OUTDOORS Despite tough weather, we bring home the big fish

It's not often we're greeted with strong north winds and cold fronts in April.

Despite the winds that were sustained up to 25 knots from the north on Saturday, fisherman turned out in droves in one of three local inshore fishing tournaments this weekend.

I took part in the 2016 Sticken Pigz Red/Trout slam along with 54 other boats from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

I teamed up with Geoff Szymanski and Ty Washington with our team, Chapper15 YouTube.

Feeling the 22-knot north breeze whipping into our faces as we pulled up to the Kingfish boat ramp around 5:30 a.m., all plans and prefishing were out the window.

We opted for caution and changed our launch point to the more protected Palma Sola boat ramp, where the tournament was hosted.

We then attempted to get bait.

This attempt continued from before to after the tournament started.

For about three hours we caught hundreds of pinfish, a few dozen huge threadfin, and three -- yes, just three -- whitebait.

No doubt the weather was hindering our plans and the rough conditions on the flats sent bait hiding.

To stay semi-protected, we ran south to Sarasota Bay in an attempt to jig up a few trout.

The bite was slow, and it took a little while before we found success.

A few smaller trout were landed before Washington put our first legal trout in the boat, a 16-inch fish.

We continued the drifts, catching one here or there when Washington hooked a larger trout.

At boatside it appeared to be around 20 inches before deciding to spit the hook. With the fresh wound in our memories we decided that fish must have been 25 inches.

By the time we got back to weigh-in, the one that got away was 32 inches, a real beast if I've ever seen one. It's amazing how they grow in size after losing them. By about 1 p.m., the wind started to subside, with only two hours until weigh-in, and we started to search for redfish. They've been elusive to date this spring, with scattered fish making appearances.

At about 2 p.m., we began to see a few working along a mangrove shoreline with potholes.

About 10 minutes later, Szymanski landed a 22-inch redfish on a gold spoon. It was hope.

We continued drifting before coming back around and anchoring where that fish was caught. I tossed one of our three precious whitebaits on a bobber around 2:20 p.m.

Not soon after it was eaten and another redfish was coming boatside.

Washington netted it, and I measured it just under 26 inches, nearly perfect, and on a day when the bite was slow we'd take it. Washington then sent out a pinfish that was inhaled by another redfish, breaking his line. At 2:39 p.m., Szymanski made one last cast with the gold spoon that was eaten. A four-minute fight later and we had a huge redfish in the boat, measuring at 32 inches, far beyond the 27-inch slot.

Before making any other casts we scooted to the boat ramp to weigh in our marginal trout at .98 pounds and redfish at 5.31 pounds for a total of 6.29.

As the places were called we realized we would finish in the prizes when 12th place was Team Costa at 4.57 pounds. That showed how tough the fishing really was in brutal conditions.

Our total would end up in eighth place. It was not a finish we would complain about.

The top three places were separated by 1.21 pounds. Third place went to Team Bohica at 8.09 pounds, second place went to Catching Some Fin at 8.23 pounds, and Team Spot On won with 9.3 pounds.

Sixth place Team Reel Down landed the largest redfish of the tournament at 6.76. Team Bohica weighed in the largest trout at 5.33 pounds.

Booster club tourney

Another local tournament that took place starting Friday night from the Bradenton Yacht Club was the Second Annual Palmetto High Athletic Booster Club Fishing Tournament. Anglers from 42 teams fished overnight and into Saturday in search of the largest combination of one each snook, redfish and trout.

First place was captured by Capt. Chris Cucci's team with 88 inches. That catch included a 38-inch snook and 31-inch redfish. Second place went to Capt. Josh Bibler's team with 86 inches. Their catch included a 40-inch snook and 26-inch redfish. Third place was taken by Capt. Ruben Castillo with 84 inches, while fourth was landed by Chad Burton with 81 inches.

This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "OUTDOORS Despite tough weather, we bring home the big fish ."