Tournament Rap-Up

March 22, 2008 --- Panama City

John and Jerry won our first P.C. tournament weighing in 2 fish weighing12.26 lbs. They stuck
with what has been successful for them last year which was deep water docks. New comers
Russell and Mike stuck to the flats and brought 2 fish to the scales weighing 9.7 lbs. for second
place. P.C. locals Pete and Joey brought 2 fish to the scales but one was a hair big and was
released. Their one fish took third place weighing 5.2 lbs. Mike S. and Jimmy took fourth place
with decent fish weighing in at 5.14 lbs. Thanks to all you guys who made the trip. See you in
Navarre April 12.

Feb. 16, 2008 --- Niceville

Mike Rice and Rob Lawson win the 2008 season opener in Niceville. The weather was perfect
for fishing, but the fish didn't want to cooperate. Only 3 fish were brought to the scales by the
end of the day. Mike and Rob weighed in 2 mid slot fish weighing 6.63 lbs. followed by Mike
Klinger and Lucas Long who brought 1 fish to the scales weighing 3.08 lbs. All the teams fished
hard but just couldn't produce a bite. For their efforts Mike and Rob took home $100 gift
certificates to Half Hitch and the #1 spot on the leader board. Next months tournament in
Panama City should bring the points race closer together. Looking forward to seeing you there.

May 17, 2008 --- Santa Rosa Sound

April 12, 2008 --- Easy Bay

The sun was shining, weather was pretty, water was calm, yet there was only a handfull of
keepers caught. Again John and Jerry placed first, weighing in a pair of 5+ pounders, with a
combined weight of 10.6 lbs. Jimmy and Mike finished a close second weighing in 2 fish with a
combined weight of 10.2 lbs. Jimmy and Mike also scored with the biggest trout, 24incher, giving
them a 10 point bonus to their overall team score. The rest of the teams shared many fish
stories, some saw fish, just couldn't get them to bite.
Eric Holstman and his partner Brant Peacher participated in the event as well but had to call it a
day a little early and wasn't able to be there for the weighin. They reported that they caught a few
fish, all in the lower slot size, but had seen many schools of bigger fish that wouldn't eat. They
are planning on fishing all of the remainder club tournaments.
The winners John and Jerry stuck with what they know and fished many docks close to
Navarre. Using 3in gulp shrimps, slow moving or deadsticking next to dock pilings, they were
able to catch a dozen plus fish.

June 22, 2008--- Escambia Bay

It was a busy weekend on the Emerald Coast. With two large money tournaments in the
Escambia Bay area through the weekend, the Emerald Coast Redfish Club tournament was put
on the back burner by many of its teams. The rescheduling of the tournament and bad morning
weather didn't help the turn out either. Large turn out or not, "the tournament must go on!" was
the attitude of the teams that were able to make it, and go on it did. A threatening weather system
blew threw at sunrise, but left the area quickly with overcast skies, a cool breeze and nearly
glassy conditions in it's wake. The weather was perfect and the fish were biting much better than
expected, especially after hearing slow reports from the IFA in Navarre the Saturday before.

Bill and Bob had an early start with an unfortunate ending. Bill hooked an upper slot sized fish,
but half way through the battle it came unglued. With that dissapointment, frustration took the
team to another level of disapointment as a large school of fish was found mixed in with a school
of mullet, but hook ups eluded them. They fished hard and ran from the north end of Escambia
Bay to Garcon point fishing all a long the way with no luck. When their luck changes, watch out
because they have some bad luck to make up for!

Eric and Bruce fished their first tournament with ECRC. They made a run from the I10 bridge in
Escambia to the east end of Pensacola Bay. Local knowledge helped Eric and Bruce to stay in the
fish consistently all day. They reported catching over 10 fish, but were unable to produce any
large fish. They weighed in one in 2.8lb range.

Mike S. and Jimmy were fortunate that Jimmy lived close to the area and was able to locate some
fish the previous week. They stayed with their game plan and fished a series of docks in
Escambia Bay. Patience was tested and proved on the third pass on the same set of docks that
produced the first redfish of the morning around 9am which weighed at about 4.5lbs. They fished
the area more than half the day, but were unable to produce. With the wind shifting they made a
run to the west bank of Escambia Bay and started working other docks. At 1pm their second fish
was put in the boat in the 5.5lb range. Shortly after another smaller fish was caught in the same
area, but a thunderstorm on the horizon forced them to seak shelter at the dock until check in.

Mike S. and Jimmy weighed in an even 10lbs which captured first place for the June 22nd
tournament in Escambia Bay. Second place was 2.5lbs weighed in by Eric and Bruce.

Mike and Jimmy each took home a large soft sided tackle bag with some other hard and soft
baits included. Thanks to all those who participated! Hope to see a large turn out at the July
tournament in Ft. Walton Beach!

The Saturday from hell... That's what the weather man said during Friday evening's news. Well
the tournament must go one and yes, it was cold, and yes, it was windy. From the 8 teams that
participated, all reported catching fish just a couple though caught keepers.
John and Jerry won for the 2nd time this year with a convincing 13.2lb weight. They reported at
weigh in that they caught over a dozen fish but only a handfull of keepers. Staying true to their
style of fishing, dock fishing with patience, they left with top prize.
Mike and Lucas came in 2nd with their beautifull single fish weighing in at 6.5lbs. They also
were in small fish all day.
Many of the teams prefished in Blackwater and Pensacola but were not able to get to their
grounds due to the weather. Better luck next time guys. Next tounament in May should be a
good one, see you then.

