ESPN Saltwater

MONTAUK, N.Y. — Sometimes a little motivation is all an angler needs. Steve Bechard of East Hampton, N.Y., rounded out five Slams, catching huge numbers of bluefish, striped bass and false albacore. His stout 3,200 point total puts him in the lead at the F.C.A. Montauk Redbone, which is the fourth tournament of the season for the ESPN Outdoors Saltwater Series presented by TakeMeFishing.Org.

"My guide (Paul Dixon) kept yelling at me every time I rested," said Bechard, 32. "He would say, 'I thought you were going to fish hard.' I had to listen."

With unfavorable conditions — the water temperature was high — anglers didn't expect much after launching Thursday. But things heated up in a hurry and Dixon found the right spots.

In the team format, Bechard, who works in the medical sales field, was joined by Jason Puris, who was right behind Bechard with 2,600 points. The team set out early in search of striped bass — the most elusive species thus far in the tournament — and capitalized on a hot spot. While most teams were keying in on birds and baitfish, Bechard and Co. hit on blind casts early.

That set up the rest of their day.

"We were just in the right places at the right times," said Bechard. "But that was because of Paul. Today made you work. It certainly wasn't easy. Usually in Montauk right now, you see bass blitzes but it just isn't happening."

Combined, Dixon produced the top two anglers, who were head-and-shoulders above the rest of the field. A legend in Montauk, Dixon's following is quite tangible.

"It's weird," said Bechard. "You see people follow Paul just because it's Paul. People point and then follow. But no one can find them like Paul."

In the scoring format, which requires each team to register a slam and gives varying points for each species, many teams are still in the hunt. In direct contrast to Bechard and Puris, who both spread the wealth, ex-Miami Dolphin Jim Jensen and Mark Christano landed scores of bluefish.

With 21 blues to his credit, Jensen was buoyed by a hot morning.

"It was unbelievable," said Jensen, who played 12 seasons for the Dolphins. "I had one on and Mark had one at the same time. We caught them pretty much all day. It was incredible."

Jensen and Christano will be searching for striped bass on Friday, the final day of competition. Anglers receive extra points for achieving slams and are awarded different points depending on the bait choice that landed each species. A fly merits the most points and anglers are also using spins/plugs.

The EOSS continues to integrate Redbone events into its season. Each event receives television coverage on ESPN2 and extended coverage on ESPNOutdoors.com. While the tournaments appeal to serious tournament anglers, the Redbone was founded to help "catch the cure" for cystic fibrosis.