CLEWISTON, FL – Qualifier #5 of the 2025 Roland Martin Marine Center Series presented by HUK was greeted with a little chill in the air as Thanksgiving approaches. Now that’s Florida chill mind you, which means you might need a jacket for the morning run but you’ll be ditching it shortly after your first cast. The minimal wind blowing across Lake Okeechobee was giving little relief and there were rumors of a tough derby ahead. I’m sorry, you have how much? So much for rumors.
On November 8th, 93 teams set out for the 2-day qualifier from the Roland Martin Marina in Clewiston. It’s the last qualifier of the season with the Championship on deck December 6-7 (Yes, 6-7, why are all the kids laughing?). Any who, let’s get it on!
Following up a solid day one limit of 23.22, the power team of Califano and Haff brought in the biggest bag of the event with 27.0 pounds on day two to cross the half-century mark with 50.23 pounds and raise the big check.
“After day one, Robert put together a plan for us,” Said Califano. “We set out this morning throwing the Gambler Ace and we had a solid limit early. That gave us great confidence to build on and we went from there, hitting 3 or 4 more spots, and it all came together”
“We ended day one with a 7 and 6 pounder and that showed us the way,” Haff admitted. “Based on what we thought the wind would do today, we started out shallow and caught some key fish early and kept building from there. And I lost a giant that would have given us a 30-pound bag. Still, we knew we had a good limit and had a shot to win, but with the quality of fishermen in this field, you never know.”
Turned out, it was just enough for the win and a pay day of $8,000 for the two-day qualifier.
Applying the pressure in 2nd place, the team of Wieteha and Hoinig came so close with 49.96 pounds, little less than a pound off the leaders, and collected $3,500 as runners up.
Rounding out the top three was another series favorite, Arcuri and Venditto. Their limit weighing 46.2 pounds gave them the 3rd place finish and a payday of $2,300.
As the highest paying team tournament trail in Florida, the payouts continued deep into the field.
Along with their winning check, Califano and Haff also collected $150 in Bruiser Bucks for the Mega Bag of the event. Wieteha and Hoinig added $250 to there winnings as the highest finishing Mercury owner. Ron Haff collected another $250 as the highest finisher to cross the stage in Huk Gear. With the biggest bass of the event coming in at 9.15 pounds, U.S. Sugar awarded Mark Linn $500. 2nd Big Bass of 7.91 pounds belonged to Cody Bowlin earning him $100 Gambler Bucks. Marshall Tommie collected $250 as the highest finishing Gilbert Chevrolet owner. Coming in as the highest Lady Angler, Stacey Skidmore took home a new pair of Bajio Sunglasses. As the highest finishing youth angler, Caden Allen also collected a pair of Bajio Sunglasses. And winning big for going small, the team of McBeath and Stephens turned the smallest limit of 6.78 pounds into $300 from AV Inspection.
That’s a wrap on the 2025 RMMC Series Qualifiers. Which means we’re on the Championship. Join us for the 2025 Championship, December 6-7 where the winning team could possibly take home a record $50,000. We’ll see you then.
