arguably giving women the advantage.”

“Sometimes it seems that everyone expects us to fail and there is a perception that we are moving in on the men’s turf; both of which can be very powerful motivators.  I think we all have a little bit of “Rosie The Riveter” in us.”

“Men definitely have the advantage when it comes to the good old boy network.  That’s not meant to be derogatory, it’s just a fact and it exists. But with more and more women joining the fray and learning to trust one another there has been a bit of a shift in that regard.”

“There is an intimidation factor involved and some women are uncomfortable around that many men in a competitive arena.”

“A lot of the men in tournaments treat women ‘like one of the guys’ and that’s tough for some of them to take. Not many women can handle that. It’s one of those ‘be careful what you wish for’ situations.”

“Men tend to close the door when it comes to sharing information with the women anglers. It’s that very information that, when added to years of experience, becomes a multiplier for performance. Women don’t have that network – yet.”

“I know that every woman has their reason why they don’t just jump out of the proverbial frying pan and into the fire but I truly hope they find their passion and make it happen!”

Starr Boykin - Barbara and I were one of the first all-female teams to consistently compete on the redfish circuits and we felt pretty much like we were on our own out there. We had to learn everything from the ground up and, back then, there was no one we could relate to for help and information.

“There is still a disadvantage being a women’s team among the men because there is still not a large number of men willing to share their knowledge and information with an all-female team.”

“Many women who would like to compete are raising families and can’t get the time or resources to compete.”

“Seminars directed specifically at competitive anglers would be helpful for both men and women.”

“Handling equipment and boats is the same for both men and women and the only difference is that women just don’t often get the experience and the confidence they need.”

“It is my fondest hope that Barbara and I have been a positive  influence to some of the women that are now stepping up to compete.”

Barbara Scopelitis offers further insights:

“The perceived success or lack of success by women’s teams is information related rather than gender related.”

“There are very few female fishing guides and they tend to do well in their area but when traveling say, from Florida to Louisiana or Texas, they would need help from their male counterparts and it just doesn’t happen.”

“It took Star and I years at the different venues to find decent fish. We have had a few high finishes like 2nd or 3rd which is pretty miraculous given the current situation.”

“One of our biggest challenges was learning where the fish go with changing weather patterns. We didn’t have any information about that and it was a difficult problem to overcome. We were in 1st place after day one in Port A a few years ago and a norther came through that night. The next day our fish were gone. The local guys knew where to go but we didn’t. No one had ever shared that kind of information with us.”

“We have hung in there and fished for the camaraderie and for the pure joy of it. We hope we have been an inspiration to the all-female teams that are out there now. And we hope that some of the barriers will fall a little more easily now.”
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“I would strongly recommend to women interested in competing that they hone their boating and navigation skills as well as learning to make repairs on the water before they get into serious competition.”

Manny Aldrich Altman also has some observations to share:

“I think there is a misconception that men fish better than women. I think there is no difference and it depends a lot on how you were raised. I was fortunate to be raised by a mom who taught us how to fish and crab and survive off the land.”

“The majority of anglers know when a woman can fish and I think it is a bit intimidating to some of them.”

“My personal preference is to fish with my husband because we are a great team. It’s interesting that most of the guys think I’m just along for the ride.”

“Information sharing and teaching is the big bridge that hasn’t been crossed yet.”

April Dubroc Hrubes: I’ve been fishing since I was two years old with my dad and great grandfather. I had the benefits of learning both pier fishing and boat fishing from them. It was my husband, Shawn Hrubes, who taught me to fish with artificial baits. He got me interested in competitive fishing about six years ago in an LASS tournament. After that first tournament I was hooked. Two years later we fished the IFA and the Tito’s events. Then Shawn wanted to fish the IFA with his dad and, although I wanted to fish, I didn’t have a partner. I began searching for a partner and found Melissa “Missy” Larson. We have been together and learning this game ever since.

“One of the biggest challenges is having time on the water. We both work and it is hard for both of us to get off.”

“I believe that more and more men on the tours are accepting us as just another competitor and not as something unusual. We still don’t have the advantage of being in the information circles though, but I think that will come.”

“I also believe that more seminars directed towards giving women confidence to compete and bringing women into the sport are needed. It doesn’t matter who is teaching them just that the information is pertinent to success on the water.”

“The cost of the participating in competitive redfishing is also a factor. Boat maintenance and entry fees alone are fairly significant.”
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“Confidence is probably the biggest difference I see in men vs women anglers. I think women that have had to learn on their own lack the confidence and overall support that men entering the field have.”

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Melissa “Missy“ Larson also believes women can be just as competitive as men because, she says, "it is a sport that requires constant learning and time on the water". Missy is all about learning and teaching:

“Dads, boyfriends, and husbands take their women fishing but most women are not encouraged to learn to launch, drive, and maneuver a boat.”

“Minor repairs is another area that is ‘all men’ and women are rarely ever taught what to expect or do about on-the-water issues.”

“Competitive fishing is more than just casting and catching – it’s work! And we need someone to teach and coach us into that world.”

“You have to have a passion for it because it’s hard work and takes a great deal of time.”

“Courses teaching the basics of boating terminology, boating etiquette, differences in rods and reels, what baits to use in different areas and times of the year, knot tying, GPS navigation, and more.”

“Women need to realize that they are not alone out there and it is an amazing freedom once you start doing it regularly.”
​
“One of the most important things is to have coaches. Listen to them, they will guide you. I have been lucky to have the support of my husband and some great coaching from Chad Dufrene and Devin Denman as well constant encouragement from Wanda Stewart.”

Jennifer Sasser believes women can fish as well as men and sometimes maybe even better since women seem to be more focused and patient in the pursuit of fish. Some of Jennifer’s thoughts are as follows:

“Some of the disadvantages women face include the fact that most fishing gear/equipment is geared towards men and most, not all, men feel like they must dominate when it comes to fishing and and never really see what their women can do.”

“Some of the reasons there aren’t as many women competing is that women are still the ones responsible for managing the home, kids, pets, school, job, etc. It is much more difficult for a woman with a family to take off and go fishing so they miss out on a lot of time on the water.”

“I would tell any lady coming in to the sport to be brave, listen, take notes, and reach out to other lady anglers for help and guidance. Find a partner that has the same passion for the sport as you do and don’t be intimidated by negative people – male or female. Have fun and most importantly - Don’t give up!””

SO, that’s it boys.

If you’re scared say scared.

If you’re not scared, then choose to accept and mentor these women who are pioneering their participation in the sport because they are persevering in spite of the odds stacked so heavily against them. I confess that I look forward with great anticipation to the first all-female team to win a title.
​
And now, I shall now seek seclusion behind my shield maidens for protection from the inevitable flurry of slings and arrows that will be lofted at my person.

(Warning – some of the statements in this two-part article may be offensive to the male ego.)

There’s not a successful man anywhere, at any time, or in any place that was not influenced, driven, encouraged, directed, and developed by a good woman. That woman may have been his friend, his lover, his wife, his mother, or his sister. There is always a woman. This is undeniable truth.

Men and women have held different roles in various societies throughout history. There were the Amazons and Shield Maidens that went to battle beside their men and are now lost in the fog of history. There were women that ruled as queens, emperors, and pharaohs. Many matriarchal societies still exist today where women are the dominant and driving force of the entire civilization. In yet others the women are subservient to men in all things. In all those diverse civilizations and societies one thing rings true throughout history – the entire course of human history has been determined, directly or indirectly, by women.

However the ground rules of a society are laid out or however a civilization develops the rules of male-female interaction, like it or not, the fact remains that without our women we, as men, would be lost and floundering in the darkness of indecision and misdirection.
​
If you made it through the first three paragraphs without hitting the delete button you can now read on about the topic at hand.
​
Enter redfish competition.

I have long been interested in the question of why there aren’t more women in competitive angling -particularly redfish competition. I have come up with all manner of reasons why this is so but none of them are very satisfying.

For men, competitive angling satisfies the innate male need to compete, to fight, to wage war on the opposition. It is a subtle means of winning battles and wars without enduring or inducing physical harm. Victories are hailed by all, envied by some, and spurned by others. Heroes emerge, competitors train harder, others join the ranks to test their mettle and, soon, a sport is born from the hot fires of testosterone fueled competition. This is men’s work they would say. Poppycock and balderdash I say.

Competitive angling, as a matter of competition, is not so different as in other eras of history when men have gone off to battle while the women were left behind look after the home, the children, the crops, and the land so their men would have a place to return to. The similarities are actually quite striking.

When I ask women why they do or don’t compete in redfish competitions I get all sorts of answers. “It’s too expensive”, “Someone has to stay home and look after the kids”, “I wasn’t taught to fish”, “There’s too many men out there”, and etc, and etc.

Women inherently understand the male need to compete. On some level they get it. Interestingly, some women (perhaps the Shield Maidens of olden times) feel this competitive urge too. The desire to test their mettle against those same men in “their” man-sport burns hot within them.

In theory, women should be better anglers than men. They have more patience, they concentrate on tasks better, they tolerate pain better, they have better color vision, they are more socially integrated, and they understand the male ego in ways we can never know.
​
So, where are they? Why aren’t they out here with the rest of us?

Way back in the Cup days I remember what an interesting thing it was to see Leiza Fitzgerald and Merrily Dunn along with Starr Boykin and Barbara Scopelitis competing in redfish tournaments. It was very unusual, and I confess that I immensely enjoyed the angst among the men that was created by their very presence.

The talk around the men’s camps revolved around how bad it was going to be to “get beat by the girls” and who would be the first poor slobs to fall to this unheard-of travesty. No one wanted to be that team because they would be unmercifully taunted.
Ridiculous I know; but there it is. I was there. I saw it. I heard it. And, I didn’t much like it.

Fast forward to today.

There still aren’t very many women competing but there are a few and I think there would be more if we would just open the door and invite them in. Oh my, but that would require a complete resetting of the male barometer now wouldn’t it? I say we need to move on past the current state of affairs and grow this sport to ever higher levels by inviting, teaching, encouraging, and helping women who have that competitive desire learn the game. We need sponsors to recognize these women’s teams and give them the same support. In short, we need to put out the welcome mat and stop pushing back to protect “our” battlefield.

I also believe that the development of a few “women only” competitions would be a good place to start the training but ultimately it is a sport in which men and women could be, and should be, completely integrated on the field of play. Having a men’s and women’s division separately makes no sense because that would be, in essence, a confession that women cannot compete with men at the same level which is nonsense.

In Part Two I will continue this topic and ask some of the women competing today what their thoughts are on the subject.

​by Gritter Griffin

Local - belonging or relating to a particular area or neighborhood.

Patrick Stamps and David Faulkenberry are local to somewhere too. But they do “local” a little differently than you may think. These guys are determined to be local – Everywhere!

I know it sounds a little strange because we usually think of local as just that - local. Patrick and David have taken the stance that everyone and everything is local somewhere, but they want their brand, Local Boy Outfitters, to be local everywhere. To that end they customize their line of clothing to any area in the country to represent local pride, local industry, and local history.

