Patterson-Phillips lead in Port Aransas

Big weights highlight day one at FLW Redfish Series Western event

PORT ARANSAS, Texas – They say everything is bigger in Texas, and apparently that includes redfish. At the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series event in Port Aransas, Texas, six teams weighed in limits topping the 16-pound mark Friday.

One of those limits belonged to Mike Patterson and Brett Phillips, both of Rockport, Texas, who weighed 16 pounds, 14 ounces to take the early lead.

Like many of the top teams, Patterson and Phillips made a run of about one hour this morning before they started fishing. But once they got to their best spot, it didn’t take long for them to boat two reds over 8 pounds apiece.

“We got in and got out,” said Phillips. “We were done fishing at 10:30 and back here at the marina by noon.”

The top team reported blind-casting soft plastics to shorelines featuring mud and grass in 18 inches of water.

“We saw some other big fish in the area today, so I think we should be in good shape,” Phillips said. “We are going to shoot for another 15 or 16 pounds tomorrow.”

Shaw-Sahadi drift for second

The redfish team of Kevin Shaw and Kevin Sahadi of Corpus Christi, Texas, weighed in two redfish for 16 pounds, 5 ounces to take second place.

Shaw and Sahadi made an 80-mile run to their spot this morning and caught about a dozen reds by drift fishing “Texas style.”

“We located a big school of reds earlier in the week, but they have been scattered out by all of the tower boats running around looking for them,” Shaw said. “The fish are still there, they’re just in much smaller groups, and they’ve moved out so you can’t see them; you have to drift fish in about 4 feet of water to find them.

Shaw and Sahadi started out by making long drifts and blind-casting D.O.A. CAL soft-plastic paddle tails until they got a few bites.

“Once we got some bites, we honed in on the key area,” Shaw said. “Our first drift took about 45 minutes, the next drift took about 30 minutes, and by the end of the day, we had it down to a precise15-minute drift across the key area.”

Larson and Auld also in second

Tied for second with Shaw and Sahadi are Jeff Larson of Friendswood, Texas, and Steven Auld of Baytown, Texas, also with 16 pounds, 5 ounces.

Larson and Auld are making the shortest run of the top five teams, opting to run about 25 miles to their primary area.

The team is casting spoons in about 18 inches of water.

“We caught seven fish by 10:30 and quit fishing,” Auld said. “We did sight-fish one of our keepers today, but for the most part we’re blind-casting to places where we know the fish should be.”

Based on the weights today, Auld figures it’s going to take 32 pounds to win tomorrow.

Barton and Barton fourth

Brothers Charlie Barton of Port Lavaca, Texas, and Jack Barton of Laguna Vista, Texas, grabbed the fourth-place position today with 16 pounds, 3 ounces.

The Barton’s made a 52-mile run this morning and are the only top-five team strictly sight-fishing.

“We have a low-draft boat, and we like fishing up in places some of these other boats can’t get,” Jack Barton said. “We spent most of the day fishing way back up in the flats in 8 to 10 inches of water. We probably caught a total of six fish up in the shallows today.”

Koliba-Shimek fifth

Kurt Koliba of Port Lavaca, Texas, and Michael Shimek of Bay City, Texas, caught 16 pounds, 2 ounces today to move into fifth place.

The Koliba-Shimek team is also sight-fishing, but happened upon a large school of reds feeding on shrimp to catch their best fish today.

“We saw the birds diving and found a big school of reds underneath them,” Shimek said. “We caught some other keepers sight-fishing, but the ones we kept came from the schooling fish – they were much stockier for their size.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pro teams in the Redfish Series Western in Port Aransas Texas:

6th: Paul Heffernan of Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas, and David Green of Boerne, Texas, 16-01

7th: Chief Tauzin of Kingwood, Texas, and Clark Jordon of Pearland, Texas, 15-07

8th: Kirk Kuykendall of Houston, Texas, and Jeff Schneider of Bellaire, Texas, 15-05

9th: Ray Van Horn of Tarpon Springs, Fla., and C.A. Richardson of St. Petersburg, Fla., 14-14

10th: Eric Krysinski and Thomas Malloy, both of Houston, Texas, 14-07

Competition resumes tomorrow 7 a.m. at the Roberts Point Park in Port Aransas.