Gagliano Jr. and Mazariegos take home winners’ share of $110,000 in cash and prizes
After two days of fishing, one-hundredth of a pound was all that separated first- and second-place at the Inshore Fishing Association’s Redfish Tour Championship in Houma last weekend.
With 33.54 pounds, the team of Anthony Gagliano Jr. of Portland, Texas and Mike Mazariegos of La Porte, Texas, took the top prize, along with a Ranger 184 Ghost with a Yamaha 150 package and almost $3,500 in Anglers Advantage cash.
Second-place finishers Monty Peters and Tony Vercillo of Florida, received a Ranger Banshee Extreme with a Yamaha 60 package and more than $1,500 in Anglers Advantage cash with a two-day total of 33.53 pounds.
Although they weren’t familiar with the Houma fishery, Gagliano Jr. said in a press release his partner used his fishing experience from Venice to the team’s advantage.
“Mike has fished in Venice a lot and he has the techniques down,” Gagliano Jr. said. “But we weren’t very familiar with this area, so we looked on Google for things Mike liked in Venice and tried to match similar areas around Houma. We rolled right into it.”
Fishing the Lost Lake area, the anglers caught their limits sight-fishing spinnerbaits and Berkley Gulp!.
“The first day we rolled in there, we found some fish in a small slough,” Gagliano Jr. said. “We made about five casts and caught four fish for 17 pounds.”
Although unfamiliar with Houma, the team leaned on their years of experience to pull them through.
“I fish the Corpus Christi area and it has sloughs just like the tournament waters, the grass is just different,” he said. “Fishing sloughs and understanding how the tide affects the fish was the key to catching them.”
Paul Dufrene of Cutoff, and Jay Cedotal of Prairieville, placed third.
“We are very pleased, as we didn’t get to scout the week before,” Dufrene said. “So we were extremely lucky to have the two days that we had.”
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