West is best at Orange Beach

Adams-Ramzinsky lead Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship by 15 ounces

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Go west, young man. A few anglers who heeded Horace Greeley’s famous words of advice at the FLW Redfish Series Championship today were rewarded with top stringers.

Not only are four of the five top teams from the Western Division of the Redfish Series, but those that traveled to the west today fared better than those who chose to go east.

Leading the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship after day one are Todd Adams of Rockport, Texas, and Tommy Ramzinsky of Fulton, Texas, with two redfish that topped the scales at 13 pounds, 11 ounces.

The Texas team traveled west for over an hour and a half Thursday to reach a place they found during the first day of practice.

“This is absolutely the best place we’ve ever found for a tournament,” an excited Adams said. “We only fished there about an hour, caught seven or eight fish, half of which were oversized, and then we headed back.”

Adams and Ramzinsky reported catching their fish in 3 to 8 feet of water on Rat-L-Traps, crankbaits and plastic worms.

“We’re not really sight-fishermen,” Ramzinsky noted. “Back home, we fish a lot of deeper drops and edges in current. We came here looking for that kind of water, and that’s exactly what we found.”

Like several other teams in the top five, both anglers claimed it is “just like bass fishing.”

“We’re targeting a few pieces of key structure – points, cuts and other breaks in the current,” Ramzinsky said. “It’s fast, dirty water, and we’re making short casts and pitches. Between practice and today, we haven’t fished the area more than an hour and a half all total. There seems to be plenty of big fish in there. We actually have to `cull down’ or sort through them until we find legal slot fish.”

“We haven’t really put any pressure on the place to see its full potential, and that’s why we’re excited,” Adams added. “We’re going to push the area even harder tomorrow to see what it’s capable of.”

Morel-Young second

Also making a sizable run to the west across Mobile Bay today was the team of Matthew Morel and Peter Young, both of New Orleans. Their hour-long run netted them a pair of reds weighing 12 pounds, 12 ounces for second place.

Young and Morel are sight-fishing an area that has been almost dry for the last two days.

“The only reason we caught these fish is because the water came back up today,” Young said. “After that cold front went through, the north wind blew all the water out of our primary area. We went to look at it the other day, and you could walk across it. Since the wind has quit blowing, the water has returned and so have the fish.”

The team reported catching their fish on gold spoons and Gambler Flappin’ Shads with a Flutter Hook.

“We only fished in there an hour, and then we left so we could take our time getting back,” Young said. “I’ve lost too much money from dead-fish penalties and regurgitated mullet and crabs due to long, hard runs back to weigh-in. I’ve learned that getting your fish back alive and well on these long runs is a key component in this game. It took us nearly double the amount of time to get back as it did going because I took the time to baby our fish.”

Motal-Motal third

Holding down the third position is the father-son team of Pat Motal and Chad Motal, both of Kyle, Texas, with a pair of reds weighing 12 pounds, 8 ounces.

The team is using spinnerbaits on structure in 3 to 4 feet of water.

“It’s as close to bass fishing as it gets,” Pat Motal said.

Like other top teams, the father-and-son duo made a long run to the west, put a quick licking on their primary area and then left.

“We got in and got out,” Chad Motal said. “We caught four reds, and we were culling by 8:35. We didn’t want to pressure the fish. Every fish we’ve caught in there has been a fat, quality fish, and we want to save some for the next two days. We’re going to fish it a little harder tomorrow to see what kind of weight this area can really produce.”

Swensson-Mell fourth

The only team from the Eastern Division in the top five is Jason Swensson of Key Largo, Fla., and Troy Mell of Islandmorada, Fla., with two reds weighing 12 pounds, 5 ounces for fourth place.

The Florida team blind-cast Yum! Houdini Shads in 3 feet of water in an area located one hour west of Orange Beach.

“Our bite happened fast this morning,” Mell said. “We caught six fish pretty quick, and then it slacked off. We didn’t catch another fish after 11 o’ clock.”

Larson-Auld tied for fourth

The team of Jeff Larson of Friendswood, Texas, and Steven Auld of Baytown, Texas, are tied for fourth place with 12 pounds, 5 ounces.

During practice Larson and Auld explored water for five days with intentions of finding terrain that reminded them of their home fishery in Texas.

“We settled on this one area that featured a mud and shell flat with lots of little ditches and drains running off it,” Larson said. “We’re not exactly sight-fishing, but many of our bites are coming when we cast to a fish that’s pushing or waking up on the flat. There are a lot of mullet in the area, and they’re moving around a lot, too. But when a redfish pushes up there to chase something, it makes a much different kind of wake.”

“It’s a pretty awesome place,” Auld added. “It’s maybe a hundred yards long; we made just one pass down it this morning and caught 10 fish – including one giant 48-incher. So it’s holding some big fish.”

Rest of the best features a five-way tie for eighth place

Rounding out the top 10 teams in the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship are Scott Guthrie of Jacksonville, Fla., and Rick Murphy of Homestead, Fla., in sixth place with 12 pounds, 4 ounces.

Michael Vandries of Pearsall, Texas, and Ronnie Redden of Rockport, Texas, are in seventh with 12 pounds, 1 ounce.

In eighth place is the mother of all ties at 11 pounds, 13 ounces. The five-way clash includes Steve Ruepke of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Andy Mnichowski of Marrero, La.; Gary McKenzie of Bartow, Fla., and Terry Brantley of Arcadia, Fla.; Scott Ritter of Dauphin Island, Ala., and Robert Abruscato of Mobile, Ala.; Anthony Randazzo of Belle Chase, La., and Billy Wallbaum of Shreveport, La.; and Sean Middleton and Brandon Buckner, both of Fort Meyers, Fla.

Competition resumes Friday morning at 7 a.m. at Zeke’s Marina in Orange Beach, Ala.