By: John N. Felsher
(Photo by John N. Felsher)
Turning in one of the best catches of the year, Team Sewer Rats took home annual bragging rights as the best inshore fishing team in Alabama after winning the inaugural Alabama Inshore Championship Tournament Trail series, held Oct. 13, 2012, at Tacky Jacks on the Mobile Bay Causeway.
Team Sewer Rats, comprised of Kevin Owens and Joe Cieutat, both of Mobile, landed 15.84 pounds to win the championship event. Under tournament rules, each team could weigh in one redfish between 16 and 26 inches in length, one speckled trout and one flounder. Each pound of total weight equaled one point. Teams that scored a Grand Slam by catching all three species earned a fivepoint bonus. Thus, Owens and Cieutat finished the event with 20.84 points.
“We fished with live shrimp and finger mullets in Dog River and caught our redfish,” Owens revealed. “Then, we fished the Industrial Canal where Joe caught two specks and a flounder.”
“The flounder hit a jig,” Cieutat echoed.
“We fished in about 18 feet of water, freelining live shrimp. We normally just target flounder. Redfish and specks were always bycatch for us while we’re trying to catch flounder.”
Late in the day, Owens capped his catch with a 6.69-pound speckled trout. Tournament competitors could enter an optional Speckled Trout Jackpot with the biggest trout in the jackpot earning a cash prize. Team Sewer Rats chose not to enter the jackpot.
“We didn’t enter the jackpot because we usually don’t catch big specks,” Owens lamented. “This was the biggest one either of us had ever caught. Live and learn.”
While Owens and Cieutat didn’t win the Speckled Trout Jackpot, they did win the state championship and accompanying annual bragging rights as the best inshore saltwater fishing team in Alabama. Teams
competed in four tournaments throughout the year, accumulating points at each event. The top teams for the series could compete in the invitational championship tournament. Besides winning the Oct. 13
tournament, Team Sewer Rats won the points championship with 81.29 for the year.
“It’s a good feeling to win the championship,” Owens said. “Joe and I fished together since we were five years old. He pushes me and I push him. He outfished me during this tournament series, but
I caught the big fish that counted. We entered this tournament just to prove to all these other fishermen around here that we are as good as they are.”
In second for both the tournament and series, Team Reel Feel, Trenny Woodham of Mobile and L. W. Burroughs of Crestview, Fla., caught a slam weighing 14.17 pounds. With the bonus, they ended the day with 19.17 points and finished the series with 76.63 points.
“We fished some shallow areas around structure in the bay,” Burroughs explained. “I threw topwaters and located the fish when they blew up on the bait. He followed up and caught them with live shrimp. Trenny caught a pretty good flounder close to Gaillard Island near a point in about seven to eight feet of water. I missed that fish and he caught it.”
Woodham won the Speckled Trout Jackpot for the team. He caught a 4.93-pound speck that hit a live shrimp.
“We caught all our fish on live shrimp except the flounder,” Woodham said. “We caught the flounder on a live pogie. I used live shrimp with just a hook and let it swim around on a free line. We fished next to a drop of about eight to 10 feet near a shell bank.”
Team David, David Montgomery, of Mobile, Ala., and Marshall Johnson, El Dorado, Ark., finished third in the tournament. They landed a slam weighing 12.82 pounds. With the bonus, they earned
17.82 points. The team also finished the series in third place with 69.26 points.
“We fished shallow water around Dauphin Island,” Montgomery explained. “Early in the morning, we threw topwaters. Later, we fished grubs and jigheads. We had a lot of hits early in the morning on a
big mullet-colored Zara Spooks. We caught a 6.12-pound trout on a Spook before the sun even broke the horizon. We also caught the redfish on the Spook. We never enter the trout jackpot.” “I caught the flounder on a Gulp,” Johnson added. “We were flipping and pitching vegetation in the marshes in really shallow waters.”
In this event, anglers could also enter a Spot Red contest. The team that brought in the redfish with the most spots won a prize. Team Pogey Pirate, Mike Foster and Steve Milstead, brought in a red with four spots. A portion of the proceeds goes to help Alabama Hunger Relief. The Alabama Inshore Championship Tournament Trail series will return next year.
“Our first year was a big success,” said Alan White, tournament director and publisher of Great Days Outdoors magazine. “We learned so much and we’ll make it so much better next year.
The fishermen were really happy with everything. They had a lot of fun trying to catch three species of fish, which is a little different for many of them. Our first year was very successful raising money for the hungry. The food banks will benefit from it. We want to thank all of our sponsors who helped make this series possible.”
For more information, see the Alabama Hunger Relief page on Facebook or call Great Days Outdoors magazine at 800-597-6828.