rnament presented by Ranger Boats when as many as 300 pros and co-anglers will take to the water for the second stop of 2015 in the Western Division.
“The timing of this tournament is perfect,” said Walmart FLW Tour pro Jimmy Reese of Witter Springs, California, who has five top-20 finishes on the Delta in FLW competition, including back-to-back Rayovac FLW Series wins in 2006 and 2007. “Competitors are going to be able to find fish prespawn, spawning and postspawn. The weather will dictate which avenue will be better, but it has been very good lately and if it stays stable we can expect to see some really heavy weights.”
Reese said that tournament anglers would be targeting many different areas on the Delta. Some anglers will choose to target the rock on the main-river channels with jigs and crankbaits. Others will choose to flip and pitch the tules or hyacinth. Shallow-water specialists could also do well if the conditions set up right.
“Everybody is going to be able to fish their strengths in this tournament,” Reese continued. “I think this tournament will come down to the swimbait and sight-fishing anglers versus the anglers who are flippers and punchers. Whoever manages their fish best over the three days will win.
“I think in a three-day event, the winner will most likely weigh in around 30 pounds on day one, 24 pounds on day two and 21 pounds on the final day for a three-day cumulative total of 74 to 75 pounds,” Reese went on to say. “Every once in a while Mother Nature throws us a curveball and we see the 30 to 40 mph winds and that can make the fishing a little tougher. But, I’m confident that competitors are going to hammer them in this tournament.”
Anglers will take off from Russo’s Marina located on 3995 Willow Road in Bethel Island, California, at 6 a.m. each day. Weigh-ins will be held at the marina on Thursday and Friday beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will begin at 2:30 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public. The event is being hosted by the City of Oakley.
Pros will fish for a top award of $40,000 plus a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award consisting of a Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines are met.
The Rayovac FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the Rayovac FLW Series Championship. The 2015 Rayovac FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 29-31 on the Ohio River in Paducah, Kentucky.
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.
ABOUT FLW
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.
By: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
