Hanselman Wins Rayovac FLW Series Championship on Ohio River

PADUCAH, Ky. – Ray Hanselman of Del Rio, Texas, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 15 pounds, 13 ounces to win the Rayovac FLW Series Championship on the Ohio River. Hanselman’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 46 pounds, 11 ounces earned him $50,000 and a berth into the Forrest Wood Cup in the event that featured 171 of the best semi-professional bass-fishing anglers from across the country.

 

“To win this championship is unbelievable. I’m in shock,” said Hanselman, who became the first angler to ever win four FLW Series events in one season, sweeping the Texas Division before winning the Championship. “My only goal coming into this tournament was to qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup. I guess it was meant to be.”

 

Hanselman said he won the tournament by targeting bass in slack water between rip currents and eddys created by specific structure on the Tennessee River, about a quarter mile from the Kentucky Dam.

 

“I followed the same pattern all three days of competition,” said Hanselman. “I had three areas that I rotated through and they kept replenishing so it worked.

 

“Within the first 15 minutes on the water today I had a keeper in the boat,” continued Hanselman. “I was really dialed-in on that slack current. I could feel the change in the current’s speed with every cast. It set up perfect. After catching two more decent-sized fish I made a move into the main current and caught a 4-pounder. From there, I drifted to other isolated areas of structure and put together a quality limit of bass.”

 

Hanselman said he caught his winning stringer of four smallmouth and one largemouth on an umbrella rig using 3-, 4- and 5-inch swimbaits on Strike King Squadron Swimbait Jig Heads.

 

“I tried my best to imitate the small Asian carp – a popular baitfish,” said Hanselman. “I saw a lot of them in the grass and even caught a couple during practice so I knew they’d be a factor. I don’t think many other anglers realized their potential so they became a crucial part of my pattern.”

 

The top finishing boater from each of the five Rayovac FLW Series that qualified for the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup were:

 

               Texas Division: Ray Hanselman, Del Rio, Texas, 15 bass, 46-11, $50,000

               Central Division: Brandon Perkins, Counce, Tenn., 13 bass, 38-9, $20,000

               Southeastern Division: Trevor Fitzgerald, Belleview, Fla., 11 bass, 38-2, $15,000

               Northern Division: David Barnes Sr., China, Maine, 10 bass, 35-4, $7,000

               Western Division: Charlie Weyer, West Hills, Calif., six bass, 20-5, $4,000

 

Additionally, the overall top five finishers that were not already selected as the highest finisher in their division qualify for the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup. Those five anglers were:

 

               4^th:          Brian Holder, Belmont, N.C., 13 bass, 37-4, $12,000 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

               5^th:          Nick Prvonozac, Warren, Ohio, 13 bass, 36-10, $10,000 + $1,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

               6^th:          Tyler Suddarth, Valdosta, Ga., 13 bass, 35-14, $8,000

               8^th:          Jeff Hippert, Hamburg, N.Y., 14 bass, 35-3, $6,000

               9^th:          Bill Chapman, Salt Rock, W. Va., 14 bass, 34-8, $5,000

 

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

 

Todd Kline of San Clemente, California, won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117 with 12 bass weighing 25 pounds, 3 ounces, followed by Scott Stallings of Glencoe, Oklahoma, who finished in second place with eight bass weighing 20-7 worth $9,000.

 

The top 10 co-anglers finished the tournament:

 

               1^st:          Todd Kline, San Clemente, Calif., 12 bass, 25-3, Ranger Z117 w/ 90-horsepower outboard

               2^nd:         Scott Stallings, Glencoe, Okla., eight bass, 20-7, $9,000

               3^rd:          Dave Crawford, Springfield, W. Va., 11 bass, 20-0, $7,500

               4^th:          Bill Fussell, Thibodaux, La., 11 bass, 18-15, $6,000

               5^th:          Jimmy Ballard, Paris, Texas, 13 bass, 18-15, $5,000

               6^th:          Lorne Dornak, Cedar Park, Texas, eight bass, 18-0, $4,000

               7^th:          Buddy Hicks, Port Neches, Texas, five bass, 16-15, $3,500

               8^th:          Kirk Sims, Lowell, Ark., six bass, 16-15, $3,000

               9^th:          Michel Purvis, Canton, Ga., eight bass, 15-2, $2,500

               10^th:        Tom Rubbo, Lexington, S.C., seven bass, 12-10, $2,000

 

Co-anglers casted this week for a top award of a Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines were met.

 

The 2015 Rayovac FLW Series Championship at the Ohio River was hosted by the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau and the City of Paducah.

 

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Rayovac FLW Series on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.

 

FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2015 over the course of 240 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

 

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