NEW ORLEANS – Pro Todd Dufour of Marrero, La., and Chad Dufrene of Purvis, Miss., each caught a three-day total of six redfish weighing 45 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to share the lead on day three of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Open held in conjunction with the Southern Sportsman’s Expo in the Louisiana Superdome this week. Pros competing in the historic tournament, which features the sport’s first pro/co-angler format, are fishing for as much as $50,000 while co-anglers are casting for a top award of $5,000.
“The only thing that changed today was the weather,” Dufour said. “It was very cloudy today which didn’t help me out at all. I couldn’t see the fish that I have been seeing. It was tough to pick out the right ones.”
Dufour said that 15 pounds is the magic weight for tomorrow to win the tournament.
“I hope to do a little more site-fishing tomorrow,” Dufour said. “I am going to use the same lures and same strategy as the last three days. I need to come up about 10 ounces to secure the win.”
Rounding out the top five pros who will advance to the final round are Alden Bourgeois of Barataria, La. (six redfish, 45 pounds, 4 ounces); Hugh Lebeouf of Thibodaux, La. (six redfish, 43 pounds, 14 ounces); and Stephen Stork of Houston, Texas (six redfish, 43 pounds, 3 ounces).
“I am happy to be tied for first place going into the final day but I really stumbled today. I owe everything to my co-angler Donald Garrettson,” Dufrene said. “He really hit a home run for me today. I only caught three fish all day.
“Donald is the reason I am here today. He kept me motivated and helped me through the day.”
Dufrene said he is making the trip each day back to his home waters just west of Golden Meadow, La.
“We need the sun to shine to win this tournament. The water is clean but the grass is really heavy,” Dufrene said. “It is hard to fish in without the sun.”
Gerald Rabroker of Belton, Texas, leads the co-angler division with a three day weight weighing 43-12.
Pros and co-anglers fish for a combined boat weight. Rounding out the top five co-anglers who will advance to the final round are Barnie White of Brewton, Ala. (six redfish, 41 pounds, 13 ounces); Billy Blackwood of San Antonio, Texas (six redfish, 41 pounds, 11 ounces); Dwain Bankston of Cypress, Texas (six redfish, 41 pounds, 9 ounces); and Eugene Abadie of Covington, La. (six redfish, 41 pounds, 7 ounces).
The FLW Redfish Open format is modeled after the highly successful Wal-Mart FLW® Walleye Tour, where randomly paired pros and co-anglers fish as a team and carry their combined catch weight to the next day of competition. The full field will compete for two days and then be cut to the top 30 pros and co-anglers for day three. After day three, the field will be cut to the top five pros and co-anglers for the fourth and final day of competition. Winners in each division will be determined by the accumulated weight of their respective catches during all four days of competition.
Anglers will take off from Bayou Segnette State Park located at 7777 Westbank Expressway in Westwego, La., at 6:30 Sunday morning. The final weigh-in will be held at the Louisiana Superdome located at Sugar Bowl Dr. in New Orleans beginning at 5 p.m.
Coverage of the FLW Redfish Open will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing April 27. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area.
The top award of $100,000 in the Pro Division includes $50,000 based on a full field of 100 boats plus a $25,000 Ranger bonus and a $25,000 Evinrude or Yamaha bonus based on a full field of 100 boats if contingency guidelines are met.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.