redfish

Sophia was all smiles as this small redfish helped her win the annual corporate tournament we call Redfishpalooza!

Terrible weather conditions kept me off the water except for our annual Redfishpalooza tournament. This corporate event is a based on a bragging rights tournament where the combined total inches of length of one spotted seatrout and one redfish decides the victor!

As the competitors of the event left the dock around seven o’clock in the morning, the winds were relatively mild; likely less than ten miles per hour from the south. This allowed all of us to spread-out through the central and southern regions of the Mosquito Lagoon. My first and second spot yielded my clients only a few catfish. I was happy they enjoyed catching what most people consider trash fish. Being from another part of the world where most of the fish caught there are very small, a hardhead catfish seems like a trophy!

I chose spot three as a place to shelter us from the now bellowing winds and this move helped our cause greatly. While Richard had to make do with more and more catfish, Sophia managed not only a few more catfish and a stingray, but two small redfish and a wee spotted seatrout. It’s hard for me to log such little fish into a tournament, but we did just that with a standard C.P.R. procedure to provide proof of the catch.

Every boat managed to catch several fish. Some did well on redfish, others caught some nice trout. I’m sure every boat caught too many hardheads. Only one boat/person was able to catch, photo and release both a spotted seatrout and a redfish and this person was Sophia. I’m glad I didn’t let my personal prejudices of entering small fish into the tournament stand in the way of Sophia’s victory!