These guys have been friends since childhood. They grew up together in South Carolina going to school, playing sports, and enjoying all things outdoors. Most importantly, though, they discovered the value of hard work.

They were taught that local businesses were the lifeblood of any community. They learned that shopping and buying local was one of the most important things you could do for your community and it became a way of life for them.

For several years Patrick was a heavy equipment operator and David was working in his family’s offset printing business. Somewhere along the way these lifelong friends made the decision to work together in the clothing business.

Initially they were going to be a brick and mortar store and sell multiple brands of clothing. They rented space in a warehouse that backed up to the South Carolina University baseball stadium and sold their clothing products during baseball games.

Over many weeks and many beverages, they discussed the idea of a name for their clothing sales and branding. The name – Local Boy Outfitters - was the easy part. They had long recognized the simple truth that everyone is local to somewhere.

The logo took a little longer. A lot longer actually.

They wanted their logo to be simple but meaningful. It needed to represent a way of life, of community, of camaraderie. They both liked the idea of including a dog. Nearly everyone loves dogs and can relate to one or more sometime in their life. It’s kind of like being local; nearly everyone can relate to that too.

When they had the logo worked out, they printed some T shirts, pushed their logo, had some success, and pretty quickly realized that people liked their name and logo better than the other brands they were selling.

This was the sentinel moment in their lives and their business when they realized that they needed to be their own brand and represent something more than a name.

These guys want to represent a lifestyle.

They started with quality polos and pants at good prices and went to work creating brand recognition. They didn’t have the luxury of a big cash influx to get them started. They did it all by building on sweat equity.

They educated themselves, learned the manufacturing and logistics of the clothing business, and along the way began to come up with unique ideas to promote their brand.

They started in 2013 but it was 2015 before they “got it right” and really began to build the brand. With David as the detail guy and Patrick as the front man, doing the talk and walking the walk, they began to make progress.

They traveled to Baton Rouge to a Junior League Show and did very well. After that it was show after show to get their name and product line out there. And it worked.

Their basic philosophy and business model was pretty simple really. They wanted to produce excellent clothing and sell it at a price that everyone could afford. This way, they thought, a customer could buy two or three pairs of slacks at $60 instead of one (of the same quality) at $90 - $110.

They would later describe their strategy as “not being greedy or speedy” but doing whatever it takes to make the plan happen.

For the first few years these guys were not only diligently pushing their brand but both were still working at their “day jobs”. Patrick for himself and David with his family.

When Patrick was asked what line of work he was in before Local Boy he replied with a grin, “I was running skidders and dozers, and backhoes. I have no idea how I wound up selling clothes”.

Besides teaming up with local schools to create clothing that represents the school image and logo, they have plans to team up with charter boat captains and other companies to develop a line of clothing these captains and companies can use to promote their businesses. What better way to get a name in front of the right people than great shirts and hats emblazoned with logos prominently displaying their own business.

The trail to success hasn’t been a smooth one for these local boys. Patrick and David credit their wives – both have wives named Stacey by the way – with much of their success.

They both agree that it is the “Staceys” that have been the rock they depended on to maintain the home front while they were on the road week after week. They both agree that the challenges and difficulties they encountered would have seemed much more daunting were it not for the fact that their wives and families collectively believed in what these guys were doing and felt it was special. Their friends and their community were also very supportive and rallied behind them all the way
​
Lifelong friends. An idea. Belief. Boots on the ground. Hard work. Perseverance. Success.
​
You know what local really is? Local is fun. Local is friends. Local is family. Local is community.
​
That’s what these two guys and Local Boy Outfitters are all about.….. Home!

 
I suppose some would say that I am one of those people addicted to rules. I would deny the addiction part, but I would confess to being very passionate about the framework of a competition.

And that framework is….The Rules!

There is no way to have a fair and equitable competition without rules that design, describe, organize, and create a field and accepted method of play – a de facto structure – within which the competition takes place.

A competition is a contest of skill that takes place within certain parameters -rules. These parameters are there to make sure the participants each have an equal chance of winning based on the rules, the venue, and the actual participation. The only thing that is supposed to make a difference is individual’s or team’s skill and abilities. Those that are able to participate at a higher level of proficiency will, obviously, finish high most of the time. And, that is as it should be.

About fifteen years ago I wrote a piece entitled “When Ego Exceeds Ethics”. The main thrust of the article was my disgust and disappointment with cheating that was occurring during redfish competitions and the lack of rules enforcement by the tournament organizers. However, the entirety of the piece, while well intended, was such a vitriolic rant that it made for painful reading and the point may have been lost.
I have aged a bit since then.

I have a great deal more experience in everything about life. Maybe I have mellowed a tad as well. But – I remain steadfast that rules are in place to protect the fairness of competition and to ensure that every competitor begins and ends the competition on equal ground. Rules should be an inviolate and immutable cog in the machine of competition. I still hold as truth that those who would warp or completely break rules just to achieve a false edge on their competitors are the worst sort of coward.

As I wrote in the original article:

“Ego exceeding Ethics - This occurs when the desire to be the hero, to bask in public acclaim, to finish high, to win, to be seen as one of the best exceeds the honorable action of playing fairly and by the rules.”
 
One of the most difficult things to swallow over all those years was the fact that the majority of honest competitors rarely knew who did what, or why, because the tournament directors seemed unwilling to call anyone out publicly for cheating. This behavior was likely due to fear of legal reprisals as well as our basic human reluctance to tarnish someone’s reputation without absolute proof and/or an admission of guilt.

This was my commentary on that stance:

“This “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy essentially protects the cheaters who are then loosed to ply their trade again at yet another
 event on the same unsuspecting participants.”
 
I also offered a few definitions of the word cheater and then used those defining characteristics to further belittle those that would engage in such behavior. Here is that excerpt:

 “Here are a few definitions of Cheater:
 
1.) To deceive by trickery; swindle
2.) To deprive by trickery; defraud
3.) To mislead; fool
4.) To elude; escape
5.) To act dishonestly; practice fraud
6.) To violate rules deliberately

The cheaters deceive folks into believing they have great prowess at the sport. They deprive honest competitors of their due. They mislead and fool the public into believing they are skillful. They elude detection over and over by deviousness and dishonesty. In fact, they act dishonestly in everything they do. Their entire lives are nothing more than a lie. They violate rules deliberately for their own dishonest gain. They are thieves!
Ego Exceeding Ethics!!”

SO, it is fairly easy to see from the tone of that excerpt that the rest of the article was likely just as acerbic. And, it was.
​
But, I stand by the fundamental belief espoused in the original article that deliberate rules infractions and those that engage in that type of behavior should be dealt with by the black and white of the rules page and not in shades of grey.

So, what are we to do? How can this challenge be met in an ethically responsible manner?

In the original article I called for posting the names, photos, dates, infractions, and penalties on the internet for all to see. Some of you, I am sure, would agree with this stance. Others would say that it is too harsh. I confess that I’m not certain anymore as to exactly what would be the best way to handle deliberate cheating.

Perhaps when there is incontrovertible proof that cheating did occur, these competitors should be forever banned from every tour and trail by the tournament organizers. This would require communication among the various tours and trails and I’m not exactly sure how to encourage that to happen. It is one thing to remove a competitor from your own events but far more difficult to communicate that to the others because of our innate fear of “legal” retaliation. It is a strange thing that our society has evolved into a soft place of such fear that it serves as protection for those that would behave in a less than ethical manner.

In this article I have tried to make the same points while toning down the rhetoric of the original, but rest assured that my belief in honest competition and the inviolable nature of The Rules have not changed.

I’ll leave you with the final quote from the original:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
 
…….and so is cheating!

by Craig Holt*
 
About 20 years ago, North Carolina’s winter and early spring inshore fishing was a losing proposition. Cold weather chased sportfish from sounds, bays and rivers to the warmer ocean waters, leaving inshore anglers to oil and respool reels, remove rust and repair rods while waiting for spring.

But today, because of strict restrictions on recreational catches, red drum flourish in North Carolina waters year-round. Because reds take lures and bait from January through March, they’re available, even when water temperatures sink low enough to stun spotted seatrout. 
No other saltwater sportfish rivals the size and strength of red drum during the winter, except for striped bass, but they aren’t available for many fishermen, especially those south of Hatteras. 

Here’s some advice from some of North Carolina’s top guides that should help anglers beat cabin fever.
 
Cape Lookout

January is one of the best months for inside and nearshore red drum fishing in the Cape Lookout area.

Joe Shute, a long-time guide who runs the Cape Lookout Fly Shop on the Atlantic Beach causeway (252-240-1427), hunts for reds mostly with a fly rod, but he takes clients unfamiliar with fly fishing and offers them spinning outfits and soft-plastic lures. 

“I fish for them all day long in winter,” Shute said, “and the tides don’t make much difference, although sunny days when tides are low in afternoon are best, when the sun warms mud bottoms.”

In the shallow bays and marshes behind Beaufort and Morehead City, Shute often finds redfish stacked up, sometimes in schools of 50 to 200 fish. He anchors his skiff with a Power Pole and waits for schools to get within casting distance.

“You can see them in clear water,” he said. “I let them swim past me and lay a cast in front of a school and work the fly toward them. If you cast when they’re swimming toward you, you’ll spook them because they can see you.”

On calm days, Shute often takes fly- and lure-casters to Shark Island on the east side at the Cape Lookout shoals.

“If we find them in the ocean, they’ll eat anything,” Shute said. “There’s not much natural bait out there except a few glass minnows. It makes ’em aggressive.

“Sometimes they’re at the Cape Lookout rock jetty or in the breakers at Shackleford Banks,” Shute said. “We get a lot of northeast winds, so it lays down the protected Shackleford beach. A lot of times there’s not even a ripple.”

Big schools of red drum may be in 1 to 20 feet of water off the beach at Shackleford, he said.

“They’ll be the (surf) slots and sloughs, looking for something to eat,” he said. “When it gets brutally cold, they go deeper.”

Shute said when the water temperature in inside waters drops below 50 degrees, reds get lethargic.

Favorite spinning reel lures for ocean reds include soft plastics such as scented Berkley Gulps.

“I often take people with that tackle into the ocean,” he said. “I upsize to ¼-to 3/8-ounce jigheads with a 4-inch Edge paddletail minnow in light green with a single hook. They’ll also hit a Mr. Twister ribbon-tail grub and sometimes even MirrOlures, but I change out the trebles for single hooks.”

When he fly-fishes inside, Shute uses a 7- or 8-weight rod with floating line, and in the ocean, he uses an 8- or 9-weight rod with intermediate line. His favorite red drum fly is a Clouser in black with gold flash.

“Sometimes they want brown-and-orange, black-orange-and-gold or gray-and-white,” he said. “When they’re on oyster rocks inside, you can use a small crab pattern with No. 2 hooks. The main thing is to cast a fly or lure from behind a school.”

