PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (May 3, 2008) – Blair Wiggins of Cocoa, Fla., and Travis Tanner of Titusville, Fla., caught a three-day total of six redfish weighing 45 pounds, 4 ounces to win the Wal-Mart FLW® Redfish Series Eastern Division event in Panama City Beach, Fla. Their top prize of $50,000 included a $15,000 Ranger bonus and a $15,000 Evinrude bonus.
“It feels great to get this win, especially after being retired for a year,” said Wiggins, who won the 2006 Redfish Series Championship with Tadd Vandemark. “I heard all kinds of stories like `He won the championship and he’ll quit tournament fishing and never be back.’ I couldn’t take listening to that or being cooped up like I was in a 40-hour-a-week job.”
Wiggins and Tanner opened the tournament with two fish weighing 15-14 Thursday. They added another two fish weighing 15-09 Friday and capped off the win with two more fish weighing 13-13 Saturday.
“It was a little bit tougher today because it was windy and cloudy,” Wiggins said. “Every once in a while the sun would pop out and we would be able to see the school. And once we found the school, we stayed on them for 2 1/2 hours and just whacked fish. It was a fun day of fishing.”
Wiggins and Tanner spent all three days of the tournament in a spot about 58 miles west of Panama City Beach. The team concentrated on a school of fish they had located before the tournament began and caught their fish on two different baits – an Electric Chicken D.O.A. C.A.L. Series bait, and a D.O.A. Bait Buster. Wiggins said the Bait Buster’s larger size and stronger hook was especially effective for the large fish they were targeting.
Rounding out the top five teams are Tadd Vandemark of Key Largo, Fla., and Kevin Shaw of Corpus Christie, Texas (six redfish, 41 pounds, 6 ounces, $11,074); Terry Seagraves of Kissimmee, Fla., and Bill Edwards of Pembroke, Ga. (six redfish, 41 pounds, 1 ounce, $4,987); Frank Jackson of Saint Petersburg, Fla., and Charles Espenlaub of Lutz, Fla. (six redfish, 38 pounds, 4 ounces, $3,056); and Roger Crafton of Boca Grande, Fla., and John Ochs of Englewood, Fla. (six redfish, 37 pounds, 3 ounces, $2,500).
Teams caught 10 redfish Saturday weighing 63 pounds, 4 ounces.
The $1.9 million FLW Redfish Series consists of two divisions – Eastern and Western – and the $318,500 Redfish Open. Each division is comprised of four $170,000 qualifying tournaments. The top 50 teams from each division based on Land O’Lakes Team of the Year standings will advance to the no-entry-fee $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship to be held Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in Biloxi, Miss. The championship winner will take home as much as $100,000.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers 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 can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup.
Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
Coverage of the FLW Redfish Series stop in Panama City Beach will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing June 29. “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 targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking 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.