Outdoors: St. Pete mixed fishing tourney one of the area's best

This weekend's 18th Annual Yerrid Foundation Grand Slam Fishing Tournament presented by Bonefish Grill once again brought together the area's top captains as they host teams of anglers in search of the largest snook, redfish and trout combination. I've been lucky enough to be a part of the tourney for six years now, and still find it one of the best for a great cause in the area.

Yesterday I joined team B.S.R.O. #01 and captain Chris Wiggins as we launched from St. Peterburg's Vinoy basin. Capt. Wiggins was loaded with bait aboard his 24' Ranger Bay boat caught from the skyway before picking up the team. 64 other teams raced toward their morning holes across Tampa Bay, a beautiful sight to be seen with the morning sunrise and calm weather.

Our first spot was northeast of the Skyway causeway on the edge of a flat to look for large redfish. As most secret spots go, about 15 boats sat tightly together in a line, a sight unfamiliar to me as a Bradenton-based angler. As one boat inched forward so would everyone else, meaning anxious captains didn't sit still for long.

After the boats danced for about 30 minutes, a few redfish were landed beside us.

Then, B.S.R.O. angler David Salapski hooked up and landed a 30-inch redfish. Shortly after, he hooked and landed another 31.5-inch redfish that tried its best to tangle around other boats lines, engines and trolling motors.

With big redfish off the list, Wiggins opted to get away from the multiple-boat madness and search for snook. We bounced around Ft. Desoto for a few hours, seeing plenty of big snook that wouldn't eat.

The next move was to some flats around Pinellas Point, where snook were hungry. Angler Jeff Minch landed a 31-inch snook among several smaller fish that kept us busy. Many other bigger snook, including some over 40-inches, ate our baits but either spit the hook or broke the line.

Combined with Minch's 15-inch trout, the day one total landed Wiggins' team in the running tied for 3rd at 77.5 inches before the start of day 2.

Leading the tournament after day one is Bradenton Capt. Billy Alstrom, with a total of 82.25 inches.

Currently in 2nd place is Capt. Rob Gorta at 79.25 inches with team General Dynamics, while team Mercedes Benz #01 and Capt. K. Little were tied with B.S.R.O. #01 at 77.5-inches.

The redfish division is being led by Salapski's 31.5-inch fish, while M. Sexton leads the snook division with a 33.5-incher. The largest trout after day one was 27 inches, landed by B. Carroll.

Conditions will be much tougher on day two as winds are expected to be over 20 MPH.

Final results from the tournament will run in Scoreboard tomorrow.

This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 10:03 PM with the headline "Outdoors: St. Pete mixed fishing tourney one of the area's best ."