2018 Power-Pole Florida Pro Redfish Series-East Coast Division-Tournament #3 / Team SeaDek

Greetings once again from the tournament circuit! Summer is coming to an end and the inshore redfish tournament season is kicking back off for the remainder of the year. My tournament partner and I, Jose “Pepi” Vidal, competed in this past Saturday’s third and final leg of the Power-Pole Florida Pro Redfish Series / East Coast Division. The forecast was pretty much perfect despite some pretty high temps, which we have fortunately become accustomed to.

The morning started off at right about the peak of the high tide so we knew our keeper fish would have to happen early. The spot we committed to is high and dry by low tide. As the tide began to drop the fish began to feed. Earlier in the morning we could hear them feeding deep in the thick Spartina Grass with no way to access them. After a fairly slow morning I finally boated a solid 26 3/4” slot redfish for the well. One down….one to go. Pepi shortly after boated our second fish which was only around 21” but slot, so in the well it went. The pressure was slightly off us with our now two keepers in the well for weigh-in. Pepi then boated a decent flounder which cordially accepted our invitation to travel home with us for dinner. We very rarely, if ever, keep fish but a flounder is our weakness.

After a slow hour or so Pepi set the hook on a drag burner. This was no doubt a decent fish. As he fought him to the boat we could see this was a stud with the fear of being over the 27” slot limit. We netted the fish and as we started the process of measuring I was shaking at the knees and Pepi was saying some prayers…in Spanish believe… but whatever it takes at this point. Our fears then became reality…..a solid 27 1/2” redfish was seemingly looking back at us with what we could only describe as a “ha ha you gotta let me go” grin. That’s tournament angling. A game of inches, or in this case a half inch.

The tide began to really rip out and it was time to load up and head back to weigh-in. Over all, our fish weighed in at a total of 9.55lbs which was good enough to hold for 12th place out of the 50+ Teams competing. Not too shabby! Our next and final stop for the year will be the FL Pro Championships held in Panama City, FL. We are very much looking forward to this event as the fishery there can be outstanding.

Thanks once again to all the folks behind the FL Pro Redfish Series for all their hard work in organizing another great tournament as well as our Sponsors. Without them we couldn’t do what we do. Huge thanks to SeaDek Marine Products, St Croix Rods, RCI Optics, Power-Pole Shallow Water Anchor, Strike-Zone Fishing, Florida Fishing Products, Frogg Toggs, Gator Box Coolers, and Slayer Inc Lure Company. You guys rock!!

Many Thanks and Tight Lines!!
Alan and Pepi / Team SeaDek