PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (May 5, 2009) – Florida was the first stop on the 2009 Redfish Cup tournament schedule, and 49 of the best Redfish teams in the country focused their sights on the waters of Punta Gorda. Four Florida residents represented Lucky Craft this week; Paul Jueckstock and partner, Manny Perez, from Port Orange and Punta Gorda, respectively, and Bryan and Greg Watts, from Eagle Lake and Lithia.

All 49 teams had two days to catch the four biggest redfish they could find to make the top-five and fish on Sunday. Only a few spots out of the top five sat Jueckstock and Perez, in ninth after day two. With a total two-day weight of 19.06 pounds, the duo from Florida was happy with the outcome.

“Anything in the top 20 in Punta Gorda is great,” Jueckstock said. “This place is difficult, and very different than any other venue we have ever fished.”

Jueckstock and Perez had a rough practice, not catching a single fish Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Those last few days of practice were a struggle for the Lucky Craft team, but they did see some great fish, so they were optimistic going into day one.

“We ran 50 minutes on Friday to find our fish,” Jueckstock explained. “The fish were so spooky and they did not want to bite. We threw soft plastics for most of the tournament.”

With soft plastics as their main bait, Jueckstock and Perez were able to incorporate a bit of Lucky Craft as well. In the mornings, when topwater baits are normally popular, Jueckstock would throw the Lucky Craft Wood Sammy because it doesn’t make any noise.

“We had some fish blow up on the Sammy, and we’ve done really well with that bait here in the past,” Jueckstock said. “But the fish here were just short-striking it, and I really don’t know what the problem was. It did help, though, because after I’d get a blow up on top with the Sammy, Manny [Perez] would pitch a plastic in the same area and most of the time he’d hook up. It was a good combination.”

The remainder of their day was spent around edges of mangroves, flats and docks, trying to locate fish with soft plastics. They also had a few areas where they knew fish were sitting, so the duo would lower the power pole and make long casts, hoping to get a bite from fish they couldn’t see but knew were there.

Jueckstock and Perez had the same deal working on Saturday except for one key difference – they were fishing from a borrowed boat.

“Our boat broke down so we ended up in a boat that could only go about 40 MPH,” Jueckstock said. “Ours does about 50 MPH so we had to stay closer to the launch site to maximize our fishing time. It turned out okay, because our secondary spot we fished that day did work out for us.”

Jueckstock and Perez weighed in 10.06 pounds on day one and 9 pounds on day two for a total weight of 19.06 pounds, putting them in ninth overall.

Bryan and Greg Watts came into their first Redfish Cup tournament confident, yet realistic. They knew from years of experience that the fish in the waters of Punta Gorda are ever changing and patterns rarely hold up from one day to the next.

With this in the back of their minds, the duo had a decent practice and found a few patterns they hoped would bring in some good weights during the three-day tournament.

“We looked at a lot of different places and patterns,” Bryan said. “We were planning on fishing potholes, as that seemed to be the main pattern we were able to find. But like typical Punta Gorda, things can change overnight. And they did.”

Bryan and Greg were able to bring in 9.78 pounds on day one, a good bag for this tough fishery, fishing potholes with short black grass in them near Charlotte Harbor.

“We caught 11 fish in one hole, so we knew we had it figured out, at least for day one,” Bryan said. “These potholes, or sand pockets, are actually just deeper depressions in a flat. We were probably fishing in about 3 1/2-feet of water, and the key to these holes was the 4-inch tall black grass in them.”

The duo fished these holes with Berkley Gulp, letting the bait sit for 25-30 seconds, moving it about a foot and then letting it sit again. Another key for Bryan and Greg on day one was the pinfish in their area. These smaller bait fish would come to investigate the bait, which would trigger the redfish into somewhat of a feeding frenzy creating a good chance for a hook up.

After finding such a specific pattern to follow on day one, day two didn’t prove quite as fruitful. Bryan and Greg tried for two hours to fish potholes, but to no avail. They had to move to Pine Island Sound and throw their soft plastics against the mangroves. The key to this bite was fishing the mangroves with little troughs of deeper water in the front.

Bringing in two fish, one nice-sized and one small, Bryan and Greg weighed in 9.17 pounds, leaving them with a total two-day weight of 18.95 pounds and finishing in 10th. They were pleased overall with the finish, especially because of the intensity and difficulty of a tournament in Punta Gorda.

They are now looking forward to fishing the next Redfish Cup tournament May 28-30 in Kemah, Texas.

“I can guarantee you one thing,” Bryan concluded. “It will be a crankbait bite.” And the duo is looking forward to it.