2008 Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup

Punta Gorda Perfection

What happens when you put two of the finest redfish anglers, alone, on a stationary school of 800 hungry redfish? You get a three-day clinic performed by teammates Andrew Bostick and Mark Sepe during the first stop of the Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup in Punta Gorda, Florida.

In its sixth-year, the Redfish Cup showcases the country’s top 49 redfishing duos as they compete in four events from Florida to Texas before the 2008 season culminates in October with the Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup Championship in Biloxi. The series has created the sport’s first true professional tour with a full schedule of TV coverage beginning Saturday July 5, at 8:30 a.m. on ESPN2.

The Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup made its first stop on the 2008 tournament circuit in Punta Gorda on April 25 through the 27th. The city has long been regarded as a vacation, retirement and superb fishing destination because of its location, where the Peace River meets Charlotte Harbor.

The importance of this western Florida venue is apparent to all Redfish Cup competitors. Those who do well in Punta Gorda typically go on to finish high on the money list at the end of the year. Redfish Cup angler Travis Holeman took it one step further. "If you can finish in the top ten in Punta Gorda, you will definitely have a shot at Team of the Year," he said.

For their down-to-the-wire win in Punta Gorda, Bostick and Sepe earned a $50,000 paycheck, captured the $500 Lake & Bay Big Bag prize and grabbed prime position in the Team of the Year points race. The 2007 Redfish Cup champions also bolstered the argument they may be the team to beat throughout the year. “They’re there,” said Bostick about the team’s treasure trove of redfish after the first day of action. “And these fish are a lot fatter, so we’ll stick to where the fatties are.”

Sticking to their game plan proved to become a demonstration in dominance for Bostick and Sepe at the season’s first and largest event. Fans celebrating the Redfish Festival in Punta Gorda’s Laishley Park gasped as consecutive day stringers – the only two which broke the 14-pound mark – gave the Florida anglers a three-pound-plus lead over their next-closest opponents heading into the final day. But bigger-than-average stringers had been expected during the late-April competition, and these tournament anglers offered a variety of explanations why. “I don’t know about the other guys, but it’s been a lot better bite for us so far in pre-fishing,” Louisiana veteran Redfish Cup angler “Cajun” Phil Broussard said.

According to John Ochs, who together with teammate Craig Johnson finished the tournament in third place, the lack of a red tide on Florida’s west coast this year meant more oxygenated waters and, thus, more baitfish and crustaceans for a redfish feast.

Time played another factor. For the first time in years, the anglers would be fishing two weeks earlier in April. “The fish are schooling right now, so it is definitely the right time of the year to be here,” said angler Terry Thomas from Huffman, Texas.

And lastly, a consistently low tide following a recent full moon meant an incoming tide throughout the day. Many believe water movement increases the likelihood of redfish to feed. “Over here, we can sometimes have three or four different tides throughout the day,” said angler Alex Suescun who lives in nearby Cape Coral. “Now there’s only two, a super-low or negative tide in the morning and a high tide about 4:30 in the afternoon.”

Day One Looks Good

“They’ll be no excuses not to do well today,” said Louisiana angler Shane Pescay at the first launch of the season. “The weather’s good and the wind is right.” The majority of the field also shared Pescay’s sentiment as the boats queued for the day one launch. The conditions were set for a great day of fishing with the brisk east wind already slowing the flood of water into the shallows. “It all means there should be a short window of really good fishing from about 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each day,” said Florida angler Geoff Page.

Bostick and Sepe took advantage of this perceived window – in a major way. The two men launched into the lead after day one with 14.57-pounds. “We caught 18 fish today and had to catch 18 fish today,” Sepe said about the amount of culling required. Each angler’s fish just squeaked under the 27-inch slot limit.

In second place after the weigh-in, Naples resident Mike Friday and Punta Gorda’s own Danny Latham turned in a 13.88-pound stringer. Friday and Latham credited wind direction and a ripple on the water for helping them during their morning. “When it’s flat calm here, you can’t get within a country mile of these fish,” Friday said. It took 10 to 12 different spots for Friday and Latham to find their 13.88-pounds. Only one hundredth of an ounce behind them, fellow locals Scott Hughes and Matt Haag took third place. Erik Rue and Larry Puckett, from Louisiana and Texas respectfully, finished with 13.62-pounds – good for the fourth slot, while Craig Johnson and John Ochs’ 13.46-pound posting gave the Florida anglers fifth place on the first day.

