ROCKPORT, Texas – Tommy Ramzinsky and Todd Adams, both from Rockport, Texas, caught a three-day total of six redfish weighing 49 pounds, 9 ounces to win the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Western Division event presented by Land O’ Lakes in Rockport, Texas and $50,000 cash.
Their catch set a new three-day record in professional redfish tournament competition, and their victory made them the first FLW Redfish Series team to win back-to-back events. Ramzinsky and Adams won the 2005 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship Oct. 29 in Orange Beach, Ala. Their Rockport tournament prize pushed them past them past the $100,000 mark in total earnings.
“We are on top of the world,” Adams said. “This is the most amazing feeling. To win one tournament in a two- to three-year period is awesome, but to win two back-to-back is indescribable. And to win one at home, in your own backyard is even better.”
Holding fast to the pattern that gave them the lead on Day 1 and Day 2, the duo returned to their spot 30 miles north of Rockport and fished muddy bottom with scattered shells. Their best action came in a small trough with about three feet of water where current washed baitfish in from deeper water. A windy week had stirred the shallows, but Adams said his team’s style transcended any clarity limitations.
“We’re not very big sight fishermen,” Adams said. “We scout as much as we can to try and find fish, and when we do we don’t move much. We grind and grind and grind and make lots of casts. Eventually, we get those bites.”
Ramzinsky and Adams threw DOA Swim Shads in watermelon and pumpkinseed colors on 1/16-ounce jig heads. Adams said they downsized from the ¼- and 1/8-ounce jig heads they used on Day 1 and Day 2 because Saturday’s conditions allowed them to cast downwind, as opposed to the crosswind casts they had to make during the previous two days.
Rounding out the top five teams are Darrell Walter and Robert Walter, both of Rockport, Texas (six redfish, 42 pounds, 15 ounces, $9,600); Steve Snopek of New Braunfels, Texas, and Glen Watts of Corpus Christi, Texas (six redfish, 41 pounds, 4 ounces, $5,474); Kurt Koliba of Port Lavaca, Texas, and Michael Shimek of Bay City, Texas (six redfish, 39 pounds, 10 ounces, $4,474); and Kenny Thompson and James Alexander, both of Aransas Pass, Texas (six redfish, 36 pounds, 4 ounces, $3,150).
Anglers caught a total of 10 redfish Saturday weighing 62 pounds, 9 ounces, with 10 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. 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.