ESPN Saltwater

Editor's note: Mark Cooper, ex-Denver Bronco, took to the water Thursday and gave readers a first-hand account of the windy conditions while previewing the action for this weekend's Redbone Celebrity tournament. Cooper will be competing in the Redbone event, which is part of the Built Ford Tough ESPN Outdoors Saltwater Series presented by Takemefishing.org, beginning Saturday and ending Sunday.

ISLAMORADA, Fla. — The last tournament of the year for the Redbone fishing Trilogy Series is this weekend.

Friday, some competitors will compete in the Superfly, sponsored by the Florida Keys Outfitters and Sandy Moret. In the Superfly, you can only use one fly pattern to catch both species (redfish and bonefish) in order to score points.

I came in Thursday, one day early, to pre-fish for both events. Before I flew in to Florida, in anticipation of the event, I spoke with guides and friends in the Keys and I kept hearing a common thread. Laid down-slick calm, no wind. Boy, fishing should be great with these conditions. Ha!

Thursday, 20 knot winds were blowing out of the Northeast and by 1:30 we were running from ominous storms and looking at water spouts forming around us. Fishing visibility was tough and you know what they say, "should have been here yesterday."

An early morning start with Capt. Rusty Albury took us to the backcountry of the Florida Keys and Flamingo off the southern tip of Florida. We saw a number of snook that didn't have much interest in the fly but never saw any redfish, which will be needed over the weekend to score points. We jumped a few small tarpon and caught trout and jacks blind casting to a few favorite spots near snakebite channel. Still, no reds.

The Redbone tournament is one of the 25-plus charity events that raises money for Cystic Fibrosis. You can read more about the tournaments at www.redbone.org.

The targeted species are redfish and bonefish. The forecast is for 25-35 knots winds through the weekend and rain off and on, so it will keep things very interesting. You can score points for the event on spinning tackle with bait or artificial lures or you can use a flyrod and your favorite fly. I prefer the flyrod but others go strictly with artificial.

Another saying comes to mind, "a bad day on the water is better than a good day at work," sometimes I have to debate that one depending on the conditions. Sure beats shoveling the snow we had in Colorado last week. Wish me luck, I'll need some.