Bogue banks

Jeff Cronk of Fish4Life Charters (336-558-5697) and partner Mike Taylor of Taylor-Made Charters (252-725-2623) are two of North Carolina’s most-knowledgeable inshore anglers, with 25 years of tournament experience and plenty of years guiding under their belts.  

From January through March, Cronk said redfish influenced by weather conditions follow two patterns. 

“Cold-water fishing for reds behind Bogue Banks is affected by the preceding November and December,” he said. “The majority of red drum follow baitfish to the surf zone those months because of northeast winds. Going into winter, you can see schools of several hundred to several thousand redfish in the surf. But they don’t stay there. 

“When the weather gets really cold in January, the reds move back inside, along with baitfish — small menhaden, glass minnows and mullet minnows. You can’t find any reds at the beaches, but they do stay close to the surf zone.

“It’s shallower in the bays, so the water (temperature) moderates, pushing them onto flats in the bays. Reds go there and to creeks behind the beaches to find bait. In places with muddy bottoms, reds collect around oyster beds to eat little crabs and mud minnows.”

Although temperatures may drop overnight, redfish become active during sunny afternoons behind Bogue Banks.

“They might be slow to bite in the morning, but let the sun hit (the water) and they turn on,” Cronk said. “I’ve seen schools of 2,000 fish in a 50-yard-wide bay.

Cronk said scented lures attract red drum that may range from 18 to 31 inches in length.

“I’ll use 1/16-ounce (jigheads) or Zoom Super Flukes with a weightless worm hook,” he said. “I also like 3-inch Gulp split-tail minnows.”

Cronk avoids splashy, summertime lures that may spook fish in 1 to 2 feet of gin-clear water. He says small lures moved slowly are best.
“There’s a lot of green slime on the bottom, and you want to keep lures out of that stuff,” Cronk said.
Better yet, clear water makes sight-fishing possible.

“If I know a school is in a bay, I might anchor up and wait for them to come by, and then cast in front of them after they pass my boat,” he said. “I cast when the entire school’s moving away. If I can see them, they can see me.”

One of his top lure presentations is “dead-sticking.”

“I use scented lures,” Cronk said. “I drop a lure 10 to 15 feet in front of a school then barely twitch it.”

Swansboro 

A few miles south of Bogue Banks, guide Robbie Hall said red drum follow the same winter patterns.

“Redfish schools gather in the big bays, marshes and marsh creeks behind inlets at Bear and Browns islands,” said Hall (910-330-6999).
But Swansboro reds go inside for a different reason.

“I think they move into 1 to 2 feet of water to get away from porpoises,” he said.

With menhaden long gone from inshore waters, porpoises target reds and can strip the flesh from a 30-incher in minutes. 
Hall likes to fish soft-plastic lures, including Gulp minnows or Zoom Flukes in goldfish or gold bream colors on 1/8-ounce jigheads ,adding ProCure paste.

“You’ll see schools of 20 to 500 redfish behind Bear and Browns,” Hall said. “You can sight-cast in nice weather. I use light weights so lures slowly drop to the bottom.”

Sometimes, he uses mud minnows because red drum eat them like popcorn. 

 “Mud minnows are their primary live-bait food in winter,” Hall said. “One key is having a trolling motor to get near a school to throw a lure or bait in front of them.”

New River

The New River offers a different winter fishery for red drum than other areas of North Carolina’s central coast.

Most reds are “puppy” size, but they cluster in the backs of small creeks, making 20- to 60-fish days common. In creeks north of Jacksonville, they also mix with large spotted seatrout and largemouth bass and will hit the same lures. Winter days when anglers catch all three species aren’t unusual.

“The drum I fish for are 100 percent in the backwaters of creeks 8- to 12-foot deep,” said guide Ricky Kellum (910-330-2745). “I fish treetops and stumps. It’s a lot like bass fishing. The best thing might be you’re protected from the northeast wind in those creeks. It’s about the only place on the river you can stand it on freezing, windy days.”

Kellum’s favorite winter lures are the Betts Halo Shad and Betts Perfect Sinker Shrimp. They fall slowly with an attractive wiggle.
“I’ve caught reds and trout sometimes with skim ice in those creeks,” he said. “The only time the red bite really slows in winter is when the water temperature drops to 38 or 40 degrees. Reds won’t chase lures in winter, and neither will trout. They want a slow-moving lure, a lot of times dropped right in their faces.”

Winter redfish bites are light, Kellum, said, just a little tick, “not a summer thump.”

For hardier anglers, the New River has shallow marshes near its inlet mouth good to fish during high flood tides on mild days. If it’s windy and cold, fishing can be brutal.

“A kayak is a good thing to have if you want to fish those marshes,” he said. “I throw a 4-ounce Gulp shrimp. I let it sit. You can see them, but you have to wait for them to put it in their mouth.” 

The shallow flats near Eason Creek hold mud minnows, glass minnows and finger mullet during the winter.

Topsail/Wilmington beaches

During the winter, guide Jot Owens of Wilmington fishes muddy bottoms and dark, oyster-rock areas.

“You want dark bottoms with oyster rocks going up estuary creeks or in deep channels,” said Owens (910-233-4139). “Reds stay away from currents unless they’re in the ocean.”

Frigid inside waters push red drum into the Atlantic Ocean.

“I don’t think the temperature hurts them, even if it drops 4 or 5 degrees overnight,” Owens said. “I think it’s the change in temperature they don’t like. So they go to the ocean where the water temperature is more stable.”

Owens’ favorite winter lures are 3-inch Gulp shrimp in natural, sugar spice/glow or molting colors.

“They’re not bright colors,” Owens said. “I also throw a 5-inch Gulp jerk shad in the same colors.”

His rods are 7 1/2 feet, mated with reels spooled with 10- or 15-pound Ultracast Spiderwire for long casts.

When Owens fishes inside, he uses 1/8- to 1/4-ounce jigheads. In surf zones he likes 1/4-, 3/8- or 1/2-ounce jigheads 

“You have to throw long casts,” Owens said, “to reach schooling fish. You don’t want to get too close and spook them.”
He prefers light Carolina rigs with fluorocarbon leaders when he uses natural cut bait in the ocean.

“I use cut mullet or peeled shrimp,” he said. “I don’t use live baits because reds aren’t used to wintertime live bait. They find food mostly by scent on the bottom anyway.”

Southport

Winter red drum fishing near Southport is different — and at the same time similar — to inside venues north of Bald Head Island’s marshes.

Although reds may hunker down in mainland marshes and creeks west of the Cape Fear River, no other area has such a singular red drum habitat. A 10,000-acre series of bays, creeks and salt marshes north of Bald Head are protected from the Atlantic Ocean’s swells by a beach to the east and walled off on the west from the Cape Fear by a 3-mile rock jetty, completed in 1881.

Red drum live in the marsh complex year-round because of its southerly location. Only a few people, including guide Jeff Wolfe of Carolina Beach, know its creek channels to fish the massive marsh with fear of grounding.

“It’s tough to catch red drum in winter at open bay flats because the water’s too clear and fish are spooky,” said Wolfe (910-619-9580), “but if you go into creeks on rising afternoon mid-tides with (holes) and muddy bottoms with oyster beds or shell bottoms where drum can stay protected in warm water, or at deep creek bends, they’ll bite mud minnows on Carolina rigs or soft plastics.”

His favorite places are the dead ends of marsh creeks north of Bald Head Island.

“They lay in deep pockets back there,” Wolfe said. “You can reach them in real shallow-draft boats, if you know how to run. That’s why people don’t run it. You can get stuck in there on falling tides. Some places will be 8 to 10 feet deep, and it’ll be 1 to 2 feet in front and back.”

He often drops mud minnows or 1-inch shrimp pieces into holes.

“One bite sets off a chain reaction,” Wolfe said. “Reds from 14 to 31 inches are back there. I caught 90 drum out of the smallest hole you can imagine one Jan. 31.”

* First published in Carolina Sportsman Magazine

​
 
One of the most difficult and daunting tasks assigned to the Redfish World Series Selection Committee was to be as accurate as possible with the creation of a list of 48 of the best teams in the country. These would be the teams invited to the inaugural 2019 Redfish World Series to compete for the title of 2019 Redfish World Champions.

Several Legacy teams were selected first. Then came the work of compiling data for the years 2016-2018 which was the only reasonable way to compare apples, oranges, and pears. It was a massive and complicated undertaking because there is no comprehensive and reliable system available to utilize for the selection process.

Each tour compiles data differently and in varying formats. Simply collecting the data was a time intensive task by itself. Compiling it into a usable form was even more difficult. All the while, the great concern of everyone on the committee was that a deserving team might be overlooked. Tremendous effort was put into the final selections and, while we are sure that not everyone agrees, we are content that we did the best we could with a very complex ranking system.

In the end we realize that the process, while not perfect, led to a field of talent never before assembled in a single event. It also led to dozens of hours of discussions about comparisons of various tours and trails and ultimately to the formation of a National Ranking System that will be in place throughout 2019 for the 2020 RWS event.

This first ranking system may not be perfect either, but it makes sense, it is simple, and it comprehensively includes every level of competition while addressing the variables presented by each tour. Utilizing this ranking system, every team on every tour can follow their status as results and standings are posted by the RWS every Wednesday throughout the year.

Our hope is that the development of a fair and accurate ranking system will create increased interest and participation in competitive redfish events. This, in turn, will escalate the popularity, exposure, fan base, and corporate/sponsor participation in competitive redfish events, tours, and trails.

Another point of interest is that, if redfish competition as sport is to ever become recognized as a professional venue, there must be leagues, divisions, definitions, global rules, and a qualified, competent, and unbiased central organization. All of that won’t happen in one year but if we don’t start thinking and talking about it now, if we don’t realize the danger of remaining splintered, if we don’t plan for the future and act on those plans – it will never happen.

So, here’s how it goes:
 
To accumulate points teams must remain intact. (Example: A + B fish together and A also fishes with C. This would constitute two teams – AB and AC - even though one of the members is the same. So, Team AB could accumulate points and Team AC could accumulate points, but they would not be able to combine points.)

For 2019 the RWS National Ranking System will recognize Six Tour Divisions and One Wild Card Division. The number of qualifying teams from each division is listed in parentheses beside the Divisions below.  Each Qualifying Team will earn an invitation to the 2020 RWS. The Divisions are as follows:

1. IFA Redfish Tour (7)
2. Elite Tournament Redfish Series (7)
3. Power Pole Pro Redfish Tour (6)
4. Tito’s Top Shelf Series (4)
5. Rudy’s Pro Redfish Tour (4)
6. Southern Redfish Cup (4)
7. Wild Card (10)

The Wild Card Division will be comprised of the top ten teams that accumulate points from more than one Tour Division. For example; a team may not accumulate enough points on a single tour to qualify in that division but by virtue of accumulating points from additional divisions they could qualify as a Top Ten in the Wild Card Division.

Points will be awarded to the Top Ten finishers in each event of each Tour Division as follows;

1st = 10 points, 2nd = 9 points, 3rd = 8 points, and so on by one-point increments down to 10th = 1 point. Every Wednesday the RWS will post the running points total of every Division so every team will know exactly where they stand throughout the year.

