Bramblet Holds Lead, Smith and Meakin Give Chase

The Tampa Bay Slam Classic was held Saturday, September 24 and Bob Bramlet managed to retain his series lead for the fourth tournament in a row. Richard Smith won the slam tournament by ten points or one eighth of an inch over Marty Meakin. Bramblet came in third place without a slam allowing the field to close the gap on his once insurmountable lead with just one more tournament remaining on the Kayak Fishing ClassicS regular series year. The Series Championship will be on the line at the Southern Redfish Classic scheduled for October 8.

Smith and Meakin each caught a nice redfish, trout and snook for the slam with Smith's trout measuring just a bit longer than Meakins for the extra ten points which made the difference between first place and second. Good thing that they are friends with over $8,000.00 in sponsor prizes on the table. Bramblet managed a trout and a redfish but no snook which cost him plenty of Series Points at the end of the day.

Can Bob Bramblet be caught? The answer to that is yes, he can and it could happen. The series consists of ten open tournaments followed by an invitational national championship in November. The Series Champion is determined by contestants earning series points during each of the ten tournaments. The angler who earns the most points wins the series, a truck full of gear and a Diablo Paddlesports Kayak, not to mention the bragging rights for a year. It is much more difficult then it sounds as the series tournaments are held along the Coastal Gulf States and the contestants frequently fish in areas that they are unfamiliar with.

The top ten anglers have a shot to paddle away with the title and all of the goodies. Bramblet needs to slam the Southern which is a three redfish slam tournament. If he does not, who knows what will happen or who will win. Also on the line is the Angler of the Year Award not to place any pressure on anyone.

We will see how it all paddles out in just two weeks. Good Luck and Good Fishing to all.