SARASOTA, Fla. – Blair Wiggins of Cocoa, Fla., and Travis Tanner of Titusville, Fla., landed two redfish weighing 14 pounds, 9 ounces Friday to lead the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division event in Sarasota with a two-day total of four redfish weighing 29-06. Teams are competing in the tournament, presented by Yamaha, for as much as $50,000 cash.
“We are very happy to be in the top five,” Tanner said. “We stuck with the same game plan as we did yesterday and it worked well for us. The bite seems to be better in the afternoon but with the two fish we weighed in today, one was caught early morning and the other was caught late afternoon. The tide has everything to do with the bite.”
Tanner and his team caught a total of 14 redfish today with one of their key spots being only a few miles away from the boat ramp.
“Tomorrow, we are going to play it by ear. It all depends on what the weather does, and what the tide is doing,” Tanner said. “We have a couple of other areas we can try if the wind isn’t too strong and the water isn’t up. The wind is supposed to pick up and that won’t help us.
“We feel pretty good about tomorrow and would love to come in with at least 13 pounds,” Tanner said.
Rounding out the top five teams who will advance to the final round are Geoffrey Page of Venice, Fla., and Terry Brantley of Arcadia, Fla. (four redfish, 28 pounds, 7 ounces); Daniel Benson of Brandon, Fla., and Matthew Ryan of Belleair Bluffs, Fla. (four redfish, 27 pounds, 14 ounces); Roger Crafton of Boca Grande, Fla., and John Ochs of Englewood, Fla. (four redfish, 27 pounds, 13 ounces) and John Henninger of Jacksonville, Fla., and John Eggers of Jacksonville Beach, Fla. (four redfish, 27 pounds, 9 ounces).
Teams caught 101 redfish Friday weighing 550 pounds, 14 ounces.
Qualifying tournaments in the $1.9 million Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series – the most lucrative redfish tournament trail in the world – are three-day events. The winning team will be determined Saturday based on the heaviest three-day accumulated weight.
Boats will launch from Sarasota Cay Club Saturday morning at 7 a.m. The final weigh-in will be held Saturday at the Wal-Mart store located at 13140 S. Tamiami Trail in Osprey, Fla., beginning at 4 p.m.
The FLW Redfish Series consists of two divisions – Eastern and Western – and the $318,500 Redfish Open. Each division is comprised of four $170,000 qualifying tournaments. The top 50 teams from each division based on Land O’Lakes Team of the Year standings will advance to the no-entry-fee $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship to be held Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in Biloxi, Miss. The championship winner will take home as much as $100,000.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
Awards are based on a full field of 125 boats in every tournament.