Over the last nine months the ECRC has made stops at a number of different venues from Pensacola to Panama City. The last stop in the 2009 ECRC tournament series will be held in Niceville, FL on Saturday October 24th, 2009, at Blue Water Bay Marina. A number of different teams are bottlenecked together at the top of the point's leaderboard so participation in this tournament is crucial. With more redfish in Choctawhatchee bay than ever before, it will be very exciting to see how this tournament plays out. As is the case in all redfish tournaments, weather will play a big factor in each team's decision making process.
The forecast for tournament day reads....north winds 20 to 25 knots bays and coastal waterways rough. This will make for very tough fishing conditions for teams planning on fishing shallow water. Hard north winds tend to force water of the bay systems, so it is hard to get a true tide reading under these circumstances. Under these conditions, redfish will be looking for deeper, protected areas that are holding plenty of bait. With the season coming to an end, and the Championships right around the corner, this tournament is crucial for teams fighting for team of the year. Mike Pattison and Ken Cube lead the way going into the last tournament; however, several teams are nipping at their heels. Reigning team of the year champs Jimmy Jimenez and Mike Schweppe are following close behind in 2nd place. They have proven to be very consistent over the last two years. Rounding out the top three are 2008 ECRC tournament champions Bill Lipscomb and Bob Heard. However, the favorite team has to be Choctawhatchee Bay natives Blake and Wes Nelson fresh off of a top finish in an IFA event.
They have won a number of different tournaments from that area and are going to be very tough to beat on their home turf! Sign in will be from 5:45 a.m. to 6:15 a.m. We will take off at safe light which is approximately around 6:55 a.m. All teams will be back at the launch site by 3:00 p.m. for the weigh-in which will start at 3:15 p.m. If you need any additional tournament information, please visit our website at www.theredfishclub.com or call Jimmy Jimenez at 850-450-4298. We hope to have another great turnout, and we are very excited about visiting a new venue.