July 19, 2008--- Liza Jackson, FWB

For once the weather man called it right. A slight morning breeze in the morning died off
leaving glassy conditions by midmorning and a blistering hot afternoon. It was a great setting
for the tournament on Saturday, July 19th.

Finishing third place was team Jim J/Mike S. They traveled a total of more than 50 miles in
Jim�s 16� Smitty Skiff to get to the fish they located while pre-fishing. They were able to put two
fish in the live well within the first thirty minutes, but were unable to produce any large fish.
Their two fish weighed in at 5lb 6oz.

Finishing second was team Mike M/ Allen. Mike decided to keep it closer to the ramp than Jim
and Mike and it paid off. They reported a slow bite in the morning that picked up as the tide
switched around as it got later. They were able to cull a 21� fish from the live well and replace it
with a monster 26 3/4� fish that weighed in at 6lb 11oz. Their combined weight was 10lb 3oz.
They also scored an extra 10 points due to bringing in the biggest trout.

WIth a weight 1oz more than 2nd place, finishing first were ECRC tournament newcomers
team Mike M/ Johnny. Fishing docks and grass flats, they caught nine reds with their two
biggest weighing in at 10lb 4oz. They left with $250.00 cash(from the Calcutta), a shimano
spinning rod, a sick-it anchor pin (courtesy of SOS Marine), and an assortment of other lures.
We hope to see them back at the next tournament to give everyone a chance to redeem
themselves.

With growing interest from outside teams and points race for club champions, the next
tournament in Tucker Bayou is sure to be a good one, we hope to see you there.

Thanks to all the other teams that fished and to all the people that helped promote the
tournament. A special thanks to the Ship�s Chandler in Destin and Eric Holstman for helping
us get the word out.

September 20, 2008--- Hogtown Bayou

Weather Saturday wasn't perfect by any means. Wind was hard out of the east, which pinned
most teams close to the ramp, resulting in long days for most. Out of all the teams, only three
teams managed to bring back weighable fish to the scales.

Finishing in third came team Bill and Bob. Fishing from Hogtown Bayou to Sandestin Baytown,
they wouldn't be denied again and brought back their first red of the year to the scales. The
two were happy to finally shed the curse but were also disappointed that they didn't bring a
second to weigh in.

Finishing second was team Mike M/ Allen. The only team to venture east, was able to find a
few fish off of docks but none with much size. Their two fish were 2lb 10oz and 3lb 6oz. The
team suffered from the get go with the absence of a trolling motor (shattered during
prefishing).

Finishing first was team Jimmy and Phillip. With Jimmy's partner Mike in Vegas for the week,
he had to call in the relief. Due to weather conditions, the fisherman fished close the entire day
never going further then 2 miles from the ramp. Finally in the middle of the day they were able
to locate a few fish and managed to pull a 25.5in(6lb) fish and a 21.5in(3lb 15oz) fish to secure
the lead. They also managed to catch two nice trout to grab the club bonus points.

With growing interest from outside teams and points race for club champions, the next
tournament in Tucker Bayou is sure to be a good one, we hope to see you there.

Thanks to all the other teams that fished and to all the people that helped promote the
tournament.

Featured Sponsors:

October 4th, 2008--- Tucker Bayou

For the first time this year, 100% of the teams participating came back with fish to weigh in. It
was a great day, fishing wise and weather wise. With slight chop to slick conditions all teams
were able to fish their grounds. The teams that stayed and fished east Choctaw Bay reported
catching allot of fish, some teams even caught 20-30fish, just none over 24inches. The only
team to bring in an upper slot fish was Team MikeM/Keith, the only boat to make the run over
to West Bay.

Finishing in 3rd place was Team Bill/Bob!!!! Congrats goes out to those two, being their
second top three in a row. "Wait till next year!!!" exclaimed Bill. Their combined weight was 6lb
5oz.

In second was team Jimmy/Brant. Weeding through allot of smaller fish, the two were able to
bring back a solid 8lbs back to the scale. Also grabbing the biggest trout of the day for the
10-point bonus. All their fish were caught on gold spoons and jerk shads.

Finishing on the top spot again was the Mitzi, team MikeM/Keith. All though not catching as
many fish as most teams, they were able to find a little better quality in West Bay. Their two
fish weighed in at 5lbs 12oz and 4lbs 4oz, giving them a combined weight 10lbs. Do to the slick
conditions the team spent most of the day in real skinny water hunting tails.

Other notable catches were team Rob/Chad bringing in 6lbs 3oz (with a one pound deduction
due to one of their fish dying in the well), team Mike/Allen 5lbs 9oz, and first time ECRC
tournament anglers Jose/Carlos bringing in a nice 3lber.

October 18th, 2008 --- Panama City Final

Top Three:
1st Place: Team Bill / Bob, 7lb 7oz, 6lb 8oz, -1lb deduction for dead fish, total 12lb 15oz
2nd Place: Team Keith / Mike, 7lb 7oz, 5lb, 2oz, total 12lb 9oz
3rd Place: Team John / Matt, 5lb 14oz, 3lb 0oz, total 8lb 14oz

Notables: Joey / Pete 6lb 14oz, Blake / Wes Nelson 6lb 0oz, all other teams had no fish to weigh
in.

Special thanks goes out to all the teams that participated and we hope to have you all out there
again next season.

Good Luck goes out to Team Joey / Pete in the Redfish Cup Invitational, and to Team Blake /
Wes Nelson in the IFA championship.