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CHALMETTE, La. — Charlie Thomason and Shane Pescay are where they expected to be after two days in the Louisiana Marsh.

But it's the unexpected that tells the tale for this Academy Sports + Outdoors Big Easy Invitational, the third stop of the 2009 Redfish Cup circuit.

Thomason and Pescay lead by doing exactly the opposite of what most anglers would think to do under the windy, rising water conditions of the marsh.

The team posted a two-fish limit totaling 16.64 pounds, giving them a two-day total of 32.59 pounds. They are followed by Chris and Ron Hueston in second with a two-day stringer of 32.01. Scott Ritter and Bobby Abruscato are third with 31.12. Scott Hughes and Matt Haag are fourth with 30.50 and Mike Friday and Danny Latham round out the final five with 30.06 pounds.

"This marsh is different than any of the other places we fish,'' said Thomason, a guide in the area for two decades. "When the water is on the rise, you expect the fish to move up shallow. That is where a lot of these guys are looking for them. But when it rises here, these fish go deeper."

That little bit of knowledge in a marsh that is showing the signs from two blasts of hurricanes (Ike and Gustav) in 2008 has paid big dividends in some way for the entire final five.

In typical Cup events in this area, weights are heavier and anglers spend much of their time casting around a plethora of grass beds scattered from Chalmette to Venice. After Ike and Gustav, though, those grass beds are at a premium. If you can find one now, you've basically found the Mother Lode.

That is the case for Thomason and Pescay. When they originally found a ¼-mile stretch of bank with scattered grass beds and clear water, it was loaded with "about 4,000 redfish." And when the water begin to rise with the persistent south winds, Thomason knew to work deeper than stay extremely shallow as most would.

In reality he's doing both. The team is catching their fish on a Yum Money Minnow swim bait, outfitted with a Lake Fork Tackle 7/0 swim bait hook in about 2- to 3-feet of water, which is deep for the Louisiana Marsh.

"We're fishing it on the surface like a buzzbait,'' Thomason said. "And when they come up and bump it, we just let it fall and work it slowly. I'm telling you, they eat it like it's candy."

While Thomason and Pescay's deep swimbait pattern is exclusive to themselves, the rest of the final five have found common ground by concentrating on the scarce grass beds in the marsh. How they are catching them is a smorgasbord of ways that vary from Bass Assassin paddle tails (The Huestons) to Hildebrandt spinners (Ritter and Abruscato) and Precision Tackle spoons (Haag and Hughes).

Hhydrilla, or a mixture of hydrilla, coontail or widgeon grass is present within each of their presentations. All of the teams are reporting catching on average two dozen fish each, but mixed in with them are those thumpers that measure well over 27 inches, the maximum length a redfish can measure in this event.

The event will resume Sunday. The team with the best single-day performance will be crowned Academy Sports + Outdoors Big Easy Invitational champions. Weigh-ins will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET at Gulf Outlet Marina in Chalmette, La. For full coverage of the event, visit RedfishCup.com.