FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. (June 1, 2007) – Daniel Benson, of Brandon, Fla., and Steven Howie, of Saint Cloud, Fla., caught a four-redfish total weighing 25 pounds, 5 ounces to lead day two of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Eastern Division event in Fernandina Beach, where teams are competing for a top award of as much as $50,000 cash.
“We started out at our first topwater spot, and it ended up not being so good,” said Benson, who, along with Howie, stood atop the standings of the FLW Redfish Series’ Eastern Division at the end of last year. “Then we went to another spot and ended up catching 10 fish by 10:30.
“We were just killing time with the topwater bite and waiting until the water started to turn back out,” Benson added. “We didn’t realize our good bite would happen so early.”
Benson and Howie caught the majority of their fish on a Pearl Shad Berkley Gulp! Jerk Shad and spent most of their day searching areas to locate fish for the final day of competition.
“We’re going to go out and mess around with the topwater bite again and then focus on the other spots we’ve found,” Benson said. “We feel good about our chances, and with the weather changing and a tropical depression coming, it’s good to know we have a few different options out there.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Al Keller and Bill Faulkner, both of Naples, Fla. (four redfish, 24 pounds, 5 ounces); David Walker, of Sevierville, Tenn., and Jeff Simms, of Punta Gorda, Fla. (four redfish, 24 pounds, 1 ounce); Scott Guthrie, of Jacksonville, Fla., and Rick Murphy, of Homestead, Fla. (four redfish, 23 pounds, 5 ounces) and Jason Swensson, of Key Largo, Fla., and Troy Mell of Islamorada, Fla. (four redfish, 22 pounds, 10 ounces).
Teams caught 206 redfish Friday weighing 950 pounds, 4 ounces.
Qualifying tournaments in the $1.9 million Wal-Mart Redfish Series – the most lucrative redfish tournament trail in the world – are three-day events. Up to 150 teams compete 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 Fernandina Harbor Marina Saturday morning at 6:45 a.m. The final weigh-in will be held Saturday at the Wal-Mart store located at 1757 S. 14th St. in Fernandina Beach, beginning at 4 p.m.
The FLW Redfish Series consists of two divisions – Eastern and Western. Each division is comprised of four qualifying 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 Orange Beach, Ala., Oct. 18-20. 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 Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most-respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Walmart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.