Hanselman Wins Second Consecutive Rayovac FLW Series Texas Division Event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir
BROOKELAND, Texas – Ray Hanselman of Del Rio, Texas, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 16 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the Rayovac FLW Series Texas Division event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Mercury with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 60 pounds, 8 ounces. For his win Hanselman earned $35,815, pushing his season winnings to more than $69,000 from just two tournaments.
“I’m honestly shocked. That’s about the only way to describe how I feel right now,” said Hanselman, who won the Texas Division opener on Lake Amistad in February. “You always want to win but to take two in the same season is just incredible.”
In order to secure his victory, Hanselman targeted small drains that led to spawning flats in the mid-lake area.
“In practice I found that the majority of the fish were along the sides of the points. Not at the tip, not in the back, but right along those longer sides,” Hanselman said. “I narrowed the pattern down to three spots across the lake and decided to pursue them further in the tournament.
“I was looking for fish that had already spawned,” Hanselman continued. “I specifically focused on those drains, or pinch points, where they’re forced to go in and out of the beds.”
Hanselman said that he managed to catch around 15 fish on day one using an Okeechobee Craw–colored Strike King Slither Rig – the same bait he used the entire tournament
“It really did what the name suggests. When I was flipping it slid right into that thick cover where I needed it,” Hanselman said.
On days two and three, Hanselman returned to those same areas and found a similar bite.
“I caught almost 25 fish on day two and was able to bring in around 15 on day three,” Hanselman said. “It was pretty exciting.”
Hanselman went on to say that the unusually high water level on Sam Rayburn didn’t affect his strategy as much as other anglers.
“I wanted to keep it simple. I didn’t want to get lost way back in the pine trees. I was looking for fish that had already spawned at those drains and it worked.”
The top 10 pros on Sam Rayburn Reservoir were:
1st: Ray Hanselman, Del Rio, Texas, 15 bass, 60-8, $35,815
2nd: Kris Wilson, Montgomery, Texas, 15 bass, 53-6, $13,878
3rd: Jim Tutt, Longview, Texas, 15 bass, 52-10, $10,745
4th: James Stricklin Jr., Hot Springs, Ark., 15 bass, 50-15, $8,954 + $252 Big Bass award
5th: Denny Brauer, Del Rio, Texas, 15 bass, 50-3, $8,058
6th: Joe Don Setina, Pittsburg, Texas, 14 bass, 49-11, $7,163
7th: T.J. Goodwyn, Center, Texas, 15 bass, 47-10, $6,268
8th: Ricky Guy, Humble, Texas, 13 bass, 44-5, $5,372
9th: Randy Sitz, Prosper, Texas, 14 bass, 41-5, $4,477
10th: Tommy Dickerson, Orange, Texas, 12 bass, 34-3, $3,582
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Dan Wilson of Pilot Point, Texas, won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117C with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 39 pounds, 4 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers on Sam Rayburn Reservoir were:
1st: Dan Wilson, Pilot Point, Texas, 15 bass, 39-4, Ranger Z117C with a 90-horsepower outboard + $5,000 Ranger Cup
2nd: Bryan New, Belmont, N.C., 15 bass, 35-8, $4,500
3rd: Clint Lipham, Conroe, Texas, 12 bass, 32-8, $3,600
4th: Collin Cooper, Smithville, Texas, 11 bass, 31-3, $3,150
5th: Tim Montz, Wichita Falls, Texas, 12 bass, 29-11, $2,700
6th: Rick Parker, Kaufman, Texas, 13 bass, 28-6, $2,250
7th: Bubba Finstad, Ranger, Texas, 10 bass, 26-3, $1,800
8th: Mark Mowery, Longview, Texas, 11 bass, 22-14, $1,575
9th: Denny Swartz, Broussard, La., eight bass, 21-6, $1,350
10th: Michael Stilley, Nacogdoches, Texas, 11 bass, 21-5, $1,125
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 no-entry-fee Rayovac FLW Series Championship. The 2015 Rayovac FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 29-31 on the Ohio River in Paducah, Kentucky.
The Rayovac FLW Series tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir was hosted by the Jasper-Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce. It was the second Texas Division tournament of 2015. The next Rayovac FLW Series tournament will be a Central Division event, held April 16-18, on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW 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. For more information about FLW visit FLWFishing.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
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