Watts brothers lead Team of the Year standings;
Gritter/Jueckstock also in top 20

Just over two pounds out of the cut to five sat Greg and Bryan Watts, brothers from Florida, who have been fishing together professionally for decades. As one of the top teams in red fishing, the Watts brothers were looking for a win in Port Aransas, but came up a little short.

The Watts brothers have fished in Port Aransas several times and knew the waters pretty well. However, things had changed since their last visit, which made for an interesting pre-fishing period.

“In pre-fishing, the water was a lot lower than it has been the last several times we’ve been here,” Greg Watts began. “We were unable to access a lot of the places we usually fish and ended up running about 67 miles south of here to catch fish. We were looking at deep canals with a little lip along the bank and found some tailing redfish that got pushed up along that lip. We didn’t really throw at those fish during practice. We just wanted to look around and make sure they were big enough to come back to during the tournament.”

They found the fish, but catching them was a different story, as these redfish seemed determined not to bite.

“The first day of the tournament, Bryan was on the front of the boat sight fishing the tailing redfish,” Greg Watts continued. “I was in the back of the boat paralleling the shoreline. We caught everything on the first day sight fishing those tailing redfish and throwing soft plastics, but they were pretty tough to catch. We threw at about 25 fish and caught about six or seven each. Those aren’t good odds, but that is what it took to bring them in yesterday.” Day two was a little better for the Watts brothers, as their ratio increased and the fish bit a little better than day one.

“Today was a little better,” Greg Watts said. “We threw at maybe 12 fish and were able to get seven or eight of them to eat. We were using the same bait as yesterday, a jig head with a Gulp shrimp or crab. Our bite was better today – we had about a pound more than we had yesterday.”

There are many factors that affect the outcome of any day out on the water and Bryan Watts knows they had those variables working against them this weekend.

“We were really on some nice fish this weekend, but they moved,” Bryan Watts said. “There are so many variables between the time you start pre-fishing until the last day of the tournament; the weather, wind, rain and tides. Yesterday (Thursday) the weather really didn’t affect our bite at all, but today it did. We had some rain this morning and then the high pressure moved in and the wind changed direction. It hadn’t blown out of the northeast all week and it did today. The fish bit really well this morning, but after that, they were gone.”

The Watts brothers’ weights did increase on day two, but it seems everyone else’s did too, as the increase just wasn’t enough to put them in the top five. According to the duo, it has been a while since their last win, but it seems consistency is a major factor in keeping this team in contention and in the spotlight.

“Years and years of experience and working hard are the keys to our consistency,” Greg Watts explained. “Of course, using the baits that work means a lot. It also has a lot to do with learning how to read the fish and learning how to read a flat, a cut or a deep trough. You have to be able to look at a place and ask yourself if the fish are there or not. Intuition will tell you if the fish are there or if you need to move on to another spot. We pride ourselves in being in the top five or ten and being consistent.”

Although they are very proud to be consistently near the top, they are ready for another win and hope to see it happen at the next tournament in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Watts brothers know it is a possibility and know what it is going to take to win.

“New Orleans is going to be a slam fest,” Greg Watts said. “It’s hard to win there, but on the other hand, it’s really hard to lose points in New Orleans. Everybody is going to catch fish and everyone is looking for those eight to nine pounders. Most people are going to find them too. We’ve always done well and I feel good about it.”

Greg already knows what he expects to see in New Orleans and knows he plans to have some Lucky Craft tied on.

“It can be a fabulous topwater bite, or a great crankbait bite, depending on the conditions. The Lucky Craft Fat CB SSR will definitely come into play if the crankbait bite is happening. Also, it will definitely be 100 percent sight fishing in New Orleans. You never blind cast down there – you’re always looking at the one you want to catch.”

Bryan knows it’s going to take major weight to win in New Orleans.

“You might see the same consistent results in New Orleans, but we are going for the big bang,” Bryan Watts added. “We are really going to fight and struggle and try to get on some nine pounders. They are down in Venice and that’s where we’re going. We’ll have a safe spot, but we’re going for the win.”

Mark “Gritter” Griffin and teammate Paul Jueckstock had a tough time locating fish during pre-fishing, but finally came across a spot they thought could produce nice size fish. They stayed close the first day of practice, but decided a long run was necessary to bring in the big ones.

“I can’t wait for New Orleans,” Jueckstock said. “The fishing is unbelievable there. We’re going to do a lot of pre-fishing and scouting so we can make sure we find the right areas.”
Gritter has the same sentiments about New Orleans and can’t wait to get there. It looks as though Lucky Craft could come into play for this team as well and Gritter made a prediction he plans to live up to.

Both the Watts brothers and Gritter/Jueckstock will travel to New Orleans for the final regular season tournament of the year, August 31 – September 2.

Provided by Cox Group

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