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Good fortune placed us in Grand Isle, Louisiana for the IFA tournament early giving us 8 days to prefish. The extra time proved to be essential in finding a good school of fish for tournamrnt day. The weather was odd, to say the least, for the majority of the week. A rare August cold front brought cooler temperatures, strong westerly winds, and frequent severe thunderstorms. But, despite the weather, redfish were found and caught in most locations.

Water covered during prefishing extended east to the Empire area and all the way to Golden Meadow to the west. During prefishing when the sun broke and gave the opportunity, sight fishing was at a premium. Large schools of fish to the west around Leeville and Golden Meadow were found, but not the right size for tournament day. One school of fish found back to the east had some nice sized reds with the potential to produce some 8 pounders. So, the decision was made to go for broke and head east in hopes of a larger bag.

Tournament day: Temp - 87 degrees, mostly cloudy, 70% chance of rain and thunderstorms. High tide - 9:30 Am, Low tide - 7:00 pm

The takeoff and 55 mile run to our spot was uneventful. Arriving at our canal and ponds we found the water high and moderatly dirty, which we expected. There was still a little current from an incoming tide which immediatly got our spirits up. After 45 min. of pounding the grass we finally saw a fish waking in the back of an isolated pocket. We presented a spinnerbait in front of him and he hammered it! First fish in the boat 7 1/2 pounder! After putting the first fish in the boat the incoming tide was slacking and we did not produce another fish for about 3 hours. The decision to sit tight and wait for water movement paid off. From 12:00 to 2:00 we boated about 10 to 12 fish (all good fish). We culled to our best two with a total weight of 14.49 # giving us a respectable 16th place finish.  http://www.redfishtour.com/tournaments/grandisle08.html

To make this trip even more memorable, we were fortunate to have our wives and some of our kids down the entire week of prefishing and on tournament day. With Crystal even putting in some time helping us with scouting. Ramsay and I can not express how nice it was to have our families there supporting what we do. My son Ben and stepson Alec could not make the trip due to the start of the school year, but I am sure they will not miss the next one.

Gear and Tackle: All fish were caught on spinners with cocahoe trailers (black and chartreuse), shimano calcutta 100B casting reels, shimano stradic spinning reels, G-loomis GLX and G-3 rods, 8/30 power pro line, costa del mar 580 sunglasses, and ranger 183 Ghost with 150 Yamaha 4 stroke.

Thank you to our sponsors: Frontline plus, Chickenware.com, Shimano, Costa del Mar, and G-loomis.

Muddy water from a swollen mississippi river had most if not all water around Venice, La. looking like chocolate milk. Most of the tournament field was making long boat runs northeast to Delacroix and northwest to Lafitte, Port Sulfur, and Cocodrie. There was good fish to be found and caught, it just took a little extra work and fuel to get it done.

We found good fish in practice about 15 - 20 miles northwest of Venice. One area was holding fish in the 7 to 8 pound average, but not in abundance. Our second area had a much greater conentration of fish but 61/2 to 7 pound on average. Knowing that most if not all teams were on fish, we knew it would take 8 pounders each day to get the job done.

Day 1 decision to fish spot A due to size of fish in spite of the dirtier water proved to be a good move. Water dirty, high sunny skies, Temp. 95. The day was slow, but managed 6 fish total for the day with an 8.04# and 6# to take to weigh in with a total of 14.04# and 4oth place going into day 2. (All fish on day 1 caught on 3/4 oz. gold spoons and 1/4 oz. jighead and chartruese cocahoe rigged with a single colorado blade.)

Day 2 decision was to run a little farther north to spot B due to increased muddy water at spot A. The fish were still there just as in practice. Water was clean and high allowing for good sight fishing. Unfortunately the fish size held true to form as well with us boating 6 and 61/2 pounders all day. We caught over 35 fish on the day but only had 12.13# to take to weigh in finishing in 42nd place.(Fish caught on spinnerbaits with single blades and chartruese and green cocahoes.)

http://redfish.flwoutdoors.com/tournament.cfm?&bTournamentSearch=1&cid=9&t=results&did=2&tid=6094&tyear=2008

Equipment/Tackle: Ranger 183 Ghost w/ 150 Yamaha 4 stroke; Shimano calcutta 100 baitcasting reels, Shimano Stradic 2500 spinning reels; G loomis GLX and G/3 rods; Power Pro 8:30 braided line; Costa Del Mar 580 sunglasses.

