• TEAM EAT ME TACKLE MAKES REDFISH TOUR DEBUT
• LOCALS CLAIM $43,000 PRIZE IN JACKSONVILLE TOURNAMENT
• UNCOOPERATIVE REDFISH COSTS TEAM EAT ME TACKLE A WIN

Eat Me Tackle’s Jamie Havard and Bob Morris Accept 6th Place Honors.

The event held in the small town located southeast of New Orleans took place on September 14, 2002. The bayou was threatened by an impending tropical storm, but tour officials made the call to hold the tournament as forecasts had Hanna making landfall to the east where the weather would be the worst.

Anglers were faced with 25-35 mph winds and sideways rain early on, but the skies shone blue by noon and the fishing improved. According to Havard, “Just after lunch we caught our first good fish on a spinnerbait that weighed over 8lbs but was short enough to keep.” (Redfish Tour anglers are judged on the combined weight of two fish that fall within an 18” – 27” size limit)

Bob Morris and Tournament Director Grady Warren Show Two Bayou Bulls.

As the team worked small creeks in the marsh, locally known as trounasses, they finally stumbled upon a school of 10-20 good-sized fish and caught another redfish using a Mepps spoon that weighed 8.85 lbs to round out their 17.17 lb. limit. The 6th place finish was their best of the year.

Eric Mannino and Paul Jueckstock of Edgewater, FL who were followed by local anglers Todd DuFour and Alden Bourgeois in 2nd place won the event with 18.22 lbs. Of the 100-boat field, 83 teams managed a two fish limit despite the tough conditions – again proving the strength of the Louisiana fishery.

LOCALS CLAIM $43,000 PRIZE IN JACKSONVILLE TOURNAMENT

Jacksonville Locals Claim Winning Prize.

Jacksonville, FL – A pair of locals fishing their first Ranger/Mercury Redfish Tour event together showed that local knowledge combined with a solid game plan could pay off in a big way. Chaz Adams and Craig Etheridge of Jacksonville Beach combined a two day aggregate of 25.57 lbs. to take the grand prize of a fully rigged Ranger/Mercury boat package and cash valued at $43,465 – the largest purse on tour to date.

According to Adams, the team worked flooded grassbeds on higher tides using spinnerbaits and gold spoons to get their limit on the first day of the two-day event. Seeing no need to change their pattern, they returned to small creeks in the Intracoastal Waterway south of Jacksonville to repeat day one’s success again on Saturday.

Team eatmetackle.com – Bob Morris and Jamie Havard, were confident in home waters following a 6th place finish the prior week, but left the event empty handed with a poor performance. Their woes were highlighted on day one by a failed trolling motor and a topwater plug that found itself deeply lodged in Morris’ thigh. Morris reported the best thing that happened that day was having the lure “surgically removed” by television personality Capt. Rick Murphy of the Sportsman’s Adventure show. They finished 55th out of the 100-boat field.

The father and son team of Terry and T.D. Lacoss also used local knowledge to bring home a 2nd place finish with a four fish limit weighing 25.41lbs. Keeping it in the family were brothers Thad and Troy Robichaux who traveled from Louisiana to take the 3rd place check.

UNCOOPERATIVE REDFISH COSTS TEAM EAT ME TACKLE A WIN

The Paycheck That Got Away

Sarasota, FL – One of the toughest factors an angler is faced with when competing on the Ranger/Mercury Redfish Tour is dealing with the 18”-27” slot size limit the fish must fall within to qualify. Compounding the problem is the fact that there is no agreed upon way to determine how to measure the fish – considering that a redfish may have a tail that is longer on the top or bottom than the middle depending on how it falls on the measuring board. Sometimes the fish will “flare” its tail, which makes the measurement at its center accurate while other times it may “relax” its tail, which makes it longer at either tip.

Confused? So are many touring pros who strive to find the heaviest fish that falls just (within a milimeter) shy of the 27” top end limit that is mandated by Florida law. There literally can be up to a 1/2” difference in length depending on how the fish lays its tail when measured by tournament officials as Team eatmetackle.com discovered on October 12, 2002.

Fishing the turtle grass covered flats north of Charlotte Harbor, Bob Morris and Jamie Havard were alerted to the presence of a large school of redfish by the sight of at least 30-40 tails waving above the surface of the crystal clear water. The duo poled their Ranger flats skiff within casting range and immediately picked off a big redfish using a Mister Twister Exude jerkbait in the golden bream pattern. Unfortunately, the fish measured in at over 30” and was released to fight another day.

Within the next six hours, the anglers played chess with the school of reds on a game board that was the flat and caught several more fish – including two that appeared to fall within the slot limit and weighed a hefty 17.1 lbs on digital scales.

Upon arrival at the weigh-in, Havard and Morris found that the leader board showed Eric Mannino and Paul Jueckstock of Edgewater, FL had the lead with 16.02 lbs. A crowd of onlookers gasped as what appeared to be the winning stringer emerged from the eatmetackle.com boat’s livewell. Fish #1 measured within the limit and weighed a hefty 8.3 lbs but the top tip of fish #2 fell over the line. Tour rules mandate that a fish should be flipped over at least three times to give it a fair chance to measure – on the second measurement the fish was short on the top tip but long on the bottom! The third attempt again failed, and Morris disappointedly took the stage for an interview with tournament director Grady Warren.

When asked about the disqualified fish, Morris explained, “We were going for the win. These were the two smallest fish we caught all day but they both were right on the line and we were confident they would measure.” They still bested 64 of the 100 boat field even though they were only allowed to use the weight of the one fish, which incidentally, was the second largest weighed on the day. The 36th place finish maintained their standing in the “top 20” of the Team of the Year point race with one tournament left in the 2002 season.