LC Weekly Journal Redfish Cup Punta Gorda FL

Gritter, Jueckstock Comeback Despite Adversity;
Another Top 20 Finish For Watts Brothers

Gritter Griffin and Paul Jueckstock Finish 26th;
Greg and Bryan Watts Finish 16th

Punta Gorda, Fla. (May 15, 2006) – It was not a weekend for the weary as 82 teams competed at the second event of the year in the ‘Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup presented by Frogg Toggs.’ The winds were strong and the waves were high, but Team Lucky Craft pulled out another good finish, despite adversity… of all kinds.

>>> Mark “Gritter” Griffin and Paul Jueckstock

Explosive pretty much sums up the weekend for Lucky Craft’s Mark ‘Gritter’ Griffin and Paul Jueckstock. After a boating accident threatened to bring their weekend to an early halt, Gritter and Jueckstock pulled it together and finished with a two-day combined weight of 14.64 pounds.

“We had some pretty tough pre-fishing because the fish aren’t really schooled up anywhere,” said Gritter, an Alabama native. “They’re spread out around the islands and the flats. The challenge during this time of year is the water that runs up under the mangroves. The fish are on the flats at low water, but come high water they run up under those mangroves and they can be ten to 15 feet under them. You just can’t get to them.

“We were able to find two islands that had fish all around them and it was just a matter of throwing and throwing,” Gritter continued. “If you see fish, you aren’t going to catch them – it’s too late. Thursday morning we were throwing soft plastics and spoons, but after about 2:00 pm, I hauled out the Lucky Craft Gunfish 95 in Ghost Minnow and started throwing it. Ten casts later and ‘boom,’ we pulled in a 5 1/2 pound fish. So we threw the Gunfish the rest of the day.”

In addition to the topwater bite, Jueckstock found that fishing scented bait was working for him this weekend.

“We fished some scented baits as well and people are starting to do what they’re calling ‘dead stick it,’” Jueckstock said. “If you find a pothole, mangrove or any kind of overhanging branch, you just pitch it in there. When the tide comes up, the fish are so far under the mangroves you have to skip it eight to ten feet before they can get the scent. A lot of baits now are keyed on scent and when it’s windy out there, the fish focus on it.”

At the conclusion of Thursday’s weigh-in, Team Lucky Craft found themselves with a weight of 7.70 pounds and in the 43rd spot, not sure they’d be able to fight for redemption on Friday; after an explosive first day, they no longer had a boat.

“On the way back we had a few technical difficulties – to say the least,” Jueckstock said. “Our boat exploded. We were sitting in the cockpit when the boat blew and fire came up all around us. The boat stopped completely and we waved another boat down that was a couple hundred yards behind us. Gritter threw the fish in his boat and I told him I was going to stay with our boat so it didn’t drift off to sea.”

“He left and about two minutes later, more smoke started to come out,” Jueckstock continued. “So I grabbed the fire extinguisher and opened one of the compartments, which I never should’ve done. Fire blew in my face and I thought I was on fire so I dove into the water. I waved somebody down, got back and EMS checked me out. We were all okay, but it was pretty scary.”

After an eventful Thursday afternoon, Team Lucky Craft pulled out a real comeback, jumping from 43rd on the first day to finish the second day in 26th position – keeping them in the chase for Team of the Year.

“The incident with the boat blowing up put us off our feet for today (Friday),” said Gritter, who was very happy that neither he nor Jueckstock were seriously injured. “Without setbacks like that, this is still one of the toughest tournaments we have. I said that last time and I’m saying it again. If you bring in four fish in Punta Gorda, you did a good job – and that’s what we did.”

Coming up in June, Team Lucky Craft will travel to Kemah, Texas for the third stop on the ‘Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup’ Tour. With plenty of coastline to fish, Gritter and Jueckstock know it may require long, and potentially rough, runs to find the fish they are looking for.

“Next is Kemah (Texas) and it can get really bad out there,” Jueckstock said. “It’s a real shallow harbor and the waves get really high; eight to ten feet in a heart beat. The weather can change almost hourly. This year we’ll probably be using a lot of crankbaits, lipless crankbaits and fishing drop-offs because the fish suspend out there.”

>>> Greg Watts and Bryan Watts

After almost making the cut in Clearwater last month, brothers Greg and Bryan Watts are in a good spot after finishing 16th this weekend. Obviously making the cut to five is the ultimate goal, next to winning a tournament, but under the conditions this weekend, the Watts brothers were happy with their finish and overall weight of 19.96 pounds.

“Pre-fishing was really tough,” Bryan Watts began. “I caught one fish a day for three days. I was doing a lot of looking trying to figure out where those fish were positioning themselves. Come tournament time, we had a strategy to come in and pitch nothing but trees. For some reason, if the fish were out from underneath those trees, they wouldn’t bite.”

“Thursday was a very good day – seventeen fish total all day,” Greg Watts added. “We had a couple of big fish and one undersized, so that means we caught 14 in the slot. The fishing was still pretty tough though and we ended up coming back with about eight pounds. Everything we found was tucked underneath trees and all we could get under there were some soft baits – a little green watermelon sinking minnow. After just over eight pounds on day one you look ahead and say the odds of making the cut are tough, but we can always come back.”

Friday was a tough day for the Watts brothers, seeing plenty of fish but only having a handful of bites to try and bring in the big ones.

“Today (Friday), we only had four bites total,” Greg said. “It was really tough. We had bad winds on both days. The water never got high enough in the trees because of the northwest wind, which happens over here on the west coast. Everything we saw today was out in about four or five feet of water. We saw about 50 fish today but they just weren’t eating it. We still managed to come in with over 11 pounds today and moved from somewhere in the 40s to 16th position and that’s really a great jump. I’ll take a top 20 every event. The fishing is tough down here – there’s always a good day and a bad day in the mix. One of these days we’re going to put together two good days.”

The Watts brothers will also be fishing the third tournament of the year in Kemah, Texas. They know the waters and both agree Lucky Craft will be their ticket to success.

“We’ve done well in Kemah in the past,” Bryan Watts said. “We’re going to knock the color off of some Lucky Craft crankbaits. Kemah will be a spot where Greg and I can do really well.”

“We really like Houston,” Greg Watts added. “That’s our big crankbait spot and we’ll be throwing Lucky Craft like crazy. Nothing else – that’s all we’re going to take.”

>>> Lucky Craft Giveaway – Youngster ‘lucky’ with Lucky Craft

This weekend’s ‘lucky’ winner of the tackle box giveaway was Jacob Dove, of Cape Coral, Fla. Team Lucky Craft’s Gritter Griffin and Paul Jueckstock made their way to the stage Saturday afternoon to announce the winner of the Lucky Craft tackle box full of saltwater Flash Minnows in all sizes and colors – a value of more than $250. Jacob and his father were sitting in the front row awaiting the start of Saturday’s weigh-in when the name was announced. Applause rang out as announcer Keith Alan congratulated Jacob and his father while the ESPN2 cameras rolled. Congratulations Jacob and family and we hope you enjoy your new tackle box and all those Lucky Craft lures!