Banana Bandit Strikes Twice

Every angler knows a banana on the boat equals bad luck. The old superstition has been believed by generations of seafaring souls.

During launch on Saturday, Redfish Cup pro Jim Franklin found the yellow fruit on the deck of his boat. Immediately, he sprung into action throwing the food down his gullet.

"If anyone ever puts a banana on your boat, you've got to eat that bad boy ," Franklin said later from the stage.

But Franklin and partner Brian Fornea found another tropical surprise hidden in one of their boat's compartments after the team had arrived at their first spot. It seemed the banana bandit had struck again.

"Can you really fingerprint a banana?" Franklin asked the Hopedale crowd, laughing at his own question.

For the record, Franklin stated his team hadn't caught a fish until both bananas had been consumed.

Picky Bass

Redfish Cup pros Alex Suescun and Eric Taylor tossed spinnnerbaits and frogs throughout Day Two searching for redfish. What they found were bass—way too many of the green fish for their tastes.

"We'd throw closer to the shoreline and we'd find more bass hits than anything," Suescun said. "They really felt like redfish, though."

During one particular topwater retrieve, a giant bass emerged and sucked down Taylor's lure.

"He hits it and the line pops off at the knot," Taylor said. "Then, here it comes out of the water trying to shake the topwater (lure) out of its mouth."

Thinking the lure was gone, Taylor resumed his quest to catch reds. He said he heard a couple splashes, looked over, and saw his lure floating on the surface.

"He finally threw it and I was able to get my topwater back," he said.

Hard Rain Fell

With storms moving through the Hopedale fishery throughout the morning hours, rain suits earned a few more miles on Saturday. Different anglers told stories about how they reacted when a giant cell moved over the water around noon.

Local angler Andy Mnichowski, who has seen his share of storms guiding out of Venice, La., said one particular squall created an entirely new experience for him.

"The rain came down so hard it was the first time I got stung on the back of my rain suit," the Marrero resident said.

QUOTES

"You check your little black book, then you check every single pond on your map."
-Travis Holeman, on Redfish Cup research.

"Oh, I'd like to thank those two redfish, too."
-Brian Fornea, after recognizing a full list of his team's sponsors.

"Anyone can catch the big ones here. But it takes real talent to catch the small ones."
-Rick Murphy

"Yesterday, we didn't just stub a toe—we stubbed all twenty."
-Sam Bertha, Jr.

"You've got close to 100 of the world's best fishermen in the world fishing in 100 square miles of the best redfishing in the world and I think the redfishermen are winning this week."
-Mike Friday

"You can blind-cast, blind-folded and throw it over your shoulder and still catch a redfish out here."
-Tournament director Bob Sealy

"We've caught about 60 fish in two days and we don't know how bad we hurt ‘em."
-"Cajun" Phil Broussard, on the idea of saving fish for the Sunday final.