At the end of the year, the qualifying teams in each of the six Tour Divisions and the Wild Card Division will earn an invitation to the RWS for the following year.

Tiebreakers:

1. Ties in the Divisions with a designated Championship will be decided by highest finish in the Championship event of that tour.
2. Ties in Tour Divisions without a designated Championship will be decided by the highest finish in any single event within that Division.
3. Ties in the Wild Card Division will be decided by the highest single finish in any Division.
4. If the highest finish is also a tie, the second highest finish will be used to determine the winner. If still tied, the third finish will be used and so on.
5. If the teams remain in a tie (i.e identical finishes over all events) then the heaviest total weight of a single event by each team would break the tie. For Tour Divisions the weight is from an event within that division. For the Wild Card it can be from an event from any division.

The qualifying teams from each Tour Division and the Wild Card Division will constitute 42 of the teams to be invited to the 2020 RWS. The remaining six invitations are reserved for the Top Six finishers in the 2019 RWS to constitute the full field of 48 teams.

If a team qualifies through more than one avenue, the next team in that division will be moved up. Example: If a team finishes in the Top Six in the 2019 RWS and then is one of the qualifiers in another tour they would be removed from that division’s qualifying list and the next highest place team would move up. Or, if a team qualifies in more than one division during 2019, they would be removed from the division with the fewest qualifying spots available. If the available spots are the same, they would be removed from the division they had the fewest qualifying points in, etc.
​
This will be the first time a National Ranking System has been devised and used to rank teams for qualification to the year-end World Championship. It will undoubtedly be modified to some degree over the coming years, but this looks like a good place to start. It is simple, it is fair, and it gives ample and equal opportunity to all tours and all competitive redfish teams to be eligible to compete in a Redfish World Series Championship.

​ 

The Florida Pro Redfish Series - now Pro Tournament Fishing - has been a big success over the past couple of years and now has plans to enter the 2019 season with a new name, a new attitude, and a mission to bring the sport of competitive redfishing some additional stability. Their decision to limit platform height on all boats in competition while placing a premium on ethics, conservation, visibility, and sportsmanship is a move that brings the sport back in line with the basic tenets, the roots, of competitive redfishing. 

Pro Tournament Fishing Corp recently announced its 2019 lineup. Pro Tournament Fishing, JL Marine - Power-Pole Total Boat Control, and Blazer Boats will team up again in 2019 to bring a best-in-class series and a new format for the 2019 Power-Pole Pro Redfish Tour! This tour is designed to find Florida’s top redfish team.
 
Consisting of three, two-day tournaments throughout Florida, this series tests anglers’ skills in all patterns Florida has to offer.
 
Then, taking it to another level, the Championship will be held in Delacroix, LA., a neutral spot for all the anglers. Championship winners will receive a GTS 2220 from Blazer Boats valued at $60,000!
 
Pro Tournament Fishing - formally Florida Pro Redfish Series - is also establishing a tournament ranking system for the state. PTF has created a rules committee to ensure fairness to the teams fishing and is committed to ensuring that environmental concerns are addressed at each venue. This new format and new rules committee will work together to ensure that all the teams are fishing on a level playing field.
 

Tournament Dates and Entry Fee: 

Entry fee for the tournaments is $600 per team, per tournament.


January 11th & 12th - Jacksonville, FL

Captain’s Meeting Thursday, January 10th @ Palms Fish Camp Restaurant
Weigh In: Morningstar Marinas At Mayport


February 22nd & 23rd - Steinhatchee, FL

Captain’s Meeting Thursday, February 21st @ Sea Hag Marina
Weigh In: Sea Hag Marina

April 5th & 6th - Panama City Beach, FL

Captain’s Meeting Thursday, April 4th @ To Be Announced
Weigh In: To Be Announced

Championship | May 31st & June 1st - Delacroix, LA

The Power-Pole team of the year will be awarded $10,000 at the championship! 

Captain’s Meeting Thursday, May 30th @ Sweetwater Guide Service and Marina
Weigh In: Sweetwater Guide Service and Marina
 
With every tournament Pro Tournament Fishing focuses on the future of angling competition. Every competition and its impact on the environment, the anglers, the sponsors, and the community is of the utmost importance to PTF. Their vision is to create millions of positive,  extraordinary memories and excitement on and off the water.

Pro Tournament Fishing will use a variety of platforms including tournaments, multi-media formats, and creative marketing strategies to bring inspiration and innovation to every event. Their goal is to be a best-in-class tournament fishing organization focusing on conservation of marine resources while being the role model for tournament fishing.

It is their mission to restore ethical, best-in-class tournament fishing focused on sportsmanship, integrity, conservation, and environmental awareness. They will operate through multi-media and social networks while interactively maintaining high-quality visibility to meet the needs of their anglers, sponsors, members, and fans.
 
If you would like more information about this topic, please call Kent Hickman, Tournament Director at
863.286.5386 or email kent@profishingtournament.com

​
November 25, 2019
For Immediate Release
St. Bernard, LA

by RWS Staff

Torch Eyewear, a proud sponsor of the 2019 Redfish World Series, announces the Final Team selected that will be competing for the Title of 2019 Redfish World Champion!

Torch Eyewear may be a new name in the world of  competitive sports optics but the company was founded, and is being run by, a legend in the industry. Louis Wellen has been a mainstay in the arena of competitive sports eyewear for decades and now brings all those years of  experience into play with the development of the Torch brand and product line. Torch presents a spectacular selection of eyewear for the competitive angler with multiple lens and frame selections that offer varying levels of polarization so you will have the right lens for the conditions on the water every day! When the chips are down, every cast counts, and your vision on the water must be at its very best choose Torch and run with a winner.

The inaugural Redfish World Series – “Where Champions are Born and Legends Begin” – will take place in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana  September 26-29, 2019. Only 48 of the top redfish teams in the country, including several Legacy Teams from the past, will make the cut for this unique event. Never in the history of competitive redfish angling has a field of this magnitude been assembled and the team that comes out on top will truly be the Redfish World Champions.

The 48th team to be revealed is:

Jacob Leininger/Jeff Rogers

Congratulations to Jacob and Jeff and welcome to the Top 48 list for the 2019 Redfish World Series.

The RWS selection process has been an extremely arduous one for our committee but every effort was made to make fair and unbiased selections.  As the process continued we found that some of the final teams were so closely ranked that only a point or two separated them. Other than the 48 teams selected and announced there are twelve excellent teams that are very closely ranked and will make up an Alternate List should spots come open as we move through the Official Invitation and Entry process.

Congratulations to all 48 teams selected. Now the process of issuing the Official Invitations will begin.

Over the next few weeks these 48 teams will have the opportunity to select a team captain, review the 2019 Participation Agreement, and either accept or turn down their invitation. After captain selection and review of the Participation Agreement, these teams will receive an email with instructions to sign the Participation Agreement as well as how to pay the entry fee and the deadline by which it must be paid. Any team spots that are vacated for any reason will be filled with invitations to a team from the Alternate List.  

Our field of sponsors continues to grow as well. More sponsor announcements coming soon.

The List of the first 48 2019 RWS teams is now complete!

1.           Kris Robert/Fred Peterman (Top Shelf Myrtle)
2.           Shane Pescay/Nicky Savoie
3.           Cole Starr/Brent Juarez
4.           Tadd Van deMark/Travis Tucker 
5.           Travis Land/T. Paul Dufrene
6.           Mark Sepe/Jeff Pope 
7.           Mike Tindal/Artie Price 
8.           Jamie Hough/Trent Brady
9.           Martin Simmons/Keith McBride
10.           Austin Angel/Lance Reynolds
11.           Mark Robinson/Tony Salinas
12.           Rick Murphy/Geoff Page 
13.           Barnie White/Chad Dufrene
14.           Fred Myers/Britt Ordes
15.           Barrett McMullen/Jay Cetodal
16.           Charlie Barton/Cody Barton
17.           Greg Watts/Bryan Watts 
18.           Todd McKellar/Bart Crader
19.           John Henninger/Chris Henninger
20.           David Christian/Ray Malone
21.           Joe Wortham/Randy Lane
22.           Ryan Rickard/Graham Taylor
23.           Joey Romero/Jesse Romero
24.           Chris Evans/Matt Stinnett
25.           Travis Hancock/Joseph Gumble 
26.           Jimmy Lloyd/Jeff Steckler
27.           Dwayne Eschete/Kevin Akin
28.           Derek Taylor/Brian Goude
29.           Marvie Benford/Rob Cowan
30.           Glenn Winningham/Jamie Pinter
31.           Kyle Potts/Cody Chivas
32.           Jason Prieto/Brian Visnovec
33.           Jason Dail/ Allen Jernigan
34.           Trevor Taylor/Steve Ward
35.           Chance Angel/Kevin Roberts
36.           Chris Logan/Jason White
37.           Bobby Weir/Matt Schoen
38.           Rennie Clark/Ashley Lowder
39.           Ron Hueston/Chris Hueston 
40.           Jeremy Heimes/Mickey Gibbs
41.           Bo Favre/Trey Fryfogle
42.           Ronnie Pitts/Chris Rosengarten 
43.           Mike Taylor/John Roberts 
44.           Bobby Gilbert /Shane Dubose
45.           Bobby Sullivan/Bo Sullivan
46.           Eddie Adams/Sean O’Connell
47.           Mike Frenette/Michael Frenette
48.           Jacob Leininger/Jeff Rogers

  Congratulations to all these teams and best of luck as we move forward to the Official Announcement period.



​

by Capt Mike Frenette​
 
  
For the most part hunting seasons are either over or winding down but does that mean that your weekends should be spent on the couch? Absolutely not, perfect time of the year to run your boat, play with your tackle, try different lures, and oh yeah by the way stretch your line on some tackle busting 30-40 pound (or larger), world class Redfish.

Years ago, Bull Reds were frowned upon as “trash fish” as they were and are still not the “ones” you want to keep to eat. Times are changing. There are many Louisiana Sportsman and women who do not judge the success of their trip by how many fish they bring back. Remember “back in the day” (how many times have you heard that saying?” when a trip was judged by how many ice chests were filled. This decided whether or not a fishing trip was successful.
 
With the tremendous loss of our largest resource that Louisiana has to offer, our wetlands, which as a result from hurricanes that have ravaged our coastline, sinking of land from miles and miles of canals dug by petroleum companies and estuaries that were heavily impacted “in a negative” sense by the largest man made disaster known to Louisiana in history, the BP oil spill, have all created question marks to what lay’s ahead to our fishery.
 
 
That being said, Louisiana anglers are extremely lucky as when it comes to catching saltwater species such as Redfish anglers can and do expect to catch Redfish twelve months of the year. Most other states do not come even close to the quality of Red fishing that affords anglers whom visit or reside in Louisiana, as a matter of fact Redfish especially the “Giants” are considered seasonal. In late winter there is one area of Louisiana that is considered “the” spot for large Bull Reds that being the Mississippi Delta, especially the Delta region from Empire south to the mouth of the Mississippi River.
 
