Geoff Page of Venice and Steve Gibson of Sarasota tied for first in the Slam division of the Extreme Edge Kayak Fishing National Championship at the St. Pete Beach Travelodge Saturday. Each caught snook, trout and redfish totaling 71.25 inches. They split $1,000 and a Heritage Redfish Kayak. Scott Null of Houston was second with 68 total inches.
Page, Gibson and Mark Pellman won the team division and a wooden redfish trophy.
Page said he and his teammates fished south Tampa Bay and targeted deep mud troughs amid shallow grass flats that were drained by an extreme low tide. Fishing in isolated pockets of deeper water, they saw the best action between 10 a.m. and noon, when the incoming tide invigorated the area.
David Moss won the redfish division with a 30-inch fish. Bryan Epperson was second at 29 inches and Glenn Pla third with 28.
In the trout division, Kevin Fenn won with 25 inches, Mike Herlihy tied with Jason Stock for second at 21 inches, and John Donahue and Peter Poletti tied for third with 20 inches.
Pellman's 32.5-inch linesider topped the snook division and Mark Michael was second with a 29-incher and David McLeaf third at 25.
Artificial lures were used and fish were released alive after being photographed on official measuring boards to verify lengths.
--David A. Brown covers area fishing tournaments and can be reached at tightlinecomm@aol.com
