Fishing

Relocated redfish event comes to St. Petersburg

When Hurricane Ivan smashed into Orange Beach, Ala., in mid September, it forced the cancellation of the Redfish Nation's inaugural Eastern Division Q Series tournament scheduled Oct. 30.

The event has been rescheduled for Saturday off Pinellas Point. Approximately 100 teams of two anglers are expected to compete in the one-day tournament, the first in a series of qualifying events leading to August's Redfish Cup, also in St. Petersburg.

"We know (St. Petersburg) is a great area, and there will be good fishing for redfish," said Steve Bowman, co-organizer and promoter of the event as well as an editor of Redfish Nation magazine. "I know the teams are excited to come down there. We had an open registration (for the tournament) and it filled up in 6 hours."

There are three Q series events in the Eastern division, made up Georgia, Florida and Alabama. There are another three Q series events in the Western Division of Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. The top 15 teams in each division at the end of the season qualify for priority entrance into the Redfish Cup tournament.

Each anglers may weigh one fish, so each team gets two. The team with the top combined earns $10,000.

The weigh-in is at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort. There is a captain's meeting for registered teams at the hotel at 7 tonight.

For information, call 867-1151.