February and the next couple months are considered a ‘stay home” month cause we usually relate this time period as windy, cold and even rainy days. Oh yeah that can be the truth but squeezed in between the “uglies” one can experience first class conditions and if your lucky you might experience an awesome weather day presenting great opportunities for Reds, especially the giants.
 
Where to Go
 
Unlimited, that’s about the best description that I can give, as there are many options as far as picking a spot or an area to fish. Take a look at any chart, map, Google earth, really doesn’t matter as you will see what I’m talking about. The delta region especially the areas in Plaquemines Parish from Empire south to the mouth of the river and this encompasses both sides of the river. From one side of the Delta to the other you will find numerous cuts, passes, ditches, areas that spin off the river and head to bays or “edges” of the gulf. Where these “cuts” enter the bays or edges of the gulf the water is always moving and as a rule, the higher the river, the more current you will find in the area of these “cuts”. Normally at this time of the year the river should be in the early stages of rising, so be looking for good currents in any of the cuts.
 
Because of the water movement at this time of the year these areas carry quite a bit of very small baitfish that the larger baitfish feed on and yes you guessed it, Redfish as well are searching out these bait fish. As the ole saying goes “Find the bait fish” and you will find the predators and as far as I’ m concerned Bull Reds are the predators of the delta.
 
Working the shorelines left and right of these cuts in waters 6’ or shallower is what you will target. Usually the closer you are to the cut, the deeper the waters will be and as you move away from the cut the shallower it becomes.
 
What to Use
 
Certainly you can pick a spot and cast some dead shrimp or cut mullet next to the shore line and yes you will probably catch a couple of giants, but personally that’s not my style.

Preferring artificial baits for many reasons but the most important is that you can cover so much more area than you ever will when fishing with natural bait. This is the time of the year that you will find the giant Reds working very slow along the bottom in search for crabs, mullet, pogy, or for that matter they are not picky during the colder months. You can almost bet they will eat anything in its way, especially if it’s moving slowly. Showing how close to the bottom they are working, don’t be surprised when you catch your beast that on its stomach you will find traces of mud
 
Couple of baits that I really like to use during the winter: Soft plastics and crank baits are my “go to” baits and you can bet my Plano Stow Away Utility Boxes will be stuffed with them. Reason why, in shallow water both can be worked slowly.
 
 As stated earlier, you are most likely to be fishing in 6’ of water or less and using crank baits that are designed for deep water such as Strike King’s 6 XD’s and 10 XD’s are deadly.
 
For the soft plastics consider Strike Kings Glass Minnow connected to a 3/8 oz. jig head. Certainly these are not the only baits that will work but over the years during this time of the year they have proven to create success.
 
Technique
 
First of all working the shore line left or right from the cuts with your trolling motor really gives the angler an advantage as during this time of the year the giant reds or even the smaller ones for that matter are not schooled up in huge schools as you might find in the early fall but finding small packs roaming the bank is quite normal. Using a trolling motor at very slow speeds allows a stealthy stalk along the shoreline. Usually working the first 100 yards in either direction are considered the “target zones”. When working left or right from the cuts position your boat so that you are going with the wind as this will make it easier for presentation of your baits.
 
Pay extreme attention at this time of the year. It might be just the slightest hint that action is close by.  A small swirl, a tiny flip from a bait fish, or if your lucky a “push” from the potential target, will alert you to the possible presence of the giants. At this time of the year heavy activity of baitfish is not likely so be alert. When you see the first sign of any activity, power pole down and work every inch along the bank.  Even if you do not see signs of baitfish, deploy your power pole about every 100 feet so that you can work the area nice and slow.
 
 
It would not surprise me if by now your wondering why the suggestion to use deep diving crank baits in water 6’ or less. As stated previously this is usually the time of the year when the river waters are usually on the rise and usually the water temperature is cooler. Not unusual to have surface temperatures in the low 50’s or even cooler and as also stated earlier the giant Reds are moving much slower than they would during the warmer months there for being able to work your baits slowly again is priority.
 
Working deep diving crank baits slowly in shallow water is very effective as the crank bait churns up the bottom, leaving a “mud trail”. It truly is amazing how slow you can work these baits, wobbling and chugging the bottom at the same time. All this commotion sends off tremendous vibrations that the Reds pick up on their lateral lines.
 
Now when it comes to the soft plastics and jig head, again SLOW is the key here.  Working the shoreline, cast close to the shore and let the bait fall to the bottom, slowly drag the bait on the bottom for about three feet, tighten up with your reel then raise your rod tip up just slightly so that the bait comes off the bottom just for a second. Drop your rod tip and continue this process all the way back to the boat.  As well, intermittently stop as you are retrieving along the bottom creating what’s called a “wounded technique”.  This bait stirs the bottom as well but in a moderate sense compared to crank baits. That is why the original H&H Cocahoe minnow and the Rage shrimp work well as both have great action when barely moving creating strikes during cool and cold weather conditions. Remember it’s all about slow.
 
Tackle
 
Rods such as medium to medium/heavy action seem to be popular when anglers are pursuing the giants. Sense we are targeting larger Reds you might need a little extra muscle on the strike.  A little stiffer rod may help you in turning the beast, keeping the Red from heading into or rubbing along the canes. If you feel comfortable using light action rods, have at it cause as far as I’m concerned when it comes to fishing, the lighter the equipment the more fun to be had. 7’ in length for the rod is perfect for a couple of reasons: allow you to make long casts and still maintain accuracy.

As far as the reels, that really is a matter of preference. Spinning or bait casters have and always will be debatable. Does it matter? No. I’m a bait caster type of guy but the guy next to me might prefer spin casting.  When your casting down the bank, basically in open water, both styles work.
 
Over the years using braided style lines have become extremely popular and when chasing the giants it becomes quite apparent that braided line either 20 or 30 pound test will truly give an angler “the edge”. During the colder months “the bite” might be very subtle and braided line is so sensitive that you will feel the slightest nudge on your bait.
​
Usually when casting soft plastics attaching about an 18”-24” of  20 pound-45 pound test fluorocarbon line to the braid taking the “stiffness” out of the braid, making the bait (soft plastic) look more realistic. When it comes to the crank baits, keep it simple, tie directly to the braid. If you haven’t tried Vicious Braid or Vicious Fluorocarbon give it a try, might soon become your favorite.
 
Tips

• Mid Day.
• Incoming Tides
• Muddy Bottoms
• Check line for abrasions after each fish
• Always net fish head first
• Proper tools on boat
• Take time when releasing 

 
 
No reason to head out on cold days at the crack of dawn. During the middle of the day when the sun is at its highest usually is when the bite is on especially if the tide is in coming
 
As the tide comes in giant Reds will begin working the shoreline as they usually stage from the deeper waters to the shallow waters with in coming tides.
 
If at all possible, look for muddy bottoms vs. sandy bottoms as mud bottoms gather and retain heat from the sun better than sandy bottoms.
 
Always check for abrasions after each battle, as it is very easy for the line to become nicked due to the bony make up and sharp gill plates of the Redfish.
 
Having a good strong net such as Frabill is an important factor. Don’t chase the fish with your net. Simply wait for the right time to net your fish. Allow the giant Red to get close to the boat, position yourself and the net so that the Red is approaching with its head first. Get the head of the Red in the net first. Turn the handle of the net perpendicular to the water and then lift the Red in the boat. Its Ok if the tail is hanging out of the net, he’s not going anywhere.
 
Making sure you have pliers and proper hook removal tools are essential as the mouth of these big Reds are extremely bony. Having proper tools will prevent damage to the Red when the hook is being removed.
 
Take a couple of pictures then lets release it, as these giants are not only old but are our breeding stock. Studies have shown that Redfish usually do not reproduce until the 7th year and that a 35-40 pound giant can be 20-25 years of age, if not older.
 
Don’t just toss the Red back in. Most of the time these giants have exerted themselves during the fight and a little thanks and assistance might be required. Cradle the Red, lower into the water then hold the fish by its tail. Some times they will swim right off but others might take a few minutes to rest. When they are ready, they will simply swim out of your hand.
 
It’s a great feeling to battle these giants on light tackle then watch them swim away to fight another day.
 
Having a successful trip isn’t always about “limiting out”
   
 
Capt. Mike Frenette
Redfish Lodge of Louisiana
venicefishing.net 

November 15, 2019
For Immediate Release
St. Bernard, LA

T-H MARINE , a proud sponsor of the 2019 Redfish World Series announces the next four teams that will be competing for the Title of Redfish World Champion!

The inaugural Redfish World Series – “Where Champions are Born and Legends Begin” – will take place in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana  September 26-29, 2019. Only 48 of the top redfish teams in the country, including several Legacy Teams from the past, will make the cut for this unique event. Never in the history of competitive redfish angling has a field of this magnitude been assembled and the team that comes out on top will truly be the Redfish World Champions.

Our field of sponsors continues to grow as well. More sponsor announcements coming soon.

T-H MARINE - Where anything and everything for your boating needs can be found. Visit their site - https://thmarinesupplies.com/ - thank 'em for helping to make the Redfish World Series a truly awesome event, and see what the buzz is all about with their product lines. T-H Marine Supplies is truly a one-stop-shop for anything on the water. If it goes on or in a boat these guys have it!

Forty Seven of the 48 teams have now been announced! There is only ONE team to go. The selection has been made and the Final Announcement will come very soon.

The excitement to see which new  teams have been added and who the Final Team will be is growing daily. As we approach the end of the selection/announcement process anglers, fans, family, and sponsors across the country have now realized that these are the most coveted invitations in the history of competitive redfishing and are holding their breath hoping that their favorite team will be chosen.

The following Four teams join the first 43 in their pursuit of the title of Redfish World Champion:  
​

1. Bobby Gilbert / Shane Dubose
2. Bobby Sullivan / Bo Sullivan
3. Eddie Adams / Sean O’Connell
4. Mike Frenette / Michael Frenette     

Congratulations to these teams and best of luck as we move forward to the Final Announcement coming soon.

Don’t see your favorite team yet? There's Only One More Team To Go!

​Check back daily so you don’t miss the excitement of the Final Announcement and complete list. 

Baseball – from the earliest days of the sport to today there have been many advancements. The balls are better, the bats more robust, the gloves and other equipment have been upgraded many, many times. But one thing has remained constant – they still throw a ball and an opponent tries to hit it. The work, the skill, the effort, the desire, and the drive required to produce results at a championship level remain the same.

Football – tons of advances in equipment, workout regimen, dietary regimen, and strategies. But one thing remains the same – advance the ball beyond the opponent’s goal line by throwing and catching or running with the ball. The work, the skill, the effort, the desire, and the drive required to produce results at a championship level remain the same.

Golf – From hickory sticks to metallurgical wonders of alloy, golf equipment has evolved tremendously over the decades. But the game has remained constant - completion of a series of designated holes by striking a ball in such an incredibly accurate manner that one is able to complete the series of holes in fewer strokes than the opponents. The work, the skill, the effort, the desire, and the drive required to produce results at a championship level remain the same.

