ROCKPORT, Texas – Jay Watkins and Jay Watkins Jr., both of Rockport, Texas, caught a two-redfish limit weighing 16 pounds to lead day one of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Western Division event presented by Yamaha in Rockport, Texas, where teams are competing for a top award of as much as $50,000 cash.
“Today went well,” said Watkins Jr., who has been fishing with his father on tour for three seasons now. “We fished really well today. We didn’t loose a single fish, and we caught 10 to 12 fish with at least eight of those being oversized. We are around some quality fish, we just have to try to catch the slot-sized ones.
“Our plan for tomorrow is to just go back and do the same thing over again. We’re just going to go have fun and try and catch a few fish. I’m pretty confident that if we get the right bites we should be able to make the top-five cut after weigh-in tomorrow.”
The father-and-son team was throwing a combination of Bass Assassins Texas Shad and gold spoons sight casting to visible potholes in 3 to 5 feet of water to catch their limit.
Rounding out the top five teams are Team Castrol, comprising Chief Tauzin of Manvel, Texas, and Clark Jorda of Pearland, Texas (two redfish, 15 pounds, 10 ounces); Rome Gregorio and Tony Gregorio, both of Corpus Christi, Texas (two redfish, 15 pounds, 7 ounces); Jonathan Culpepper and Kris Culpepper, both of Houston (two redfish, 15 pounds, 3 ounces); and R.J. Duncan of Universal City, Texas, and Kyle Burges of Port Aransas, Texas (two redfish, 14 pounds, 12 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 Saltwater Pavilion at Rockport Beach Park each morning at 7. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the Park beginning at 3 p.m. The final weigh-in will be held Saturday at the Wal-Mart store located at 2401 Hwy. 35 N. in Rockport 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, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.