re: The redfish world lost a great man yesterday...

Sorry for your loss!! Prayers sent!!!

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my tournament partner Manny Perez is no longer with us this morning.

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I didn't know him personally, but I know several people who did and they all had great things to say about him. Tragedies like this definitely put things into perspective. . . you never know when you won't be coming back home.

Was he fishing the tournament alone? It seems the majority of these tournaments are 2 man teams; is the HT series different?

It's an unfortunate and tragic situation- and not trying to push any hidden agenda's here or be disrespectful in any way, but I wish more people on the water would wear pfd's. I fish from a kayak and I always have mine on; you never know when a crazy in a boat will fail to notice you and swamp you. (fished a tournament in Caminada pass this weekend, and was surprised at how many people were out there without pfds. . . that's crazy!)
But it seems that the majority of boaters frown upon actually wearing them. . . they're on board because the USCG says you need them, but the only time they see light of day is if you're ever stopped and inspected! I know some tournaments require them, but not all do.

Having an automatic inflatable horsecollar pfd could have made all the difference in the world on Saturday. . . with a hx of seizures, if that is what caused him to fall in, it would have kept his head above water and probably would have saved his life.

Again, sorry to hear about your friend and tournament partner. I know the tournament circuits are a pretty close knit group of people and tragedies like this hit a little too close to home... RIP, Manny.

Smoke, so sorry for your loss, prayers and well wishes to the family.

Well it's been a little over 2 weeks since my buddy passed away. Things are getting better slowly but surely. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the kind words & what not. We had a beautiful service on the water down in Punta Gorda Florida. We spread his ashes in one of his favorite fishing spots & released a bunch of redfish for him. If you guys ever find yourself down in that area, the Manny Perez memorial buoy is set @ N 26° 51.516' W 82° 03.784'

Here are a few pictures from the service:

Looks like he received one heck of a nice tribute from you all.

great video

that's beautiful man...

Great setting...

man, he was lucky to have friends like all of you...very nice tribute to him...