Ramble On |
N E W S L E T T E R D.O.A. sponsored teams took 1st, 2nd and 4th place in the May 2 FLW Redfish Tournament in Panama City, FL. Wiggins-Tanner win wire-to-wire in Panama City Florida team dominates field by nearly 4 pounds. By Rob Newell - 03.May.2008 In professional redfishing winning weights are usually so close that the “what if’s” normally pour out on stage of the final day of a Redfish Series weigh-in as redfish teams miss the winning mark by ounces. However, there were few “what if’s” muttered at the final weigh-in of the FLW Redfish Series in Panama City Beach this afternoon. That’s because Blair Wiggins of Cocoa, Fla., and Travis Tanner of Titusville, Fla., dominated the event from start to finish. When the final-day weigh-in scales came to a close with Wiggins and Tanner’s fish, the team had amassed a three-day total of 45 pounds, 4 ounces to take a commanding win by 3 pounds, 14 ounces. That now stands as the largest margin of victory in a Redfish Series
Eastern Division event. Despite the gloomy downpour that doused the weigh-in ceremonies, Wiggins and Tanner’s smiles could probably be seen beaming out into the Gulf of Mexico from the Wal-Mart parking lot in Panama City Beach. “What an awesome week,” said a rain-soaked Wiggins. “I’ve had this same rush only twice in my life: once when I got to fly an F-15 jet for 45 minutes when I was in the Air Force, second when Tadd and I won the FLW Series Championship in 2006.” All week long, Wiggins talked in disbelief about the size of the redfish school he and Tanner fished for the win. And while it would be easy to say that the school alone gave the team victory, there were other teams that found the same school. Yet, each of the first two days, Wiggins and Tanner were able to pull the biggest slot fish from the school. “We fished for the biggest fish in the school that we could see,” Wiggins explained. “It really boiled down to a game of keep away from the smaller fish. At times we would speed reel our D.O.A. Bait Buster over the top of the water to keep the little ones from eating it. But when a big one flashed up there to get it, we’d drop it down and let it eat.” Wiggins also credits his dedication of time during practice for the win. He scouted the Panhandle coastline for two weeks prior to tournament time. During that time he found several schools of reds but the biggest one was located some 60 miles to the east of Panama City. And even after he found the school, his work was not done. “I spent several hours a day just watching this school,” Wiggins said. “As the tide came up the school would move in. But the best time to catch them was when the tide started to go out. That’s when the fish would fracture off into smaller packs and use certain gulleys and potholes to migrate back off the flat.” Wiggins acknowledged that the fish were very aggressive. He did not have to resort to any finesse tactics and instead hunted them down with a D.O.A Bait Buster tied to 65-pound braid on his signature edition Wright and McGill rod, which is 8-feet in length. For the win, the team took home $50,000 including contingencies. Shaw-Vandemark runner-up Finishing in the second place spot was Kevin Shaw of Corpus Christi, Texas and Tadd Vandemark of Key Largo, Fla., who is Wiggins’ former Redfish Series Partner. Shaw and Vandemark ended up with a three-day total of 41 pounds,
6 ounces, worth $11,740. The Florida-Texas duo ran nearly 80 miles to the east each day to catch their fish. “We couldn’t see the schools as good today because of the clouds,” Vandemark said. “And we still had an awesome day of fishing – we probably caught 50 fish.” Since they could not target specific sight-fish with soft plastics, the team relied on Sebile Flat Shads (a rattle trap style lure) tied to 10-pound test Power Pro braid and 30-pound test Seaguar fluorocarbon leader. “We knew Blair was pretty much uncatchable so we were fighting
for second place and that’s where we ended up,” Vandemark
said. “It was an unbelievable week of fishing – like
a dream. And my former teammate won so I can’t complain.”
WE SUPPORT CATCH AND RELEASE ! Captain Wayne Magdalena, D.O.A Lures: captwayne@doalures.com
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