The 2003 season of the Ranger/Mercury Redfish Tour presented by Cabela's kicked off January 10-11 in Titusville, FL with local guide Joe Porcelli and his brother Pete besting the field of 124 teams from around the southern United States.

Competing pros faced winds gusting to 25+ mph throughout the two day, lures-only, catch and release event. Further compounding the anglers' woes was the fact that water levels in the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River were lower than usual - making navigation on the shallow flats treacherous to say the least.

The winners had located a school of over 400 redfish in the northern part of the Mosquito Lagoon during practice and caught the winning aggregate weight of 27.17 lbs using jigs and soft plastics.

Tom Rowland and Rich Tudor, professional guides from Key West and Islamorada, FL respectively, took the second place position with 25.49 lbs. They developed a strategy of sight casting to single fish in the Mosquito Lagoon rather than chasing the big schools and used soft plastic jerk-baits and tube jigs to get their limit.

Television personality Rick Murphy of Homestead, FL and partner Goeffery Page of Sarasota, FL took the third place check by targeting deep water holes where they figured the redfish would be seeking warmer water due to a recent cold snap. The pair, who also fished the Mosquito Lagoon, used bucktail jigs and soft plastics to catch their four fish aggregate total of 25.32 lbs.

Team Eat Me Tackle's Bob Morris and Jamie Havard missed a paycheck by three spots with a 28th place finish. This was a vast improvement over the previous year's 75th place result and would be a good start for their season.

Of the 124 boat field, only 71 teams were able to weigh-in on what proved to be a tough two days on the water. Further proof that conditions were favoring the fish more than the fishermen is the fact that only 21 of the best professional redfishermen in the United States were able to catch a two-day limit of four fish.

The Ranger/Mercury Redfish Tour presented by Cabela's is a series of two-day catch and release, close to home, inshore saltwater events for the professional lure fisherman.

Day-Two Comeback Seals Victory for Randazzo and Mnichowski

The second stop on the Ranger/Mercury Redfish Tour presented by Cabela's was held March 22-23, 2003 with 125 of the top professional redfishermen in the country descending on Lafitte, Louisiana for a chance to win a fully rigged Ranger boat with Mercury outboard grand prize. Louisiana natives Anthony Randazzo and Andy Mnichowski were able to overtake the field with an 18.93 lb limit on the second day of competition that found them in the top spot with an overall aggregate weight of 35.55 lbs.

Most of the pros agreed that it would be necessary to seek out cleaner water or to use lures that employed vibration or scent to tempt fish that would fall within the tournament mandated slot limit of 18"-27". Of the 125-boat field, 98 teams weighed a four fish limit - proving that despite the conditions these people are called professionals for a reason.

Prize money was paid to the top 25 teams but perhaps the most exciting aspect of the event was the opportunity for these select teams to take the stage at the Louisiana Sportsman outdoors show held at the Superdome in New Orleans. Hundreds of spectators were treated to the weigh-in where the tournament fishermen were able to display their catches thanks to the Audubon Society who provided a mobile aquarium to transport the live redfish from the C-Way Marina to the dome.

2003 Tour Champion Ray Van Horne narrowly missed receipt of his second Ranger/Mercury prize boat package in the last five months after a solid two-day performance yielded a second place finish. Traveling from Tarpon Springs, FL with fellow touring pro C.A. Richardson, the pair developed a float plan that involved three spots in Barataria Bay that they methodically plugged with gold spoons for two straight days.

Jacksonville, Florida locals Tony Bozzella and Scott Guthrie took advantage of the salt marsh environment of the lower Barataria Bay that is similar to their home waters en-route to a third place result with a 34.77 lb total weight. Key to their success was the use of Tony's own TBS Jigs - black bucktails tipped with Exude soft plastics to be exact - which they used to catch their Saturday limit. "We were culling through 29" fish to get two that were short enough to keep at a spot Scott found during practice. We finally got our limit by about 9:00 and decided to leave the fish for Sunday," said Bozzella.

Bob Morris and Jamie Havard of Eat Me Tackle had another great time in the Louisiana marsh at the sight of their first tour victory in 2001, but could not get the big fish to cooperate this time. They managed a 28.98 lb aggregate - not good enough for a check but the points moved them into 16th place in the Team of the Year point race.

Northeast Florida Inshore Report
August, September, and October 2003
By Bob Morris

Northeast Florida will be in the dog days of summer during August and the first part of September which means that successful anglers will have to either go deep for their fish or get out early in the morning, at dusk, or at night. Some of the best trout fishing in the St. John's River will be found at night around lighted industrial and residential docks where the fish will be feeding on shrimp and small baitfish. Use lightweight jigs tipped with soft plastics, jerkbaits, or plastic shrimp imitations to target these aggressive feeders. Perhaps the most fun can be had on a 6-8 weight flyrod using small deceivers or clousers in light colors that mimic the glass minnows the trout are feeding on.

During the heat of the day, fish will be holding on the ledges of the Intracoastal Waterway between Daytona and Amelia Island. Work the mouths of small feeder creeks with 1/4 - 1/2 oz jigs during a falling tide for redfish, trout, and flounder. The most action will come in water depths between 8'-15'.

Late September and October can be the most productive months for our region with the migration of small finger mullet and shrimp. This is prime time for flounder fishing around the mouths of inlets and rivers such as Matanzas Inlet, St. Augustine Inlet, the St. John's River, Nassau Sound, and the St. Mary's River. Target rocks, bridge pilings, and submerged structure using a Carolina rigged live finger mullet with a 3/4 oz weight for big flounder that can weigh in excess of 10lbs at this time of year.