Eschete-Pizzolato go out on top

M&M’s team brings in record catch to win final FLW Redfish Series Championship

BILOXI, Miss. – If there was ever a moment that defined saving the best for last in professional tournament redfishing, Dwayne Eschete of Mandeville, La., and Blake Pizzolato of Montgomery, Texas, experienced it today.

On the final day of the 2008 Walmart FLW Redfish Series Championship, and consequently the final day of the Redfish Series period, the M&M’s team of Eschete and Pizzolato weighed in the heaviest redfish limit in Redfish Series history – two redfish weighing an incredible 21 pounds, 10 ounces – to win the series-ending event with a three-day total of 57 pounds, 5 ounces worth $75,000.

“I’m numb,” said an exasperated Eschete after the win. “This has been an incredible finish to an incredible season. (The team also won the Redfish Series event out of Venice, La., in June) I can’t thank FLW and Walmart enough for what they have done for this sport over the last few years. To win the very last event makes it even more special.”

What’s more, Eschete and Pizzolato finally made the long run to Venice pay off with a win in the Redfish Series Championship. Each day the team braved 6-foot seas to make a run across to the tip of the Louisiana Delta at Venice’s South Pass.

At South Pass the team fished a sandbar that has produced for them over the last several weeks. Recently the team has relied on this one area for a third-, ninth- and second-place finish in other tournaments.

“It’s just a little sandbar that sticks out off the beach, and behind that bar is a little 2-foot hole that is just full of redfish,” Eschete described.

Consider that the M&M’s team caught their winning catch in that spot in less than a half-hour today.

“It took us 19 minutes to catch 12 fish, and we were done,” Pizzolato said. “We got one as close to 30 inches and another as close to 27 as you can possibly get; it was a perfect pair of redfish.”

The team spent much more time riding in a boat over the last three days than actually fishing. With a 240-mile round-trip journey each day, five to six hours a day were spent getting to and from their primary location.

The key lures for the winning team were Gulp 4-inch shrimp in a mango-ripple color on ¼-ounce Bass Assassin jigheads, fished under popping corks.

The line was a straight 80-pound braided line with no leader.

“That popping cork makes a noise that the redfish can’t stand, especially in muddy water,” Eschete said. “They come out to investigate that popping noise, and when they do, they find a big old shrimp waiting for them.

“It was just a numbers game for us,” he added. “The more fish we caught, the better our chances of catching two of the right fish. And today, we caught two of the right fish.”

Weyel-Talley take second

Robby Weyel of Comfort, Texas, and Brian Talley of Houston finished second with a three-day total of 51 pounds, 6 ounces for $14,000.

Weyel and Talley were also making a long, tortuous run deep into Louisiana territory to fish a canal that dead-ended into a big pond.

“What helped us more than anything was the passing of the last front and the northeast wind we’ve had for the last few days,” Weyel explained. “That wind, combined with the low tides, really emptied this lake that connected to the canal, and all the redfish were concentrated in the canal.”

The Texas team used both a popping cork with a white Gulp 4-inch shrimp and a Gambler Flappin’ Shad rigged on an Ultrapoint 1/16-ounce hook.

“A lot of times the reds would chase mullet and shrimp up onto the shallow, muddy flats, and that would give them away,” Talley said. “We could see the big mud boils where they were feeding, and we’d cast to those muddy spots.”

Henninger-Eggers third

Day-two leaders, John Henninger and John Eggers of Jacksonville, Fla., finished third with a three-day total of 50 pounds, 9 ounces and collected $10,700.

Henninger and Eggers began the week over in Venice, but yesterday stopped short on the outer islands in Louisiana and caught two redfish for 19 pounds, 4 ounces.

They returned to that area today, but it did not produce the perfect pair of redfish again.

The team relied on 4-inch Gulp shrimp in molting and bonejack colors. The area they fished was a bout 18 inches deep and consisted of clearer water over turtle grass.

“I would get up on the ladder, spot the fish, and John would catch them,” Henninger added. “We went through a bunch of fish today, but we couldn’t get lucky with a perfect pair two days in row.”

Thomason-Ordes fourth

Charlie Thomason of Covington, La., and Britt Ordes of Slidell, La., finished fourth with a three-day total of 50 pounds, 5 ounces worth $4,600.

The team fished near Hopedale, La., all week and focused their efforts on storm-ravaged bits of marsh.

“All these storms the last few years have really torn the marsh up,” Thomason explained. “Marsh pieces literally floated out into open water and then sank again. We could see these dark spots in the shallow water where we were fishing, and most of them had redfish lurking nearby; it was very similar to catching bass on cover.”

The Louisiana team relied on popping corks rigged with Salt Water Assassins and Gulp shrimp.

Walker-Walker fifth

Shawn Walker of Crystal River, Fla., and Fred Walker of Ocala, Fla., finished fifth with a three-day total of 46 pounds, 6 ounces and took home $6,600.

The team fished in Louisiana waters with Berkley Gulp Sinking Minnows and Fish Bites Minnows.