ROCKPORT, Texas – Tommy Ramzinsky and Todd Adams, both from Rockport, Texas, caught a two-redfish limit weighing 17 pounds, 6 ounces to lead day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Western Division event presented by Land O’ Lakes in Rockport, Texas. A field of 116 teams is competing for a top award of as much as $50,000 cash.
Winds of 10- to 15-mph stirred coastal shallows, but Ramzinsky said that proved beneficial for him and Adams. As water clarity declined throughout the day, the redfish relaxed and started feeding heavily. The anglers caught the majority of their 25 redfish in the afternoon when they found an active school over muddy bottom with oyster shells.
“We Power-Poled down on the fish and we were catching them two at a time on almost every cast,” Ramzinsky said. “We caught fish all day long, but we only found smaller ones in the morning. We got on the big fish later in the day.”
Fishing in three to four feet of water about 30 miles north of the launch site at Rockport Beach Park, the duo threw DOA shad tails in watermelon and pumpkinseed colors on ¼-ounce jig heads. They tied their 20-pound braided line straight to the jig heads for optimal abrasion resistance over shelly bottom. Ramzinsky said that focus and commitment led to their early success.
“We had a game plan and we stuck to it,” he said. “We had two spots and maybe a third depending on the wind. But we stuck to our first two spots and just made it work.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Ray Chagnard and Edward Adams, both of Metarie, La. (two redfish, 15 pounds, 5 ounces); Tim Clancey of Adkins, Texas, and Ronnie Carter of Fulton, Texas (two redfish, 15 pounds); Darrell Walter and Robert Walter, both of Rockport, Texas (two redfish, 14 pounds, 14 ounces); and Stephen Stork of Houston, Texas, and Terry Thomas of Pasadena, Texas (two redfish, 14 pounds, 9 ounces).
Anglers caught a total of 170 redfish Thursday weighing 873 pounds, 11 ounces, with 169 being released alive.
FLW Redfish Series qualifying tournaments are three-day events. The entire field competes Thursday and Friday, and the top five teams, based on heaviest combined weight, advance to Saturday’s final round. The winning team is determined Saturday based on the heaviest three-day accumulated weight. Boats will launch from Rockport Beach Park Friday and Saturday at 7 a.m. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at Rockport Beach Park beginning at 3 p.m., and the final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart located at 2401 Highway 35 N. beginning at 3 p.m.
The next FLW Redfish Series Western Division event will be held May 4-6 in Port Aransas, Texas.
The FLW Redfish Series consists of two divisions – Eastern and Western. 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 Pensacola, Fla., Oct. 19-21. 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, as well as the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.
For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com or 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 world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.