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PUNTA GORDA — In the end, 0.15 pounds -- or the approximate weight of a deck of playing cards -- cost Florida anglers Heath Seckel and Brian Ulch $30,000.

For approximately 25 minutes Sunday, during the final day of the Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup tournament at Laishley Park, Seckel and Ulch -- the first of five teams to weigh-in Sunday -- watched as opponent after opponent failed to top their total of 13.00 pounds.

It was a nerve-wracking ordeal -- "It was just 30 minutes where you could hardly even breathe," said Ulch -- but with each failed contender, hope grew a little bit more.

Then, ominously, came Mark Sepe of DeLand and Marco Island's Andrew Bostick, who had dominated the tournament's first two days of competition with a combined haul of 28.96 pounds and were the last team to arrive at the weigh-in table on Sunday.

The pair strolled to the stage with smiles on their faces, set their catches on the scale, and when it blinked 13.15 pounds a few moments later -- just 0.15 more than Seckel and Ulch -- the two had officially earned the tournament's title and a subsequent $50,000 first-place prize. Seckel and Ulch, both from Winter Haven, earned $20,000 for finishing second.

"This was probably the most climatic weigh-in we've had in a long, long time," said tournament director Bob Sealy. "You're only talking about a 0.15-pound difference, so that's about as exciting as you can get."

Sunday's weigh-in marked the end of a three-day event that produced some of the largest catches in the history of the local tournament. Led by Sepe and Bostick, who weighed-in at over 14 pounds on both Friday and Saturday, a number of teams produced totals in the 12- to 13-pound range over the course of the first two days.

Those numbers dipped a bit Sunday -- the average weight of the finalists

was 11.29 -- but were close enough to keep the race for the money interesting. Third place earned $15,000, fourth earned $12,500 and fifth earned $10,000.

John Ochs of Englewood teamed with Craig Johnson of Sebring to finish third with an 11.47 total, Jon Loring Jr. and Ray Malone of Texas were fourth (10.88) and Bo Johnson of Cape Coral and Mike Del Duca of Naples were fifth (7.96).

"We thought we had a little bit more than what we did (on our way back in)," admitted Bostick, who earned his first victory in Punta Gorda. "We figured we had about 13.5. But it ended up working out for us."

For Sepe and Bostick, who are coming off a series championship in 2007, Sunday's outcome also provided a nice start to their quest for a second straight title.

"It's awesome," said Sepe. "We ended last season by winning the championship, and to start (this) season like this is just incredible."

E-mail Dugan Arnett at darnett@sun-herald.com.

2008 OH BOY! OBERTO REDFISH CUP TOURNAMENT

At Laishley Park, Punta Gorda

Final results

1. Mark Sepe/Andrew Bostick, 13.15 pounds; 2. Heath Seckel/Brian Ulch, 13.00; 3. Craig Johnson/John Ochs, 11.47; 4. Jon Loring Jr./Ray Malone, 10.88; 5. Bo Johnson/Mike Del Duca, 7.96.