Basketball – by now you get the picture. The work, the skill, the effort, the desire, and the drive required to produce results at a championship level remain the same.

Every sport started out as a friendly method of competition. It was for bragging rights mostly. It was just to see who could master the skills required to perform better than others. And, over time, every sport evolved from that out-in-the-street backyard mentality to a tier of competitions led by those that were the very best at their sport.

It is notable that in every professional sport there has been a limit to the changes allowed by the groups of leaders that oversee the integrity of their sport. These are the people that founded and perfected the professional level of every competitive sport. The common thread among them is a deep and abiding love for, and belief in, their chosen sport.

These are the men and women who loved and cherished their sport above their own personal gain and wanted to be certain that the integrity, the heart, the very foundation, of their sport remained unchanged. They wanted to ensure that performing professionally in any sport became defined by the work ethic, skill, sacrifice, and desire that it takes to get there and stay there.

This is true in fishing as well because not every change in equipment, technique, or method is a good thing for the truth and integrity of the sport.

Fishing is as old as humankind itself. It is man versus fish. Pretty simple really – catch a fish, eat a fish. Then someone challenged someone else with the idea of catching more or bigger fish than the other person. From this very first competition, the idea and concept of organized competition took root and grew.

Methods and techniques and equipment changes flourished. Mason jar tournaments evolved for weekend fun and some of these anglers began to become known for their prowess and expertise in finding and catching fish. They used their knowledge from years of study and hundreds upon hundreds of hours on the water learning about the life and times of their prey. Again and again they were the victors in these competitions and it was due to their skill, intelligence, work ethic, and love of the “pureness” of their sport.

Many different fishing organizations have evolved from that first contest eons ago. All these organizations have at their very core an inviolate principle of sportsmanship. They deny their competitors the use of equipment or technique that gives an unfair advantage to the competitor. It doesn’t matter if that equipment or technique is available to everyone. It becomes a matter of principle,   of sportsmanship, and of honesty in competition. Utilizing a means that detracts from the skill level, work, effort, and drive required to compete at a championship level is simply not allowed in any other sport nor should it be allowed in competitive angling.

Now let’s talk about fishing at a championship level – particularly redfishing. Same story as the other sports. Equipment has changed, techniques have changed, competition has intensified, rewards are greater – and perhaps in no other sport have the changes been as dramatic. Boats, rods, reels, electronics, navigational aids, motors, lures, livewells – every single aspect of competitive angling has changed and changed dramatically.

B.A.S.S., the largest and most well-known fishing organization in the world, has enacted rules that disallow certain techniques that give an angler an unfair advantage over the fish as well as the other anglers. There is zero tolerance for an elevated platform of any kind and of any height. There is zero tolerance for those that would tarnish the sport by competing in an unsportsmanlike manner. There is enforcement of the rules evenly and fairly no matter the transgressor.

Then there is competitive redfishing.

A sport that, 20 years later, is still trapped and writhing in its infancy. A sport still fragmented and lacking in serious leadership and direction. A sport that has witnessed all the same changes in equipment and technique but without supervision, leadership, or direction. A sport that is still locked in the “out-in-the-street backyard” stages. In short, there is no comprehensive authority to turn to for definition of the sport as a sport. A fishing method or technique that is tremendously advantageous and blurs the line of work ethic, knowledge, and skill should not be allowed on the field of play.

But that is exactly what is happening with the equipment and technique of “burning”.

Any angler of moderate skill given the resources to be able to utilize the technique of running a boat on plane in shallow waters, around every shoreline, and across large shallow flats will be able to find fish and compete on the same level as a veteran angler who has honed his or her skills over years and years of tireless study and effort. It is not truth in action because it artificially transcends and defeats multiple levels of competence and skill. Burning is merely an easy shortcut that short-circuits and eliminates what should be the inherent advantages of knowledge, skill, hard work, and personal drive.
​
Simply put, this technique detracts from the skill level required to compete at the highest level. It detracts from the merit, the honesty, and the truth of the sport. Until every redfish tour, trail, and competition in this country bans the use of this technique we will not, we simply cannot, build the sport of competitive redfishing to the level it deserves. Because, as long as this technique is allowed, the separation between anglers of moderate skill and those at the expert level will remain so blurred that a distinction between the two is impossible and the sport of competitive redfishing will forever be denied the growth to attain professional status.

November 09, 2019
For Immediate Release
St. Bernard, LA

CLUTCH FISHING joins the 2019 Redfish World Series and is proud to announce the next three teams that will be competing for the Title of Redfish World Champion.

The inaugural Redfish World Series – “Where Champions are Born and Legends Begin” – will take place in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana  September 26-29, 2019. Only 48 of the top redfish teams in the country, including several Legacy Teams from the past, will make the cut for this unique event. Never in the history of competitive redfish angling has a field of this magnitude been assembled and the team that comes out on top will truly be the Redfish World Champions.

Our field of sponsors continues to grow as well.

This week we welcome Clutch Fishing. Visit their site - https://clutchfishing.com/ - thank 'em for helping to make the Redfish World Series a truly awesome event, and see what the buzz is all about with their product lines!

Forty Three of the 48 teams have now been announced! There are only five teams to go. The selections have been made and the announcements will continue weekly.

The excitement to see which teams are joining this select group is growing daily. As we approach the end of the selection/announcement  process anglers, fans, family, and sponsors across the country are holding their breath hoping that their favorite team will be chosen.

The following three teams join the first 40 in their pursuit of the title of Redfish World Champion:  

1. Bo Favre/Trey Fryfogle
2. Ronnie Pitts/Chris Rosengarten
3. Mike Taylor/John Roberts      

Congratulations to these teams and best of luck as we move forward with additional announcements coming weekly.

Don’t see your favorite team yet? There's still Five more to go!

​Check back daily so you don’t miss the excitement of the upcoming announcements.

by RWS Staff

The Past: It’s a done deal. A record of events. You can see it, touch it, and know what it is.

1960 – Looking back on a simpler time in this country when the average cost of a new house was $12,700, average rent was $98, Gasoline was 25 cents a gallon, a loaf of bread was 20 cents, and you could get a new car for $2600. You could even take a selfie but it was a little more cumbersome with the Polaroid Land Camera and was considered pretty darned expensive at about $93.

And, in the sleepy little burb of Lakeland, Florida Sylvia Watts gave birth to twin boys – Greg Duward and Bryan Christopher.

2018 – Today the average cost of a new house - $369,400, average rent $2000, gasoline $2.80, loaf of bread $2.50, new car $36,270. And a selfie? That’s about $400 on the low end to $1500 at the top.

And, in the dark recesses of one man’s mind (yes, it was Gritter) an idea was born. An idea that would grow into a very special event. An event that will expose, celebrate, and nurture the competitive redfishing industry by showcasing the best redfish anglers in the country. These are the teams that consistently perform at a very high level and, due to their constant presence in the media, are the most influential group of redfish anglers in the world. These are the teams that will make up the 2019 Redfish World Series www.facebook.com/RedfishWorldSeries/

The Future: it’s a funny thing. It is not recorded because it’s not here yet. You can’t see it. You can’t touch it. You don’t have any idea what it contains. But…..we are all flying headlong into it.

Back in 1960 no one knew that home prices, rent, gasoline, food, and photos were going to become so expensive. No one knew that a World Series would come to mean something other than baseball. And, no one knew that these two infants - these Watts boys - would go on to become a couple of the most celebrated outdoorsmen and anglers of their time.

They grew up around water. They waded. They swam. They watched. They fished. They studied.

The water, the salt, the air, the pure joy of being outdoors soon intermingled with their blood and they became one with the environment. They followed, they observed, and they learned all about the creatures of the water, their habitat, and their habits. They became the quintessential hunters of the watery world they loved so well.

Then, came the competitions.

In their late teens and early twenties, they stalked the local bass competitions and became feared opponents. In the mid-1990’s they got interested in saltwater competition. They fished competitively for reds, snook, and trout with Bryan winning the SFFA Grand Champion title on the fly rod in 1997. In 2000 they fished the inaugural Herman Lucerne event in Flamingo, FL chasing six different species over two days. They won that event. And, in 2001, they backed it up with another victory in the same event. To this day they are the only team to win successive titles in that event.

The bit was in their teeth now and there was no turning back.

In 2000 the IFA came along and began their redfish series. The Watts boys were there too. Over the next several years they notched back to back wins, Championship Titles, Team of the Year, and were a constant and persistent force to be reckoned with. Their pervasive success continued with the ESPN Redfish Cup where they were the 2003 inaugural Port Aransas Cup Champions followed by a Championship win in Venice, LA and, subsequently, Team of the Year honors.

Additionally, they have won Team of the Year on the FLW redfish tour, have an uncountable number of Top Ten finishes, and may be the only team to hold Team of the Year honors on all three of those tours.

Not only have they been incredibly consistent with their competitive prowess, but they have contributed widely to the advancement of the sport of competitive redfishing. Their very notoriety brought much interest and involvement by anglers and industries to the sport. They helped make competitive redfishing a topic of general conversation thereby increasing its visibility and popularity.

Current Day: The Watts brothers are much more sedate now and don’t get on the water competitively as much as they have in days past. This is mostly because their days and weeks are consumed traveling and building the brand for one of the finest fishing products in the world – Power Pole! www.power-pole.com/

Oh, they still travel to competitions regularly. But now they are there as Power Pole company support instead of as competitors. This makes the other competitors happy on both accounts.

It is for good reason that these guys are known around the industry as the Godfathers of competitive redfishing. It is also for good reason that they are the first Legacy team invited to compete in the 2019 Redfish World Series in St. Bernard parish Louisiana www.sbpg.net

It remains to be seen if their competitive juices, their desire to win, their innate talents can be re-ignited, stoked to a high intensity, and brought once more to the pinnacle of victory in the fiery crucible of competition just one… more… time.

November 04, 2019
For Immediate Release
Chalmette, LA

ENGEL COOLERS joins the 2019 Redfish World Series and is proud to announce the next four teams that will be competing for the Title of World Champion.

The inaugural Redfish World Series – “Where Champions are Born and Legends Begin” – will take place in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana September 26-29, 2019. Only 48 of the top redfish teams in the country, including several Legacy Teams from the past, will make the cut for this unique event. Never in the history of competitive redfish angling has a field of this magnitude been assembled and the team that comes out on top will truly be the Redfish World Champions.

Our field of sponsors continues to grow as well.

This week we welcome Engel Coolers. Visit their site - www.engelcoolers.com - thank 'em for helping to make the Redfish World Series a truly awesome event, and see what the buzz is all about with their product lines!

Forty of the 48 teams have now been announced!

The excitement to see which teams are joining this select group is growing daily. Fans, family, and sponsors across the country are holding their breath hoping that their favorite team will be chosen.

