Friermood/Franklin Lead Oberto Redfish Tournament

Clearwater, Fla. - After rough times in the previous four tournaments, Florida anglers took three of the top five slots in a shorted version of the Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup qualifying event in Clearwater. The other two spots - including the top - belong to the boys from Texas.

Blaine Friermood and Jim Franklin (Baytown and Angleton, Texas) lead after Day 1. The team weighed in two redfish totalling 13.83 pounds to take the lead in the tournament by 5-hundredths of a pound over Greg and Bill DeVault of Port Richey, Fla. At the same time, Friermood and Franklin took the lead in the the Oh Boy! Oberto Team of the Year race. Rounding out the top 5 are Chuck Howard and C.J. Howard of Bradenton, Fla. (13.64); Mike Friday (Naples, Fla.) and Danny Latham (Punta Gorda, Fla.) with 13.19; and Allen Kalisky and Billy Blackwood of San Antonio, Texas, with 13.00 pounds.

Due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Wilma, Redfish Cup organizers decided to shorten the touranment by one day and make the top 5 cut after Day 1. The top five teams will have their scores zeroed out and the winner will walk away with $40,000.