07-22-2003, 06:25 PM
Fished the backwater of southwest florida this past weekend and took advantage of the Redfish Tour's Open Tournament out of Everglades City to try out my first attempt at competitive fishing. It was a blast!!!
Check out [url "http://www.redfishtour.com"]http://www.redfishtour.com[/url] to get info on other upcoming redfish open tourneys which have been created to give ordinary anglers a taste of competitive fishing. One you get a taste, you may be hooked.
I was fortunate enough to fish with a good friend and awesome guide, Ken Chambers, who also fishes on the professional Redfish Tour. The next event for the pros is in Key Largo August 8-9...if you want to see how to really catch reds, check it out.
The open tour events allow live baitfish and have women and child angler awards as well, so the whole family can get involved.
To get back to the weekend...we fished saturday, July 19th around the Marco Island and Goodland area. Bait was a little scarce, but Ken had done a great job finding some. Medium sized shiners off the beach. Live bait wasn't really necessary as we also pitched 1/4 oz. Riptide Jigs with the Riptide Rootbeer soft shrimp body under the mangroves and into the grassy areas.
Over the course of the day from safelight to 2 pm, we fished the marco island area mangroves and landed 15-20 snook, 4 reds, a jack, and one 20 lb goliath grouper. The water temperatures were very hot, in the low 90's so the fish were tucked in the shade.
Our two reds placed us third overall in the aggregate weight category, and we had a blast in my rookie event. Allowed us to take home a little cash prize, which isn't all bad for a day of fishing. Those Riptide jigs and soft bodies really did a number on them..rootbeer was the color of choice.
Good luck and tight lines.
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Check out [url "http://www.redfishtour.com"]http://www.redfishtour.com[/url] to get info on other upcoming redfish open tourneys which have been created to give ordinary anglers a taste of competitive fishing. One you get a taste, you may be hooked.
I was fortunate enough to fish with a good friend and awesome guide, Ken Chambers, who also fishes on the professional Redfish Tour. The next event for the pros is in Key Largo August 8-9...if you want to see how to really catch reds, check it out.
The open tour events allow live baitfish and have women and child angler awards as well, so the whole family can get involved.
To get back to the weekend...we fished saturday, July 19th around the Marco Island and Goodland area. Bait was a little scarce, but Ken had done a great job finding some. Medium sized shiners off the beach. Live bait wasn't really necessary as we also pitched 1/4 oz. Riptide Jigs with the Riptide Rootbeer soft shrimp body under the mangroves and into the grassy areas.
Over the course of the day from safelight to 2 pm, we fished the marco island area mangroves and landed 15-20 snook, 4 reds, a jack, and one 20 lb goliath grouper. The water temperatures were very hot, in the low 90's so the fish were tucked in the shade.
Our two reds placed us third overall in the aggregate weight category, and we had a blast in my rookie event. Allowed us to take home a little cash prize, which isn't all bad for a day of fishing. Those Riptide jigs and soft bodies really did a number on them..rootbeer was the color of choice.
Good luck and tight lines.
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] i like it that you guys included the lil'ladys and the kids too , family fishing fun !