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01-30-2014, 08:13 AM
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Results: Weedon Island Classic
The 32 anglers launched at 6:30 am and the excitement was so thick you could slice it with a knife. The contestants were going after redfish and trout and were allowed to enter 2 of each species. Each angler aggregate length of their 4 fish would equal their score. Inches win and the hardy group was after big fish. In fact they all wanted to catch that elusive Big O’l Fish who usually escapes their attention until the day after the tournament, only to make a command appearance to thumb a fin at us all. The weather of the past 2 weeks was cold, windy and generally un-Florida-like which made for some harsh pre-fishing conditions. Most of those who pre-fished had no problem locating fish. Getting them to chew was a different matter. Michael Julian scouted everyday for a week and had a good feel for what was going on in the chilly fishery, keeping in mind that redfish are a stout and hardy lot. The tournament Gods were smiling on Saturday as the sun came up to warm the day to a comfortable temperature and the winds were at a minimum for the most part. All of which worked in Julian’s favor as he scored several trout early with his 2 entry trout measuring 15.6” and 16.2” to start the day. Next Julian began hunting redfish and he located them in the back waters and began his attack. Pay Dirt! He located a large school of reds and quietly slipped up on them without being noticed. Getting them to bit proved to be a challenge but Mike kept with his plan and it worked beautifully for him. Julian caught several reds and his entry redfish measured 17.4” and 26.8” the latter putting a notable fight in the chilly water. Julian worked a variety of lures until he found what worked. D.O.A. Lures seemed to work best for him as he swam the split tail ever so slowly with long pauses. The reds and trout just found the D.O.A. Lures to be too tasty to ignore. Mike Julian entered a total of 76.0” of fish to capture the win. Congratulations Mike! That’s a great way to begin a new year. Joe Komyati was right on his friend Mike Julian and finished 2nd with a total of 71.4” with some nice winter fishing and catching. Komyati also caught his trout early as anglers paddled by him. He caught trout after trout and scored a 14.1” and a 15.7” being the 2 largest. Joe moved on to hunt big red and met with some success. He also located a large school or the beastly beauties sunning in a shallow water cove. That situation can be very tricky as the water is very clear and shallow in the winter. There is also very little vegetation so Komyati flipped to stealth mode and made some selective casts using his companies prototype rods and Yo-Zuri Lures, MirrOlure MirrOdine and Live Target Lures new shrimp to fool our finned friends. Komyati scored a 16.5” and a fat 25.1” redfish to capture second place in the opener with a total score of 71.4” Joe caught his larger fish on the D.O.A. jerk bait this day so we are seeing a variety of lures in use which is nice to see, and why not? We have some outstanding lure sponsors. Congratulations Joe, you’re off to a great start. Third place was captured by our long time friend Marty Meakin. Marty had a MirrOlure day and scored a total of 67.1” with 4 fish. Marty scored a nice 15.3 trout and a fat 18.0” trout to start his day. He moved onto the redfish and scored a 16.7” and a 17.1” wide body. Marty, a former ClassicS Champion always does well and it was great to see him as it always marks that winter is near its end. Kind of like an early groundhog day. The truth be known, Marty is one of the finest anglers on the Gulf Coast and is always a class act. Congratulations Marty and see you at Palma Sola on February 8. Jimmy Cook landed 4th place with 2 redfish and 1 trout. Cook scored a nice 21” trout, a 17.3” redfish on D.O.A. Lures and a fat 27.1” redfish for a total of 65.4” which is a nice day in anyone’s book. That second trout just kept eluding him and a couple got away that would have certainly made a difference. Jimmy always has a smile going and he was satisfied to have a fun day with his friends in the ClassicS. Great job and congratulations Jimmy. Robert Brown caught 2 nice winter redfish scoring a total of 42.8” of fish. Robert landed a 20.5” and a 22.3” red for his podium finish. Congratulations Robert and see you in Palma Sola. Kasey Arrowsmith caught 2 fish and 6th place with a 17.9” trout and a 24.0” redfish. Both on MirrOlure MirrOdine lures for a total of 41.9” of fish. Nicely done Kasey. Eric Henson scored 7th place with 2 nice trout. A 16.8” and a very nice 25.0” brut that fought long and hard for a total score of 41.8” of fish and a lot of fun. Outstanding Eric and I know we will see you again. Frank Healy scored a total of 40.7” with a 20.3” red and a 20.4” red. Frank used a white grub to fool the reds and that’s something new for this area. You may have something there and we will see if that catches on. Congratulations Frank and Welcome to the ClassicS. Adam Calderon was on reds all day and finally got a few to pick a fight. Adam landed a 15.5” scrappy redfish and a 24.2” red, both on D.O.A. Paddle Tails for a total score of 39.7” in his first ClassicS tournament. Nice job Adam and congratulations. Rodney Nelson also had a 2 redfish day on D.O.A. Paddle Tails. Rodney scored a 16.1” and a 22.7” redfish to make for a pretty nice day. Trout also were antisocial for Rodney as they were for many of the anglers throughout the field. Well that’s fishing in the Florida winter someone was heard to say. We congratulate you Rodney and all of our contestants. We thank all of you for fishing with us, all of our fantastic sponsors who make this possible and Kahuna’s Bar & Grill for making us feel very welcome in their friendly digs. We will see all of you at the Feb. 8th Palma Sola Classic. Until then, Good Fishing… 
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