Dellard wins co-angler title
Stephen Reitzell of Colfax, Louisiana, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the second Walmart Bass Fishing League Cowboy Division tournament of 2015 on the Red River. For his victory, Reitzell earned $4,037.
“It feels awesome to grab a check,” said Reitzell. “It’s my first win with FLW and I couldn’t be happier.”
Reitzell started his day fishing ditches and targeting stumps. After not much success, he switched to targeting grass flats and caught a 5-pound, 15-ounce fish, the biggest bass of the tournament, using a white-colored buzzbait.
“The night before the tournament I made a last-minute decision to rig the buzzbait,” Reitzell said. “It was a key move for me.”
Reitzell capped off his strong morning when he returned to the stumps around 1 p.m.
“We went back to the stumps and I caught a 4½-pounder using a chartreuse-colored Luck-E-Strike Rick Clunn crankbait,” said Reitzell. “At that point I knew I had a good shot at winning.
“The water was a lot more stable than it was supposed to be,” added Reitzell. “That really helped me to catch my 15 keepers.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Stephen Reitzell, Colfax, La., five bass, 18-10, $4,037
2nd: Brooke Morrison, Youngsville, La., five bass, 13-7, $2,019
3rd: Joshua Moore, Grand Cane, La., five bass, 13-3, $1,345
4th: Randy Despino, Colfax, La., five bass, 13-1, $942
5th: Brian Branum, Sam Rayburn, Texas, five bass, 12-10, $807
6th: Randy Deaver, Blanchard, La., five bass, 12-0, $740
7th: Michael Brewton, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 11-14, $673
8th: James Davis, Ferriday, La., five bass, 11-13, $606
9th: George Jeane, Evans, La., five bass, 11-12, $538
10th: Nicky McNeely, Natchitoches, La., five bass, 11-9, $471
Reitzell also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $545.
Charles Dellard of Burleson, Texas, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 11 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to win $2,019 in the co-angler division.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Charles Dellard, Burleson, Texas, five bass, 11-15, $2,019
2nd: Doug Odom, Huntsville, Texas, five bass, 11-12, $1,009
3rd: Bill Gift, Lindale, Texas, five bass, 11-5, $675
4th: Henry Trotty, Kountze, Texas, four bass, 10-8, $471
5th: Kenny Domingue, Sulphur, La., five bass, 9-10, $404
6th: Chris Pearson, Marthaville, La., five bass, 9-4, $370
7th: Brandt Dillon, Cypress, Texas, five bass, 8-15, $336
8th: Percy Richardson , Lufkin, Texas, five bass, 8-10, $303
9th: James Callaghan, DeBerry, Texas, five bass, 8-5, $269
10th: Norman Ramey, Killeen, Texas, four bass, 7-15, $235
Dellard also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $272.
The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 22-24 Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
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: Brian Johnson, FLW