Changes on Day Two

Absent winds, bluebird skies, high pressure – changes came overnight as the 48 teams hoping to catch Bostick and Sepe set out on day two. “Look up,” said Team Oberto angler Fred Lynch, as he pointed overhead. “Those fish clumped up together yesterday, they’ll scatter.”

Additionally, an increase in traffic on Saturday’s day two from local anglers and boating enthusiasts looked to dull recently-productive fishing holes from Tampa to Naples. Other fishing tournaments added to the competition to find and claim a key spot, said Naples resident and Redfish Cup pro Mike Del Duca.

None of these factors seemed to affect the defending champions on day two, either. Targeting water off the coast of Sarasota, the anglers caught their stringer by 10:00 a.m, and only needed three fish in the process. “The only way we’re not going up there, is if there are six-foot rollers tomorrow,” Bostick said during the day two weigh in.

Joining Bostick and Sepe to fish on the tournament’s final day were Texans Jon Loring, Jr. and Ray Malone who delivered a consistent 12.72-pound stringer on the second day. “We’re representing all the Texans,” Malone said. “All these other guys are from Florida.”

The Florida quartet of Bo Johnson and Mike Del Duca, and Craig Johnson and John Ochs tied for third place before all weights were zeroed for the Sunday final. Both Lake & Bay teams landed 25.63-total pounds over two days of action and this Punta Gorda final marked Johnson and Ochs’ third top five appearance in as many years.

Breaking up the veteran contingent, rookie Redfish Cup anglers Heath Seckel and Brian Ulch found two redfish weighing 12.22-pounds on day two to join the party. “We’ve fished other tours but never made the cut,” said Ulch. “This is our first top five and I think we’re ready.”

Same Story for Day Three

If you didn’t know any better, you’d have thought nothing new had been written after the decisive final day of the Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup event in Punta Gorda.

“Today was more like the first day,” Bostick said. “A few oversized fish in the morning and we stayed with them all day.” Bostick and Sepe repeated everything to secure their wire-to-wire win in Punta Gorda catching 13.15-pounds of redfish, in the same spot with the same lures. With the victory in hand, the pair revealed all.

“Early in the morning, they would hit a jerkbait but the Sebile Stick Shad was the answer,” Sepe said. “We just trickled them across the surface and it would push a little wake,” Bostick said. “They’d come up and hammer it but a lot of them would miss it, too.”

Seckel and Ulch finished in second-place with their 13.00-pound stringer. Taking third place overall, Johnson and Ochs turned in 11.47-pounds. Loring, Jr. and Malone made all Texas and Louisiana anglers proud, taking the fourth spot with a 10.88-pound day. Rounding out the fifth slot for the tournament, Johnson and Del Duca turned in a 7.96-pound final day stringer.

Fishing sandbars for three straight days, newcomers Seckel and Ulch found their success slow-rolling gold spoons through the grass. “We saw they were eating crabs, and the gold spoon is a perfect match” Ulch said about the technique.

Johnson and Ochs followed the same school over three days and caught three keepers with 11 other bites on day three. “We followed them with the trolling motor and waited until they’d settle down,” Johnson said. The anglers threw soft-plastics on a jighead throughout the tournament.

Loring and Malone got to their cove on day three only to find their fish had left. Slow fishing, but not dead-sticking soft-plastics, the team couldn’t muster enough to take the win. “We were pitching root beer colored bait again, but the fish just weren’t there,” he said.

The fish were there for Bostick and Sepe and it proved to be the difference.

2008 Redfish Cup Schedule

• Punta Gorda, FL • April 25 – 27.
• Port Arthur, TX • May 30 – June 1.
• Chalmette, LA • August 15 – 17.
• Pensacola, FL • September 26 – 28.
• 2008 Championship Biloxi, MS. • October 10 – 12.
• 2008 U.S. Invitational Location TBD • October 25 – 26.