Henninger-Eggers ahead by tie-breaker in Biloxi

Florida team reels in record Redfish Series catch for championship lead

BILOXI, Miss. – The last Walmart FLW Redfish Series event in history is not going down without changing some Redfish Series history.

During the day-two weigh-in of the Redfish Series Championship in Biloxi, Miss., the Redfish Series record books were rewritten several times.

Due to an amended rule for the championship, which allows redfish teams to bring in one 18- to 30-inch redfish with their limits each day, the one-day heaviest weight records for the Redfish Series toppled today.

In all, the heaviest one-day weight was broken five times today due to the fact that redfish teams were able to bring in limits that included one fish close to 30 inches and one fish close to 27 inches.

In fact, it was the heaviest redfish limit in series history – two redfish weighing 19 pounds, 4 ounces – that allowed John Henninger and John Eggers, both of Jacksonville, Fla., to take the top spot by tie-breaker in the championship after day two.

Henninger and Egger’s limit was anchored by a 10-pound, 15-ounce redfish caught by Eggers. Even though the Redfish Series does not keep an official record of biggest single redfish weighed in, Tournament Director Dan Grimes noted that the behemoth red was the biggest single fish he remembers weighing in in the four-year history of the series.

The Florida team’s two-day limit now stands at 35 pounds, 11 ounces – the same weight as the second-place team made up of Dwayne Eschete and Blake Pizzolato. But since ties are broken by the heaviest one-day catch, the top spot goes to Henninger and Eggers.

“What a day!” exclaimed Henninger after weighing in the monster limit. “We were headed back over to Venice where we fished yesterday, but it was just too rough to get there. So we decided to give up the Venice run and stop short in Hopedale.

“After we altered our course and started running towards Hopedale, we ran across some shallow sandbars out in the middle of nowhere. We stopped on the bars, I climbed up and saw a couple of big reds cruising, and told John there was no need to continue to Hopedale – everything we needed was right there.”

Henninger sighted the reds from above, directed Eggers to them, and once Eggers made visible contact with the fish, he made the right casts. In all, the team caught some 20 redfish off the shallow bars.

“It was not like there was a big school,” Eggers noted. “They were mostly singles and doubles, and they wanted to eat. As soon as the bait hit the water, they were on it.”

The team relied on Berkley Gulp for their historic catch.

“We plan on going straight back there again tomorrow,” Eggers added. “There are plenty of fish there; plus it’s pretty close and will save us a bunch of fishing time.”

Eschete-Pizzolato second

For a few moments today, Dwayne Eschete of Mandeville, La., and Blake Pizzolato of Montgomery, Texas, actually held the record for the largest redfish limit weighed in – 18 pounds, 3 ounces. And consequently, they also held the lead at 35 pounds, 11 ounces.

But once Henninger and Eggers rained on their parade with their whopping 19-4 limit, Eschete and Pizzolato took the backseat in second place.

The M&M’s team battled their way through 5- and 6-foot waves this morning to reach the South Pass of Venice, La.

Once there, they targeted a shallow sandbar outside the pass in about a foot and half of water.

“This little bar is about a foot deep, maybe more, on top, and then it drops off into a little 3-foot hole behind it,” Eschete explained. “The current rolls over the shallow bar and then breaks into the hole, and that’s where the fish are. We can’t see the fish – it’s all blind-casting – but there are a bunch of fish there, and we have to cull through about 15 or 20 to get our weight.”

Thomason-Ordes third

Day-one leaders Charlie Thomason and Britt Ordes of Louisiana grabbed third place after day two with a two-day total of 34 pounds, 8 ounces.

Thomason and Ordes are relying on a number of spots they know well in their home waters near the Hopedale area.

“We got to our primary spot where we fished yesterday, and there was a porpoise in there just tearing it up,” Thomason said. “That place was trashed, so we just started hitting different spots that Britt and I know over there and culled through enough fish to get what we weighed today. We’re trying to save some fish over there, though. We didn’t want to burn up all of our fish before the final day.”

Yesterday the team was able to sight-fish, but today they relied on popping corks to catch their fish.

Weyel-Talley fourth

Robby Weyel of Comfort, Texas, and Brian Talley of Houston are in fourth place with a two-day total of 34 pounds, 7 ounces.

The Texas team is using popping corks in ponds near Venice to catch their fish.

“It’s a lot of rough boat riding and very little fishing,” Weyel said. “It takes a couple of hours to get over there and a couple hours to get back, and we’re probably only fishing maybe 30 or 40 minutes.”

“As long as the weather holds, we’ll do it again tomorrow,” Talley added.

Walker-Walker fifth

Rounding out the top five redfish teams to be fishing the final day of the Redfish Series Championship on Saturday is Shawn and Fred Walker of Florida with a two-day total of 32 pounds, 9 ounces.

The team is running to Louisiana each day and catching their fish in backwater ponds.

The third and final day of the FLW Redfish Series will begin a 7 a.m. Saturday from the Isle of Capri Marina.