Florida was the first stop on the 2009 Redfish Cup tournament schedule, and 49 of the best Redfish teams in the country focused their sights on the waters of Punta Gorda. Four Florida residents represented Lucky Craft this week; Paul Jueckstock and partner, Manny Perez, from Port Orange and Punta Gorda, respectively, and Bryan and Greg Watts, from Eagle Lake and Lithia.
All 49 teams had two days to catch the four biggest redfish they could find to make the top-five and fish on Sunday. Only a few spots out of the top five sat Jueckstock and Perez, in ninth after day two. With a total two-day weight of 19.06 pounds, the duo from Florida was happy with the outcome.
Paul Jueckstock and Manny Perez
With soft plastics as their main bait, Jueckstock and Perez were able to incorporate a bit of Lucky Craft as well. In the mornings, when topwater baits are normally popular, Jueckstock would throw the Lucky Craft Wood Sammy because it doesn’t make any noise.
“We had some fish blow up on the Sammy, and we’ve done really well with that bait here in the past,” Jueckstock said. “But the fish here were just short-striking it, and I really don’t know what the problem was. It did help, though, because after I’d get a blow up on top with the Sammy, Manny [Perez] would pitch a plastic in the same area and most of the time he’d hook up. It was a good combination.”
Jueckstock and Perez weighed in 10.06 pounds on day one and 9 pounds on day two for a total weight of 19.06 pounds, putting them in ninth overall.
Bryan and Greg Watts came into their first Redfish Cup tournament confident, yet realistic. They knew from years of experience that the fish in the waters of Punta Gorda are ever changing and patterns rarely hold up from one day to the next.
Greg and Bryan Watts
Bryan and Greg were able to bring in 9.78 pounds on day one, a good bag for this tough fishery, fishing potholes with short black grass in them near Charlotte Harbor.
“We caught 11 fish in one hole, so we knew we had it figured out, at least for day one,” Bryan said. “These potholes, or sand pockets, are actually just deeper depressions in a flat. We were probably fishing in about 3 1/2-feet of water, and the key to these holes was the 4-inch tall black grass in them.”
After finding such a specific pattern to follow on day one, day two didn’t prove quite as fruitful. Bryan and Greg tried for two hours to fish potholes, but to no avail. They had to move to Pine Island Sound and throw their soft plastics against the mangroves. The key to this bite was fishing the mangroves with little troughs of deeper water in the front.
Bringing in two fish, one nice-sized and one small, Bryan and Greg weighed in 9.17 pounds, leaving them with a total two-day weight of 18.95 pounds and finishing in 10th. They were pleased overall with the finish, especially because of the intensity and difficulty of a tournament in Punta Gorda.
Wood Sammy
by APRIL WHEDBEE for: TheDailyCrank.com
Cox Group, Charlotte, NC – Outdoors Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations Agency
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