ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (September 7, 2007) – The last Eastern Division Redfish Cup tournament wrapped up last weekend in the waters off St. Augustine, Florida. For two Lucky Craft teams, practice was great as they were able to find the fish they thought would be key to a top-10 finish. However, as the tournament approached, the weather changed and both teams knew it would be a tough battle.

Finishing in 25th was Lucky Craft’s Greg and Bryan Watts, with a two-day total of 12.85 pounds. With a week to practice before the tournament began, the Watts brothers found a new pattern everyday. According to Greg, they would be forced to fish the flood tide and knew the fish would be moving around a lot.

“We decided to run in the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) because we knew the water was going to be hot and the fish were going to be a little deeper than normal,” Greg explained. “We were throwing crankbaits in practice, but the pattern changed everyday because the moon was growing and the water was getting higher. The incoming tide would push the fish up around the mouths of creeks, so we thought that would be key in the tournament.”

On day one, Greg and Bryan decided to run 15 miles north of St. Augustine, still fishing the ICW. It was a Lucky Craft day for the Florida natives, as the BDS 3 and 4 brought in quite a few fish.

“We tried a few different things on Friday, but ended up fishing flooded grass with the BDS 3 and BDS 4 (gold color),” Greg said. “In practice, we would make 600 casts or so and catch 12 to 13 pounds, so we thought we would do well in the tournament doing the same thing. However, we set up around a point and waited for the tide to come in [Friday] and when it did, there was nothing. The fish wouldn’t even look at the bait, much less eat it.”

According to Greg, they were two days behind the full moon by Friday, which has a lot to do with the behavior of the fish. Understanding how the fish react, Greg and Bryan did their best to adjust to the changing conditions.

“We sat in that area for about two hours, then moved about two creek mouths down where Bryan landed one right away on the BDS 3,” Greg said. “We continued running the ICW that day, only moving about 200 yards at a time. Around 11:30 am, the tide flooded the grass, and we pulled up in the shallows and fished tailing reds with weedless soft plastics. That was pretty much the history of day one. The fish just weren’t eating much at all.”

The Watts brothers weighed in 5.67 pounds on day one and knew they would need to try something different to stay in contention on day two. Instead of heading north, Greg and Bryan traveled 10 miles south of St. Augustine and found two big oyster fields.

“The only time I saw fish in that area was on an outgoing tide, but we thought we would give it a shot and see what the fish did as the tide came in,” Greg said of the new location. “Bryan caught two in about 45 minutes on the Lucky Craft Sammy [Red Head] and after that, we started throwing a spinnerbait over the oyster beds.”

Greg and Bryan had one more bite in that area before moving halfway back to St. Augustine and fishing a ridge where they found tailing fish earlier in the week. After this area didn’t prove fruitful, the duo decided to give the north one more try.

“We fished the BDS 4 and the Sammy on the edge of the ICW and by now, everything was flooded,” Greg said. “There were people everywhere in the creeks, so we decided to stay in the ICW and fight the big boats and big wakes. It could have gone either way, but we ended up catching two more fish that pushed us up from 43rd to 25th.”

All the fish the Watts brothers weighed in Friday and Saturday came on the Lucky Craft BDS 3 and 4 and the Sammy. Bringing in a larger bag on day two, weighing 9.40 pounds, Greg and Bryan were pleased to have done well despite the conditions and finicky fish. According to Greg it was “just one of those days” and “nature at its best.”

The Watts brothers will fish the waters off Pensacola, Florida in two weeks during the Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup Championship. Much like St. Augustine this past weekend, they expect Pensacola to be difficult, as well.

“Pensacola will be really tough,” Greg concluded. “Many teams try to run to Louisiana, but it’s never been done three days in a row. This tournament brings a whole new perspective. You have to plan a strategy day by day. I always say you can’t win a tournament in Pensacola on day one, but you can definitely lose it. We have high hopes, but we’ll have to work hard and see what happens.”