The following four teams join the first 36 in their pursuit of the title of Redfish World Champion:  

1. Bobby Weir/Matt Schoen
2. Rennie Clark/Ashley Lowder
3. Ron Hueston/Chris Hueston
4. Jeremy Heimes/Mickey Gibbs

Congratulations to these teams and best of luck as we move forward with additional announcements coming weekly.

Don’t see your favorite team yet?

​Check back daily so you don’t miss the excitement of the upcoming announcements.

(36 now confirmed – Just 12 teams to go!)

The inaugural Redfish World Series – “Where Champions are Born and Legends Begin” – will take place in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana September 26-29, 2019. Only 48 of the top redfish teams in the country, including several Legacy Teams from the past, will make the cut for this unique event. Never in the history of competitive redfish angling has a field of this magnitude been assembled and the team that comes out on top will truly be the Redfish World Champions.

Our field of sponsors continues to grow as well.

This week we welcome T-H Marine and Torch Eyewear. Visit their sites, thank 'em for helping to make the Redfish World Series a truly awesome event, and see what the buzz is all about with their product lines!, 

Thirty-three of the 48 teams have already been announced and the excitement to see which teams are joining this select group is growing daily. Fans, family, and sponsors across the country are holding their breath hoping that their favorite team will be chosen.

The following three teams join the first 33 in their pursuit of the title of Redfish World Champion:

1. Trevor Taylor/Steve Ward
2. Chance Angel/Kevin Roberts
3. Chris Logan/Jason White

 
Congratulations to these teams and best of luck as we move forward with additional announcements coming weekly.
Don’t see your favorite team yet? Check back daily so you don’t miss the excitement of the upcoming announcements.

October 23, 2018 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Chalmette, LA

Redfish World Series Announces Four More Teams

(33 now confirmed – 15 more coming soon)

The inaugural Redfish World Series – “Where Champions are Born and Legends Begin” – will take place in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana September 26-29, 2019. Only 48 of the top redfish teams in the country will make the cut for this unique event. Never in the history of competitive redfish angling has a field of this magnitude been assembled and the team that comes out on top will truly be the Redfish World Champions.

Twenty nine of the 48 teams have already been announced and the excitement to see which teams are joining this select group is growing daily. Fans, family, and sponsors across the country are holding their breath hoping that their favorite team will be chosen.

The following four teams join the first 29 in their pursuit of the title of Redfish World Champion:

1. Glenn Winningham/Jamie Pinter
2. Kyle Potts/Cody Chivas
3. Jason Prieto/Brian Visnovec
4. Jason Dail/ Allen Jernigan

 
Congratulations to these teams and best of luck as we move forward with additional announcements coming weekly.
Don’t see your favorite team yet? Check back daily so you don’t miss the excitement of the upcoming announcements.

​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Redfish World Series Announces Four More Teams 

St. Bernard Parish, LA - October 18, 2018 


Twenty Nine teams are now confirmed for the inaugural Redfish World Series – “Where Champions are Born and Legends Begin”. This World Class event will take place in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana in September 2019. Only 48 of the top redfish teams in the country will make the cut for this unique event. Never in the history of competitive redfish angling has a field of this magnitude been assembled and the team that comes out on top will truly be the World Champions.

Twenty five of the 48 teams have already been announced and the excitement to see which teams are joining this select group is growing daily. Fans, family, and sponsors across the country are holding their breath hoping that their favorite team will be chosen.

The following four teams join the first 25 in their pursuit of the title of World Champion:

1. Jimmy Lloyd/Jeff Steckler
2. Dwayne Eschete/Kevin Akin
3. Derek Taylor/Brian Goude
4. Marvie Benford/Rob Cowan

 
Congratulations to these teams and best of luck as we move forward with additional announcements coming weekly.

Don’t see your favorite team yet? Check back daily so you don’t miss the excitement of the upcoming announcements.

by Gritter Griffin

​​​ 
The Redfish World Series is the ONLY redfish competition event in the world that brings together, by invitation only, the nation’s top redfish anglers for a fierce four-day competition to determine a true - Redfish World Champion
 
The first ever World Championship competition will be held September 26-29, 2019 in the world-renowned capitol of redfish - St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.
 
Redfish World Series, LLC has reached a ten-year commitment with St. Bernard Parish to host this event. RWS, LLC is also working with the parish government to create a Redfish Festival specifically for the week of, and culminating in, the Redfish World Series.
 
Similar festivals and events in the parish held in the same location over the past several years have attracted 90,000 to 120,000 attendees per event. This will be the biggest and most promoted event in parish history.
 
The Redfish World Series is the most prestigious and unique redfishing event ever held. Envisioned, designed, developed, and produced specifically to showcase the premier redfish angling talent in the world along with the top tier of the industry in product design and function, the Redfish World Series is the new standard in competitive redfishing and promotion.
 
Only 48 of the highest performing redfish teams in the country will be invited to compete in this annual event. They will be selected from across the spectrum of redfish competition tours and trails from North Carolina to Texas and every coastal area in between. These are the most consistently and highest performing teams from the Inshore Fishing Association, Rudy’s Pro Redfish Series, Florida Pro Redfish Series, Elite Redfish Series, Southern Redfish Cup Series, and America’s Redfish Cup.
 
The RWS is also building fan and participation base for all these tours by designating specific events on each tour (beginning in 2019) that are immediate qualifiers for the following year’s World Championship. There are also invitees from a special cadre of veteran anglers that have been a part of the history, legacy, and growth of redfish competition.
 
The anticipation of the release of the list of invitees for the first ever World Championship has every aspect of Social Media buzzing. There has never been a field of anglers with this scale of talent, competing in this type venue, for a goal of this magnitude. The Redfish World Series is setting an unparalleled precedent for numbers of impressions and sustained interest.

​                                                                                              First 24 Teams 2019

Only 48 teams will be invited to participate in the inaugural Redfish World Series taking place in St Bernard Parish Louisiana September 26-29, 2019. The following list is the first half of the field in random order.

There is no preference, weight, or ranking assigned to the order of the list nor is there any bearing on being on the first list released versus the second. All the teams on this list have confirmed that they will be participating in the 2019 Redfish World Series.

If you know some of these team members send them a congratulations note because these are the first teams that are going to have the opportunity to win the most prestigious tournament in competitive redfish history.

The Champions of the Redfish World Series will receive an exclusive bronze redfish sculpture with a value in excess of $5000 each, a championship ring valued at $1500 each, and a check for a guaranteed $50,000 in cash! Their names will be engraved on a permanent plaque on yet another exclusive redfish sculpture that will be maintained in the St. Bernard Parish government office building lobby.

There is only one first of anything and one of these 24 teams may very well be the first ever legitimate World Champions of competitive redfishing! 

​Here are your first 24 teams:

                                                                                 Redfish World Series Format - 2019

Day 0 – Wednesday - Off the Water Day – no competitors or any of their equipment allowed on the water for any reason except repairs or maintenance with prior approval and accompanied by RWS staff or designee. There will be a White Tablecloth Captains Meeting early that evening and there may be “required attendance” events during the day as well.

Day 1 – Thursday – All teams. Random order blastoff. Bag Limit: Two (2) slot redfish.

Day 2 – Friday – All teams. Reverse order blastoff. Bag Limit: Three (3) slot redfish.

• At the completion of Day 2 the Top 12 teams will retain their two-day weight and will advance to a Day 3 & 4 Gold Division to compete for the title of Redfish World Champion. In the Gold Division the weight from days 1 & 2 are carried over and the final standing in the event is determined by the total cumulative weight from all four (4) days of competition.

 

• The remaining 36 teams will discard their Day 1 & 2 weights and enter a Silver Division where they will compete in a one day shootout on Day 3 (ONLY Day 3 weight counts) for additional cash and prizes. The Top 5 teams in this division will receive a cash prize and ALL remaining teams in this division that complete the Day 3 shootout by weighing at least one fish that day will be awarded a very nice prize package by random draw.

 

• Bubble Team – In addition to moving to the Silver Division, the Team that finishes in 13th place after Day 1 & 2 will receive a “Bubble Team” cash award plus an additional prize (TBD) for each member of the team.

Day 3 – Saturday

• Gold Division Teams – Blastoff in order of current standing. Bag Limit: Four (4) slot redfish. The weight continues to accumulate.

 

• Silver Division Teams – Blastoff in random order. Bag Limit: Three (3) redfish – One fish under 27 inches and two fish up to 28 inches. Total weight of the three redfish bag determines final ranking in the Silver Division.

 
​Day 4 – Sunday

• Gold Division Teams - Blastoff by order of current standing. Bag Limit: Five (5) slot redfish. The final ranking of the Gold Division is determined by the cumulative weight of All Four Days of competition. The winner of this division will be crowned as the 2019 Redfish World Champions. 

More Info:

• Entry $2500 – Deadline Feb 28, 2019. Teams not paid by deadline will forfeit invite.
• Entry fees are non-refundable but are transferable (only in specific circumstances)
• Teams are free to use the Redfish World Series logo and name to promote their invitation to their sponsors, fans, and families
• Team partners are permanent after midnight May31, 2019 (except in extraordinary circumstance)
• Captains Meeting Wednesday September 25, 2019 St Bernard Civic Center
• After all 48 invitations have been issued, accepted and paid - Complete Rules will follow
• “Burning” is absolutely prohibited from September 21-29, 2019, will definitely be included on the polygraph, and is grounds for immediate disqualification. This will be discussed further at a later date.

by Gritter Griffin

Most of the content of this Part 1 comes from Dr. Franklin’s book but it is the message of destruction that is so vitally important. We are rapidly killing off an entire level of the food chain and when a gap like that occurs in a system so perfectly balanced, a widespread ecological disaster will certainly follow.

Recreational and commercial fishermen know menhaden (pogies) are the best bait for almost all carnivores, but their numbers have been in serious decline since the mid-1800s.

You may know menhaden by a different name — “pogies” — or you may have never heard of them at all. Pogies are small, bony, oily fish that many people will never encounter at the grocery store. Pogies are also a keystone species in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic seaboard and when they disappear, bad things start to happen: The ocean becomes murky, and algae blooms spread unchecked. Menhaden are filter feeders, the janitors of the Atlantic — they have always been around to clean up the mess.

And now they’re not.

H. Bruce Franklin, author of “The Most Important Fish in the Sea” notes that - “You won’t see menhaden in the fish market or supermarket seafood section but they are present in the flesh of other fish lying there in the ice.”

“Northern New England was the scene of the largest menhaden fishery. During fall migration menhaden formed a school body with the vanguard reaching Cape Cod when the rear guard had not left Maine, 40 miles wide,” Franklin said.

But today the numbers of adult fish are 13 percent of what they once were. In 1889, utilizing rather primitive methods, Rhode Island harvested 112 million pounds of menhaden. Three years ago the total was 10 million.

Menhaden, Franklin said, are being decimated by a single company; Omega Protein, ground down (reduced) into oil and meal to be processed into hog and chicken feed, linoleum, cosmetics, lubricants, insecticide, paints, soap, and a multitude of other uses.

