Well, fisherfolks, it was a close one in some races and surprisingly lopsided in others, but we have come to the Elite Eight. Vote early and often (sort of) and tell a friend - no deadline.

So here are the picks:

OFFSHORE
Kingfish vs. Dolphin
How they got here: King upended amberjack 11-2 (whoa!) I guess we have some fans of dip or smack out there. Meanwhile, Dolphin narrowly edged out wahoo 7-6 (could be the vote counter - where's Katherie Harris and Teresa LePore when you need 'em)

FRESHWATER
Bass vs. Speck/Crappie
How they got here: I'll go to Andy Steinbergs' post, "bass is the king of freshwater" and "nothing more fun than sitting on a houseboat on the lake after dark with lanterns aglow catching 2-3# specks while sipping JD." Count me in! Although the speck/crappie needed a last-second shot to get by bluegill.

INSHORE
Mangrove snapper vs. Snook
How they got here: The mango snuck by redfish 6-5 (counter problems again?) while the snook whooped it's flatfish counterpart the flounder soundly 11-1. We all love the flounder, it's just snook is well, snook. potential champion?

WILD CARD
Goliath grouper vs. Puffer
How they got here: Well, well, well. Goliath dodged the stone thrown by bonefish while puffer edged out sawfish. No doubt, potential as table fare made these decisions. Granted, we're not supposed to eat Goliaths or puffers, but if we lived on survival island or a third world country, you know they'd both be fished out. Whereas, sawfish scallops and bonefish stew just don't ring as appetizingly.

Vote away my blog buddies! We'll pick our Final Four next Monday at 4 p.m. Let's get a bigger pulse on here, I'll use my email address book.

Click Here to read the entire article...