Thank you to our sponsors: Frontline Plus, Chickenware.com, G loomis rods, Shimano, and Costa Del Mar.

Next event: IFA Louisiana division Grande Isle, La August 16th.

Well, you know what they say, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”. Things did not go as planned on tournament day, but they also are not as bad as they seem. We came in 65th place with 11.01# out of 100 teams. With less than only three pounds separating 20th and 65th place, we are disappointed with the day but not discouraged. http://www.redfishtour.com/tournaments/lafitte08.html
The weather definitely changed for tournament day: 86 degrees partly cloudy with winds out of the southeast at 15 to 20 knots with gusts of what had to be 30. The southeast wind had a ton of water pushed into the grass and the redfish scattered. The upper end slot reds that had been in our area were nowhere to be found.

Our day was as follows: We drew boat #45, which put us in the 2nd flight of boats due back for check out by 3:15. About an hour and 15 minute, rough boat ride southeast across Barataria Bay put us at our first fishing spot, in Bay Tortillion, at 7:30. The water was clean and very high. The grass was flooded higher than we had ever seen it in that area. We managed our first and only fish out of this area, a 23″ 5.08 pounder. We did not see any other fish in the area, so we headed to Delta to fuel up with a fish in the livewell before 8:30 am. Our second spot was much of the same, high water and very little fish activity. We caught our 2nd fish here, a 3 pound 17″ rat red. But now with 2 in the live well the pressure was off and time to cull up, the time 9:30 am. For the next 3 hours it was wind, water and no fish. We missed some opportunities on a couple of cruising fish, but what few fish we were seeing had seemed to shut off! Finally at 1:00 pm we boated a 24″ 5.93 pound red and culled out the 3 pounder. 30 minutes later we landed a nice 8 plus ponder that was just over the line at 27 1/2″, so no good. The remainder of fishing time, about an hour and a half, we caught 3 more fish- 2 small reds that did not improve our weight and a 28″ red, that was too big to help, with 2 minutes left to fish. So, we headed back to the launch after a tough and frustrating day. The run back to weigh in turned out to be the roughest part of the day. Now, with 30 knot gusting winds and 3′ seas in the open water of Barataria made the run back long,rough, and tiring. We were thankfull that the Ranger held together. Needless to say we did not arrive at the weigh in dry.

Thank you to our sponsors: Frontline, Chickenware, and G loomis rods.

Full field results can be seen at www.redfishtour.com. Next stop FLW Venice, La. June 12th — 14th.

The morning brought thick fog. For safety reasons we delayed launch at Delta by about an hour. Conditions today are similar, minus the fog, as yesterday. Sunny skies, east wind at 10 to 15 knots, and 84 degrees. We started the morning quietly and quickly checking on the 2 schools of fish we located yesterday. The fish seemed to be holding in the same areas as yesterday. The third cast of the morning before the fog had cleared Ramsay landed a 26 inch 7# red that absolutely exploded on a top water bait!! After confirming the pattern from yesterday we set off in search of new canals holding good reds. Right now we feel fortunate as we have found 5 to 6 good areas within the same ecosystem that are holding FAT fish. If conditions hold for another 48 hrs we have a chance to do well,-and that is all we can ask for! We are planning a short scout trip in the morning before we head north to Lafitte for the captains meeting tomorrow night. One more report to follow tomorrow before go time.——– Thank you to our unbelievably supportive families for the opportunity to be here doing what we are doing. We love you— Team Champion/Brown– out

April 23, 2008—- Launched at Delta Marina at 6:30 am. Partly cloudy, wind 10 to 15 out of the east, 87 degrees, and high water. High tide today at 10:15 am. Struggled early, dirty water and no fish til 11:00 am. Finally found clean water and bait fish and managed to put a fairly reliable pattern together. A few areas seem to be holding good upper end slot fish. We managed to boat a few fish between 26 and 27 inches with good weight! We quickly left those fish and hope they will hold over the next 96 hrs. As of now it seems to be that finding secluded canals holding bait fish are the key. Most fish were caught in clean water and site casted to. All fish caught today on gold spoons and cocahoe jigs rigged with spinner blades.

Right now confidence is high and we are making preparations for another scouting day tomorrow. Another report to follow.

Thinking of: Crystal, Jesi, Ben, Alec./ Karen, Brodi