Ramzinsky-Adams maintain momentum, lead opening day at Rockport

2005 champs land heaviest catch to date in FLW Redfish Series

ROCKPORT, Texas – It’s almost like they never took a day off. After winning the tour’s 2005 championship last October in Orange Beach, Ala., Tommy Ramzinsky of Rockport and Todd Adams of Fulton, Texas, returned to their home water and landed the heaviest catch in Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series history Thursday to lead opening day of the 2006 Western Division campaign.

Granted, the FLW Redfish Series is only two tournaments into its second season of existence, but the Ramzinsky-Adams two-fish limit weighing 17 pounds, 6 ounces was impressive by any measure. They took the day-one lead in the three-day event at Rockport by a commanding 2 pounds.

“It was a great day,” Ramzinsky said. “I think you’re always surprised when you catch that kind of weight in a tournament of this caliber. We couldn’t believe it when we caught that first one. They were both so fat that they looked oversized.”

“Tomorrow, we’re just going to try and catch the same thing to make it a 4-pound lead,” Adams said.

The leaders spent the day fishing a mud- and shale-infested stretch of shallows about 3 or 4 feet deep. They didn’t have much luck in calmer conditions early, but as the wind picked up this afternoon, they started getting some action.

“We caught our first fish around noon, and then we caught the second one about 20 minutes later,” Ramzinsky said. “When it started blowing, that’s what seemed to turn them on.”

Throwing 3 1/2-inch, dark-colored D.O.A. Shad Tails on ¼-ounce jigheads, Ramzinsky and Adams caught them fast and furious for a spell this afternoon. They estimated that they caught around 20 redfish, including five of them that were bigger than the 20- to 28-inch slot limit.

“We caught them so fast, we can’t even remember who caught what,” Ramzinsky said.

“We found these fish about 10 days ago. It’s just that we never caught very many of them, so we didn’t really know how big they were,” Adams said. “We found them and just kind of left them alone – until today.”

Chagnard-Adams hammer them early, take second

Ray Chagnard and Edward Adams, both of Metairie, La., slid into the second-place slot with a two-fish catch weighing 15 pounds, 5 ounces.

The two hooked into their limit about as quickly as possible in tournament fishing Thursday. After a short run to their first fishing spot, Chagnard said they made “one or two casts” before their first keeper hit his bait. Then, as he was dealing with his fish, the second keeper hit on Adams’ line.

“We got them in the first five casts. After that, oh man, we just babysat them in the livewell all day,” Chagnard said. “Then we just went and looked around the whole day, because we really weren’t on a whole lot.”

Adams said they fished “dirty and deep” in 3 to 4 feet of water. They said they caught fish on both Berkley Gulp softbaits and a prototype redfish spoon known as a Red Head.

Clancey-Carter, Walter-Walter, Stork-Thomas round out top five

Despite catching few fish, Tim Clancey of Adkins, Texas, and Ronnie Carter of Fulton, Texas, placed third with a limit weighing 15 pounds even.

“It was really tough,” Carter said. “We only had two bites today. We had some other spots with some more numbers, but they weren’t the right fish.”

They mainly fished a clear-water, grassy area using worms and topwaters, catching their only two keepers early in the day.

“If it’s the two right fish, that’s all we need,” Clancey said.

Darrell and Robert Walter, both of Rockport, grabbed the fourth spot with a limit weighing 14 pounds, 14 ounces.

“We’ll take today everyday,” Darrell Walter said, adding that they caught their keepers on Berkley Gulp softbaits. “Our pattern really relies on that wind blowing.”

“We’re fishing a little, protected cove,” Robert Walter said. “The wind created a color change later in the day, and that’s what the fish are keying on. It’s just a small cove with a lot of bait and little bit of grass starting to grow.”

Stephen Stork of Houston and Terry Thomas of Pasadena, Texas, rounded out the top five teams with a limit weighing 14 pounds, 9 ounces

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 teams on day one of FLW Redfish competition in Rockport:

6th: Mike Miller of San Antonio and David Miller of Boerne, Texas, 14-8

7th: Steve Snopek of New Braunfels, Texas, and Glen Watts of Corpus Christi, Texas, 14-6

8th: Doug Mowen and Jay Hakala of San Antonio, 14-1

9th: Brad Sawyer of Alvin, Texas, and Daryl Allen of Pearland, Texas, 14-0

10th: Jeff Steckler and Ryan Watkins of Rockport, 13-5

The second half of FLW Redfish opening-round action begins Friday as the full field takes off from Rockport Beach Marina at 6:30 a.m. Central time. Following tomorrow’s competition, the field of 116 will be cut to the top five teams for Saturday’s finals.