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Going into the Destin tournament we were crossing our fingers that the weather would cooperate. For the most part it did, but there was a slight ESE breeze and some strong gusts throughout the day. Destin proved to be a tough venue to set up because of boat launch fees and the room we needed for boat parking at the weigh in. We ended up using the Joe’s Bayou Boat Launch off of Beach Blvd. in Destin, FL for the check in and weigh in. We were happy to have a total of 26 boats that signed up the morning of the tournament. Winds that spurted gusts all day and stained water from the rain fall earlier in the month made it difficult to find those optimum sight fishing conditions. Most anglers were disappointed with their performances for the day, but some did find some great fish. Mike Pattison and Ken Cube were one of the teams. They reported catching over 20 fish for the day, which led them to victory with a total weight of 11.44lbs. They took home 1st place plaques, Mann’s baits/lures/hats provided by local inshore charter captain John Rivers, ECRC long sleeve shirts, a $100 free service to The Ships Chandler, and a pair of Guideline sunglasses. Congratulations Mike and Ken! 2nd place was taken by locals Wes and Blake Nelson who weighed in 9.9lbs. Blake and Wes took home 2nd place plaques, ECRC long sleeve shirts, Mann’s baits/lures/hats, and a Stick-It Anchor Pin from our newest club sponsor. Solid performance Wes and Blake! 3rd place went to a couple of anglers that are moving up in the Redfishing world and have been described by Redfishing authorities as “the best upcoming team on the planet”. Watch out because Jim Jimenez and Mike Schweppe are on the move! They brought in a solid weight of 9.0lbs which won them 3rd place plaques, Mann’s baits/lures/hats, and ECRC long sleeve shirts. Jim and Mike also took home $380 for winning the Elite Series(aka, Calcutta) for largest aggregate. Shawn Mistovish and Justin Hinote took home $380 for the largest single Redfish Elite Series and Wade Stepler and Chris Bradshaw took home $170 for the longest trout caught. Congratulations guys! Thanks again to everyone that participated and to our great club sponsors. We'll see you next month in Navarre! |