Redfish Series Event From Rockport To Air Oct. 19

FSN to televise third Western Division tournament

Tune in Sunday, Oct. 19 to “FLW Outdoors” on FSN for the Walmart FLW Redfish Series event from Rockport, Texas. The third of four Western Division tournaments will highlight the best redfish anglers in the world as they compete for a top prize of $50,000 cash.

The “FLW Outdoors” saltwater series is a reality-format show told from the anglers’ perspective. Each week the top-five finalists are followed from takeoff to weigh-in, allowing the audience to feel the anglers’ nerves, listen to their strategy and learn from their mistakes. The stories evolve and the suspense grows throughout the one-hour show until the final weigh-in results are announced. 

At the conclusion of the two-day opening round, Paul Heffernan of Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas, and David Green of Boerne, Texas, lead the tournament with four redfish weighing 32 pounds, 4 ounces. The two are targeting schooling reds after making a 50-mile one-way run toward the upper lagoon area near Corpus Christi. To catch their fish, the fourth-year team is working Berkley Gulp shrimp in 3 to 4 feet of water. This is Heffernan and Green’s first appearance in the final round of five boats and they’d like nothing more than to win in their home state.

In second place is the team of Skipper Mock of South Padre Island, Texas, and Eddie Curry of Port Isabel, Texas. After sitting in seventh place after day one, the two are just an ounce off the lead. In fact, their 16-pound, 9-ounce stringer from day two was the heaviest weight they’ve recorded in four years of competing on the Redfish Series. Surprisingly, they achieved their personal best weight despite catching only three fish the entire day. Those fish were located in the Flower Bluff-JFK Bridge area and fell victim to Berkley Gulp shrimp.

Although Mock and Curry are content with their current position, they are still smarting from a second-place finish last year in Rockport. With that painful memory fresh in their minds, the two are prepared to do whatever it takes to capture their first Redfish Series tournament title.

While the majority of the field is fishing south of the launch, Rockport, Texas, natives Todd Adams and Tommy Ramzinsky are heading north to St. Charles Bay. Once they get there the duo gets to work throwing a combination of Top Dogs topwaters and Bass Assassin Swim Tails. Thus far, the plan has worked to the tune of a two-day catch weighing 31 pounds, 6 ounces.

FSN also follows the brother tandem of Kris and Jonathan Culpepper, who qualified for the final round with 30 pounds, 11 ounces. The Culpeppers won the 2007 Redfish Series Rockport event and are in position to defend their title. Traveling 55 miles south to the Upper Laguna Madre area, the three-time Redfish Series champions are catching their reds in 3 to 5 feet of water with Berkley Gulp shrimp on a 3/8-ounce jighead.

FSN broadcasts “FLW Outdoors” Sunday mornings. Check local listings for show times and channels in your area.

FSN is broadcast to more than 81 million homes through its network of 20 regional sports channels. Established in 1996, FSN is the only cable network that supplies national, regional and local sports programming. FSN serves as the cable TV home to 62 of the 82 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States, and produces more than 4,500 live events each year. FSN has an extensive catalog of original national programs, including “Best Damn Sports Show Period” and “Beyond the Glory” documentary series, along with national packages of collegiate sports. Based in Los Angeles, FSN is part of the vast FOX Sports television family.

“FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to more than 429 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world.

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.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000.

By: Jeff McCoy, PR dir, FLW Outdoors