GALVESTON, Texas – Brandon Garrison and Brennan Head, both from Lafayette, La., caught two redfish weighing 15 pounds, 12 ounces to lead day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Western Division event in Galveston, where a field of 109 teams is competing for a top award of as much as $50,000 cash.
“It was bright sunny skies, light winds and a really decent day to be on the water,” Garrison said. “We made a long run 75 miles east to fish in water 7 inches deep.” The team caught three redfish on Friday, but one of those fish was over the slot limit.
“We were push-poling in water so shallow that when we stopped pushing, the boat got stuck, and we’d have to make our casts and then work on moving again,” Garrison said. The duo threw Terminator in-line spinnerbaits and Red Ripper spoons to catch the leading limit of redfish.
Rounding out the top five teams are David Nesloney Sr. and David Nesloney Jr. both of Rockport (two redfish, 15 pounds); Tim Redden of Houston, and Tim Clancey of Adkins (two redfish, 14 pounds, 13 ounces); Rick Lewis of Houston, and Skipper Mock of South Padre Island (two redfish, 14 pounds, 9 ounces); and Jay Watkins Sr. and Jay Watkins Jr. both of Rockport (two redfish, 14 pounds, 5 ounces).
Anglers caught a total of 117 redfish weighing 578 pounds, 10 ounces – with 116 being released alive.
FLW Redfish Series qualifying tournaments are two-day events. The entire field competes Friday and Saturday, and the winning team is determined Saturday based on the heaviest two-day accumulated weight. Boats will launch from Teakwood Marina in Galveston Saturday at 7 a.m., and the final weigh-in will be held at Teakwood Marina beginning at 3 p.m.
The next FLW Redfish Series Western Division event will be held Sept. 23-24 in Venice, La.
The FLW Redfish Series consists of two divisions – East and West. Each division is comprised of four events with a $200,000 purse for each event. The top 100 teams – 50 from each division after four qualifying events – will qualify for the three-day, no-entry-fee $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship to be held in Mobile, Ala., Oct. 27-29. The championship winner will take home as much as $100,000.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and seven other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.
For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.