BILOXI, Miss. (Oct. 30, 2008) – Captain Charlie Thomason of Covington, La., and Britt Ordes of Slidell, La., caught a two-redfish limit weighing 17 pounds, 11 ounces to lead day one of the Walmart FLW® Redfish Series Championship in Biloxi, Miss., where teams are competing for as much as $100,000.
“We made a run straight across to Hopedale, La.,” said Thomason, who is fishing in his first FLW Redfish Series Championship. “We stopped and fished right next to the Reggio launch. We were within casting distance of it.”
Thomason said the southwest run took 1 hour and 40 minutes, but turned out to be worth the time and effort, as the team landed four redfish, including their biggest of their two weigh fish, a 27-inch red. Thomason said the pair fished a familiar shallow pond with Morning Glory-colored Saltwater Assassins and had their weigh fish by 10 a.m. Thomason said the fish were in the pond feeding on mullet and crabs.
“The pond is about 14 inches deep and has a lot of bait in it,” Thomason said. “It’s a spot I fish a lot. It’s always got fish in it.”
“We didn’t want to beat up our fish in the pond, so we hooked two and got out,” Ordes added.
Rounding out the top five teams are Ray Chagnard and Edward Adams, both of Metairie, La. (two redfish, 17 pounds, 10 ounces); Dwayne Eschete of Mandeville, La., and Blake Pizzolato of Montgomery, La. (two redfish, 17 pounds, 8 ounces); Richard Gidrey and Sam Celum, both of Corpus Christi, Texas (two redfish, 17 pounds, 4 ounces) and Randy Hendrick of Clearwater, Fla., and Chris Wittman of Fort Myers, Fla. (two redfish, 17 pounds, 2 ounces).
Teams caught 110 redfish Thursday weighing 765 pounds, 8 ounces.
The Walmart FLW Redfish Series Championship is a three-day event. Up to 100 teams – the top 50 from the Western Division and top 50 from the Eastern Division after four qualifying tournaments in each division – 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. The Walmart FLW Redfish Series Championship winner will take home as much as $100,000.
Boats will launch from the Isle of Capri, located at 151 Beach Blvd. in Biloxi, Friday morning at 7 a.m. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the Isle of Capri beginning at 3:30 p.m. Saturday’s takeoff will be at the Isle of Capri at 7:15 a.m. The final weigh-in will be held Saturday at the Walmart store located at 3615 Sangani Blvd. in D’Iberville, Miss., beginning at 4 p.m.
Tournament anglers aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offered 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 could become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, which provided them with exclusive insider information that could have guided them to a $100,000 victory at every Walmart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage gave them an edge over the competition and increased their shot for the $1 million cash grand prize awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Visit FantasyFishing.com today to find out more information and to register for next season.
Coverage of the FLW Redfish Championship will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing Jan. 4, 2009. “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.
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. FLW Outdoors also took 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, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.