ARE YOU READY FOR SOME REDFISH!
The famous intro from Mr. Pat Malone the person in charge of the Elite Redfish Series. A serious tournament for the elite anglers in the the redfish community a tournament series that is held through out the coast, with the championship show down and where the angler with enough points to gain the angler of the year award.
The rules are simple, you catch 3 legal redfish for that state and bring them in on artificial lures and anglers are not allowed to get out of the boat or fish with more than one rod on hand. Slot sizes may very from state to state so you must be aware of the legal limit size. Once the anglers qualify for the championship they come and meet at South Padre Island down the the gulf coast, the Island is a true gem of the lone star state, with clear water and great fishery, the city of South Padre Island rolls out the red carpet for these athletes.
Along with that the Discovery Channel is there to film on the boat and weigh in’s which brings a big dynamic to the event as the world is able to see what these anglers go through. This is a 3 day tournament. Anglers from all over participate in the most viewed tournament in saltwater, as the anglers fish with a partner they fish as a team and they get team points. Something a little different for the usual single man tournament. It was sad to hear that local favorite pro Travis Land was knocked out for coming in one minute late but when you fish on this level no rules are bent and we look forward to seeing him back next year.
From day one the pro’s faced adverse weather from scattered showers and wind to flat calm water, making the water becoming a bit more dingy than normal as we have clear water almost year round making it easy for some sight casting. 90 percent of the anglers are sight fishermen and they do it well, but in a recent interview with some of the anglers they said it takes more than just seeing the fish as they act a little different. They would see the fish and they just had lock jaw a term used when talking about fish that are in a negative mood.
There is many factors that take play into making the fish strike the lure and the anglers say it can be lure shape, lure action, lure scent and it was a no brainier that the pro’s went to Berkley Gulp. Gulp has won more money per tournament than any soft plastic on the market and they make every shape and color you can possible think of but the anglers found that New Penny Mud Minnow/ Croaker on 1/4-3/8oz jig head just popping off the bottom in front of redfish. The other go to bait of choice was the Gulp 3 inch shrimp in white/pink, white/chruse and the Berkley Grass Pig in Swamp Gas color rigged weedless.
Anglers say they had to weed through all the trout before they could get the redfish, as the SPI fishery is flourishing with trout. Angler Kevin Ankin and Dwayne Eshchete who have been leading the tournament with angler Kevin Pancho Harvey of Louisiana not far behind.
Anglers traveling north up the coast, only one team would come out on top and they fought for every inch of the bay from all the rest of the anglers and weekend fisherman and at the end it was Team Paul Braly, Bartt Caron of Texas winning more than $60,000 grand champion and $60,000 as team of the year and two Tide Water Boats. Wow what a feat to accomplish in this level of fishing.
It was nail biting action from day one and it was great to see all the pro’s helping each other out with either Gulp lures or with loading and unloading the boats, in all they are all good friends that think of each other as brothers in arms.
Well that is your RPP coverage of the Elite Redfish Series, From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank Pat Malone for the invite, Pure Fishing, RPP Magazine and to all the Pro’s who called me by my name… Taco, Gracias Amigos.
Sir Edward Thomas “Taco ED”