“None of the uses of menhaden are necessary. The only reason this industry exists is because it’s a little cheaper than the alternatives,” commented Franklin.

Omega Protein, originally the Zapata Corporation, was co-founded in 1953, Franklin noted with relish, by George H.W. Bush.
“They’re converting billions of menhaden into industrial commodities,” Franklin said. “From 1860 to the present catching menhaden has been this nation’s largest fishery. Since the end of the Civil War more menhaden have been caught by weight and by number than all other fin fisheries put together.”

One thousand fish can yield 18 gallons of oil.

They’re fished fish purse seines. Spotter planes locate the school and it is soon surrounded and swallowed.

“Each adult fish is only a pound but there are so many in the net it may now weigh as much as a blue whale,” Franklin said.

Native Americans planted menhaden with corn and taught the colonists to plow them into their fields as fertilizer – which they did - by the millions!

“They made larger scale agriculture possible,” Franklin ventured.

Menhaden are filter feeders, they lack teeth, and churn through clouds of plankton in Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic Coast, the Gulf Coast, and other estuaries.

“Each adult fish can filter four gallons of water a minute,” noted Franklin. “Turn on any faucet or hose and try to get four gallons a minute out of it - you cannot.”

In the mid 1800′s whaling ports were converted into menhaden ports. More than 100 processing factories were built. Over three hundred vessels were based in Maine alone.

“In 1879 Maine was the first state to ban the menhaden reduction industry from their waters,” Franklin noted. ”“But it was too late. The menhaden were gone.”

Only intermittently have they returned to waters north of Cape Cod, virtually disappearing from 1993-2004. Over time 11 other states followed the ban and the industry migrated down the coast landing in Virginia. People were recognizing their importance as food for bigger edible fish.
“By forcing people to rethink the predator-prey relationship menhaden demanded a revolution in human thought,” Franklin said.

But, after WWII the industry drafted surplus warships into the fight.

“The weapons of war could now be hurled at huge offshore schools that had withstood three generations of efforts,” declared Franklin.
The schools shrank in size as fish were harvested far offshore in their spawning grounds.

“As the menhaden population crashed, smaller companies went bankrupt,” Franklin noted, and soon, it was Omega Protein that was left with their fleet of 61 ships and 31 planes.

As a note of comparison, “By the 1930s the bay’s oyster population was one percent of what it was in the 1890s and today menhaden are headed for the same fate,” Franklin said.

The bay’s catch for menhaden has been capped at 109,000 metric tons but the 2007 haul was just half that.
“That’s a true crash and portends a catastrophe for the whole coast,” Franklin said.

The New Jersey population has since rebounded but the fleet followed them north. Franklin would like to prevent that.
“There is a bill in Congress to shut the menhaden fishery in federal waters,” reported Franklin. “Given a chance this wonderfully fecund fish could come back.”
​
“The time has come, actually it came in 1882, for our government to get into the act,” he concluded.
​
More to come,  specifically about the Gulf Coast pogey fishery, in Part 2.

by Chris Christian

If there’s an easier place to catch reds in the fall, it would have to be a hatchery.

Every time I launch at Cedar Key during the fall, I expect to see it. I don’t always, but when I do it still amazes me.

Today I found what I was looking for not three miles from the ramp: a river of bronze flowing steadily across a crystalline, 4-foot-deep grassflat. The school of reds was at least 30 feet wide, 100 feet long and they were packed tight together. Sight fishing doesn’t get much easier than that.

What makes scenes like this so common in this corner of Florida? Geography seems to play a big role. Cedar Key differs in this respect from other fishing holes in the Big Bend. It’s basically a huge point jutting from the shallow backwaters to the Gulf of Mexico. In some places, not even 2,000 yards separates 15-foot-plus Gulf water from a 2-foot flat. You don’t find that kind of terrain in many areas of the Big Bend, and it’s not much different than a long point on a freshwater lake. That makes it a magnet for a variety of gamefish species much of the year.

October is my favorite time to visit Cedar Key. It’s when redfish gang up in large schools, often within five miles of the ramp. Once those reds settle in, they don’t leave the immediate area. They don’t have to.

The entire Cedar Key area inside Seahorse Key is nothing more than one big grassflat, dotted with a few small keys, and interspersed with deeper holes and a maze of channels. On rising water, reds follow baitfish up onto the flats or to the oyster and spartina grass edges of the keys, but they don’t have to leave when the tide bottoms out. They just drop back to the nearest pothole or channel where they await the next flood tide.

Anglers who time their arrival around the last two hours of the flood and the first two hours of the ebb tide will find reds shallow. They’ll be roaming right up to the grass lines and oyster mounds on many of the smaller keys, with Rattlesnake, Snake (the west side is best) and Deadman’s Keys, as well as the inside of McCrary Cove, being top spots to try.

You don’t normally find large schools on these shorelines—it’s mostly singles and smaller pods—but there can be plenty of them. If it’s early and late in the day (or overcast) a topwater plug is often my first choice. Watching a 30-inch red assault a surface bait is worth the price of admission, and you also have an excellent chance of taking some big trout, which will be right up on the grasslines with the reds.

Plastic-tail jigs are another top choice, with a combo of red/chartreuse being a proven producer. So, too, are the newer saltwater spinnerbaits, particularly ones with a safety-pin gold spinner over a soft-plastic jig. If the water is high and the fish are in the spartina, spinnerbaits are more weedless than a jig, and reds eat them just as well.

A gold Johnson spoon is also effective, but if you’re working around oyster bars you can leave a lot of them on the bottom. A better bet over shell is a 1⁄2-ounce floating gold Rat-L-Trap. Veteran guide Jimmy Keith introduced me to this lure a decade ago and it has become a favorite of mine for reds around shallow oysters. This lure will run about two feet deep on a steady retrieve and has the same redfish-mesmerizing characteristics as the spoon, but it floats at rest. When oysters attack you can just throw some slack in the line and it will float free. Over extremely shallow oyster you can dig it down to just tick the top with a stop and go retrieve, and the reds love it.

Pounding the banks is a good way to spend the top hours of the tide, especially during dim light periods, but you’ll be fishing for smaller groups of fish. If you want to stay up to your belt buckle in reds, you need to find the large roaming schools. The top spot for that is the big grassflat between the east side of Seahorse Key and the west side of Deadman’s Key.

This is a big area, and during the 20 years I’ve been fishing it I seldom see more than a couple of boats out in the middle of it; most anglers stick around the shallows on Deadman or Seahorse Keys. But, that open flat can hold some massive schools of reds.

Finding them can take a bit of time. If you’re running a flats skiff with a poling platform and a trolling motor on the bow, you’ve got the most efficient means to do it, since the trolling motor can cover a lot of water while the angler on the poling platform has excellent visibility. If you don’t see the big bronze flash of a couple hundred reds, then the “push” or the feeding splashes that school will make in shallow water should show.

Once you find a school, you can stay with them for awhile. If you don’t charge into them, they’re going to continue to wander and feed. You can pick fish off the edges, and then go back to the school. If you do spook them, stick around the area, because they usually regroup fairly close to where they spooked.

One of my favorite rigs in this situation is a rattling cork with an 18-inch leader sporting a 1⁄4-ounce plastic-tail jig. I can toss this a long way on a 7-foot spinning rod, lay it right in front of the school, and when they get to it, a couple of twitches virtually guarantees a hookup. If I’m really feeling sporty I’ll trail a 1⁄16-ounce jig behind a topwater plug. They’ll hit one or the other, and sometimes both, which can makes things real interesting.

They’ll also whack jigs, spoons, topwater plugs, jerkbaits or just about anything else you’d care to throw. Reds stacked that tightly are very competitive.

Anglers who opt for a fly rod don’t always have it that easy. If you approach fish cautiously you’ll earn a hookup, but the resulting close-range commotion may spook the school enough that it’ll take a long time for them to regroup.

Veteran guide Jim Dupre found a solution to this problem. As he showed me over a decade ago, you don’t have to bring your angler to the school—you can just pull a pod of redfish off of the school and bring them to your angler.

The procedure was simple: Take a 7-foot spinning rod spooled with light line (6- or 8-pound mono, or an even smaller diameter in
braid), add a 1⁄2-ounce gold spoon without a hook, and toss it from a distance at any school of reds sighted. Reel the spoon at a smooth and steady pace, keeping it within a foot or so of the surface, and you can count on some reds trying to kill it. Since the spoon has no hook, about all they can do is bang at it—but they will follow it.

You might have only three or four fish follow the spoon teaser, or maybe a dozen. Either way, every one of them is trying to kill that spoon and the angler on the “teasing rod” will feel every bump and bang.

Keep the spoon within a foot or so of the surface so you can see the fish clearly. When that pod of fish gets within range of the fly rodder, just drop the rodtip, yank hard, and send the spoon flying over the boat.

The end result is a pod of reds, close to the boat, fired up and looking to crush the first edible-size thing they see.
A surface hair bug or popper is an eminently suitable substitute, although any streamer pattern will do.

Dupre saved his spoons that had been through the wringer so many times that the hooks were shot, but any 1⁄2- to 3⁄4-ounce gold spoon should work if the hook is removed. And, his teasing technique was not limited to those schools he could see. There were times when surface chop made visibility so poor that the tactic du jour was to simply fling the spoon as far as you could in likely areas—and reel it steadily—and when you felt the bangs and taps of the reds you knew you had found a school.

Just how big those fish will be, comes under the heading of “it depends.” On one of my recent trips I was into a school whose members all ran between 26 and 32 inches. They definitely school by size, and if you’re not happy with what you’ve found, go find a different school. There can be several roaming the flats at the same time.

Given that some of the most productive areas are just minutes from the ramp, it’s not hard to see red at Cedar Key during the fall.

Low Tide Works, Too!

The most active reds in Cedar Key will be found on the flood tide, but with only two tides a day you can’t always count on catching it when the opportunity to fish arises. Getting there on a low tide doesn’t mean you can’t catch reds. You just have to shift tactics.

Low water will drop the reds back to deeper holes until the next flood and there are a number of good areas within a mile, or less, of the flats they roam best on high water. The area immediately inside the northeast corner of Seahorse Key is riddled with deeper potholes, and Deadman’s Channel runs along the north side of Deadman’s Key, brushes the southern end of North Key, and extends well outward to the west. Both are right next to where the reds roam on high water and traditionally hold them on the bottom end of the tide.

While lures usually get the nod on the flood tide, many prefer bait (live or cut) during low water, since the fish are not quite as active. Live finger mullet are great if you can find them, but many local experts catch plenty of reds on cut mullet chunks or strips or blue crab chunks.

The Seahorse Key potholes are easy to fish. Pin a finger mullet (or a mullet strip or chunk) on a 1⁄4-ounce jighead and work each hole as you come to it. If it’s holding reds you’ll know fairly quickly.
​
The channel is a much bigger area and I prefer to ease along it with the trolling motor, watching the depthfinder to stay right on the hardest drop, while dragging a jig/mullet behind me. Once the first red is hooked, I can drop the anchor and soak baits to get into the rest of the school.