Paddle-Fishing.com Challenge Series event #5 (actually the fourth of the season due to a schedule change for event #3) was the “Seeing Spots in Upper Tampa Bay” challenge. In our ongoing effort to have unique and challenging events, Tournament Director Chris “ChrisR” Ravelo decided to make this one a redfish spots event and the anglers were only allowed to use bucktails jigs supplied by sponsor Nut’s Hookers. The anglers were allowed to enter 2 redfish for which they 5 points for the fish plus 1 point for each spot on one side of the fish.

For the 38 guys that showed up, it was a chilly start to the day. With predawn temps in the upper 40’s we were all thankful for a a break in the strong breezes we’ve been experiencing over the past few weeks. As the anglers paid their $5 entry fee, each was handed two of Nut’s Hookers bucktail jigs. The white one is 1/8th ounce and the brown is 1/4 ounce.

  

As a fan of bucktail jigs, I was impressed with the quality. Many bucktails are built cheaply and are pretty much one trip lures. Nut’s had nice paint that survived bouncing around on the oyster bars and wraps that are very solid. There was no bucktail shed from these jigs.

The temps thankfully rose quickly as the sun came up but the unimpressive tides were going to make it a challenge for everyone. With little water movement all day it was going to take patience and persistence to catch the sought after redfish.  The field was split, for the most part, between Rocky Creek on the east side of UTB and Safety Harbor on the west. Those that fished the Rocky Creek area had the better day. Chuck “Teamshaft1” Statham reported catching over 20 reds in the creek. Fish were caught on the Safety Harbor side but they were hard to find and not very aggressive eaters when found. Out of the 38 anglers, only a few came back to the Pic n’ Sip with empty catch reports.

The Pic n’ Sip was held at Bar Fly in downtown Safety Harbor. Jeff and Celeste Harrell, along with their rather engaging and future fly casting champion young son Ethan, own and run the place and it should be on everyone’s list of places to go for some good eats, cold drinks and a fun time.

With a scoring format of counting spots, size didn’t matter. A 12 inch redfish with 2 spots was worth more then a 38 inch redfish with 1 spot. At the Pic n’ Sip before the winners were announced, you could hear guys bragging about how big the redfish was that they caught only to be countered with “Yeah, that’s great but how many spots did it have?”

Bill “Heywood” Howard took first place in the spots category. He entered two redfish with a combined 7 spots. That earned him $95.

Bill “Heywood” Howard and Chris “ChrisR” Ravelo

Todd “Todd” Llewellyn took second place with two redfish with a total of 4 spots. That earned him $57.

Todd “Todd” Llewellyn, Ethan Harrell and Chris “ChrisR” Ravelo

Chuck “Teamshaft1” Statham took 3rd place with 2 redfish with a total of 3 spots. Chuck earned $38.

Chuck “Teamshaft1” Statham and Chris “ChrisR” Ravelo

The next group of winners were in the largest redfish category. Taking top honors in this group is John “JKL” Lee with a 26.75 inch redfish. John took home a cooler from sponsor Polar Bear Coolers. Steve “Manning” Manning entered a 26 inch redfish which earned him a $25 gift certificate donated by sponsor   Metalfab, a top notch custom fabricator of metal products for Architectural applications.

Richard “rpiatt3” Piatt took home the coveted Juggie award with a 22 inch redfish. We’re all looking forward to see what Juggie will experience in Richard’s care.

John “JKL” Lee, Steve “Manning” Manning, Richard “rpiatt3” Piatt and Chris Ravelo

Tailin Toads, manufacturer of the incredible fingerless gloves, donated some gloves and their newest product the Toad Shieldz. Hand made right here in Florida, these gloves truly offer sun protection and all day comfort.

Once again, thanks to Nut’s Hookers for the great fish catching bucktails and to Bar Fly for the perfect venue for a PFCS Pic n’ Sip!

Thanks to all who came out for the event. Paddle-Fishing.com’s tournament series is the longest running kayak fishing tournament series in the world. While it has changed names a couple times, the general series format has always been a low cost, emphasis on fun series that challenges you to try different lures and different places. Your coming out helps to assure that this series will continue to grow in the years to come.

Our next event, PFCS #3, was rescheduled from November 17, 2012. It will be held on April 6th along the south shore of Tampa Bay. The lure is picked but we’re still working on a scoring format. As this will be the last of the season, I’m sure we’ll come up with something so we’ll go out with a bang. Maybe even literally.

See you on April 6th!

Photo credit for all goes to Bill “Heywood” Howard. Once again, thanks Bill for the effort and the nice pics!