Fishing isn't always sport best played in solitude. A good teammate is essential to success, especially in tournaments.
By TERRY TOMALIN
Published May 16, 2003
TAMPA BAY - Fishing with the "Rod Squad's" Tim Bradford and Corbin Kitzinger is as much fun as watching a top doubles team play tennis.
Each move is carefully planned, as they complement, instead of compete.
First, Bradford drops an artificial bait a few feet from the pothole in the grass flat. Then, as soon as Bradford drags the lure out of the strike zone, Kitzinger lets another soft-bodied bait fly.
This one lands a few feet to the right, but it fails to ignite a feeding frenzy. Bradford watches and waits, then as soon as Kitzinger's lure has cleared the hole, he sends another offering.
"We have fished together long enough now that we can really anticipate what one another are doing," said Kitzinger, a 25-year-old St. Petersburg native.
"We move like a hand and a shadow," said Bradford, 30.
The anglers, who both work full-time in the financial industry, met over the Internet. Both were frequent contributors to Florida Sportsman's online Fishing Forum, and discovered they shared a common passion for inshore angling.
"We fished together a few times and we figured that we should try our hand at tournament fishing," Kitzinger said.
It's not easy finding a good tournament fishing partner. When things aren't going as planned and there is money on the line, it is not unusual for friends to quickly become foes.
"We never get mad at each other," Bradford said. "There have been times when I haven't been happy with the situation, but I never blame Corbin."
Anglers who converse on the forum often use aliases or "handles" similar to those used by fishermen who chat on the VHF radio when on the water. Bradford came up with the name Rod Squad for their fishing team, and he swears his choice had nothing to do with cheesy 1960s cop show Mod Squad.
"But I wouldn't mind having a woman on the team," Kitzinger said. "Then we would be able to win the ladies division."
Kitzinger and Bradford fished a few tournaments, including one sponsored by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club in which they won the Inshore Master Angler of the Year award.
"That was a particularly memorable one because Tim jumped in the water to free a sheepshead that had wrapped itself around a piling," Kitzinger said. "It wouldn't be a tournament unless Tim wound up in the water."
But the Rod Squad's favorite tournament is a monthly inshore series which is simply called the "Tournament."
Clay Eavenson, who founded the tournament trail, moved to Florida to play with the New York Yankees.
"After I got hurt and couldn't play baseball anymore, I had a lot of time on my hands," Eavenson said. "I had always been a bass fisherman, but once I caught my first snook, that was it, I was hooked on saltwater."
Eavenson wanted to fish tournaments, but he found it difficult to compete against professional fishing guides who were on the water, day after day.
"So I thought people would be interested in a tournament series geared toward the average angler," he said. "Guys like Tim and Corbin."
Eavenson holds eight tournaments in Tampa Bay, March through October. He averages about 100-200 entries each event. Anglers pay $25 and can win $2,000 per tournament, and $8,000 in the series championship.
"It is an even playing field ... no professional fishing guides," Eavenson said. "We are 100 percent catch-and-release. We keep it conservation-minded."
To date, the Rod Squad is the Tournament's most successful team. They have placed first in three events and were at the top of the prize ladder in the others.
"We take it seriously," Kitzinger said. "We always have a game plan, go over it again and again beforehand, then stick to it."
Kitzinger and Bradford hope to continue this weekend when the Tournament Inshore Slam Series continues on Tampa Bay.
"We've been fishing," Bradford said. "We'll be ready."
Eavenson said the series will move to Tarpon Springs in June and Sarasota in March.
"Who knows, we may be all over the state in a couple of years," Eavenson said.
- For more information on the Tournament Inshore Slam Series go to www.thetournament.us or call (813) 300-2147.
