ROCKPORT, Texas – Tommy Ramzinsky and Todd Adams, both from Rockport, Texas, caught a two-day limit of four redfish weighing 34 pounds, 6 ounces to lead day two 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.
After leading Day 1 with 17 pounds, 6 ounces, Ramzinsky and Adams returned Friday to the same muddy, shell-strewn spots 30 miles north of Rockport where they fished a day earlier. The anglers threw 3 1/2-inch DOA Swim Shads on 1/8- and ¼-ounce jig heads.
With persistent winds stirring the 3-foot shallows, watermelon, pumpkinseed and black colors worked best in the cloudy water. Ramzinsky said that pearl colored baits produced fish when the sun occasionally broke through the foggy conditions.
“We were bouncing the Swim Shads off the bottom and working the baits in a slow presentation,” Ramzinsky said. “It seemed that if we hopped the baits hard, we didn’t get any bites. But when we threw them out there and just slow-rolled them off the bottom and really let the baits hit the bottom before bringing them up, it seemed like the fish ate a lot better.”
With no reason to question success, Ramsinsky said that he and Adams will replicate their 2-day pattern in Saturday’s final round. The only adjustment will be a full commitment to one spot.
“We’re not going to go to our primary spot just to catch two fish,” he said. “We’re going to go straight to where we’ve been catching our biggest fish and just grind it out all day long.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Darrell Walter and Robert Walter, both of Rockport, Texas (four redfish, 30 pounds, 14 ounces); Steve Snopek of New Braunfels, Texas, and Glen Watts of Corpus Christi, Texas (four redfish, 28 pounds); Kenny Thompson and James Alexander, both of Aransas Pass, Texas (four redfish, 26 pounds, 15 ounces); and Kurt Koliba of Port Lavaca, Texas; and Michael Shimek of Bay City, Texas (four redfish, 26 pounds, 14 ounces).
Anglers caught a total of 178 redfish Friday weighing 907 pounds.
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 Saturday at 7 a.m. 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.