Gary Moreno and Tony Viator are back with a specific goal this week, but it’s not that lofty.
“Do not finish DFL,” Moreno said. “Dead frigging last.”
Moreno and Viator finished 10th last year at Georgetown, S.C.. They blanked the first two days but were grateful to finally bring one to the scales.
“We don’t need that T-shirt again,” Viator said. “It’s always our goal to not finish last. If things go halfway our way, I’d be happy to just have a good showing. To win it you need a lot of luck. To win would be a great bonus.”
After a fruitful practice last year, Moreno/Viator were considered among the favorites to win, however, the tides changed and killed their bite
“The pattern we were fishing was on low water the first day of the tournament,” Viator said. “We went from low water to a 7-foot higher tide, and it killed our bite. It didn’t drop out fast enough to do what we needed to do.
“This year, these tides are a lot more manageable. The fish we found are biting on high tide, and we’re going in this morning with pretty high water, so our hopes is we can capitalize on that pattern we found the last couple days.”
This will be the third Redfish Cup for Moreno, who qualified through the Elite Solo Tour.
“It’s good to be back. Maybe third time’s a charm,” said Moreno, of Baytown, Texas. “I’ve had a really good season. I’ve been the mix in just about every event. I fell short of Angler of the Year by a tiebreaker.”
Michael Frenette took that title, and he is teamed with Mark Robinson. Moreno and Viator took the Redfish Cup spot as Travis Land and Jeremey Reeves had prior commitments and couldn’t make it this week.
