VENICE, La. – Dwayne Eschete, of Mandeville, La., and Blake Pizzolato, of Montgomery, Texas, caught six redfish weighing 48 pounds, 11 ounces to win the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Western Division event in Venice. The top prize of $50,000 included a $15,000 Ranger bonus and a $15,000 Yamaha bonus.
“We were on about seven schools of 50 fish and were sight-fishing,” Eschete said. “It wasn’t hard; we had a limit of 15 pounds within the first five minutes and fished a couple more minutes and got 17 pounds, 4 ounces.”
The team threw a Berkley Gulp on a Bass Assassin ¼-ounce jig head, H&H spinnerbait with a ¼-ounce Bass Assassin jig head and white Berkley 3-inch Gulp! in 14 inches of water to catch their fish.
“Today was the first day we actually had sunshine, so that helped us out,” Eschete said. “We were catching them south of Cocodrie.”
Eschete and Pizzolato are now the point leaders for the Western Division Land O’Lakes Team of the Year Standings, which will pay their entry fees in 2009 if they finish the season in the lead.
“It feels great to be leading,” Eschete said. “To us, a great accomplishment was winning a tournament, and now we’re in a category with all the people who have won. One of our goals was to stay in the top five and to be leading after the second tournament is a great accomplishment.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Todd Dufour, of Marrero, La., and Alden Bourgeois, of Barataria, La., (six redfish, 48 pounds, 6 ounces, $17,272); Steve Reupke, of Port Aranas, Texas, and Frank Duxstad, of Port Aranas,Texas (six redfish, 46 pounds, 3 ounces, $6,116); Tony Grose, of New Orleans, La., and Sal Fontana, of Metairie, La. (six redfish, 45 pounds, 10 ounces, $4,808); and Steve Snopek, of New Braunfels, Texas, and Trey Hallmark, of San Antonio, Texas (six redfish, 42 pounds, 1 ounce, $3,106).
Teams caught 10 redfish Saturday weighing 71 pounds, 15 ounces.
Qualifying tournaments in the $1.9 million Wal-Mart Redfish Series – the most lucrative redfish tournament trail in the world – are three-day events. Up to 150 teams compete Thursday and Friday, and the top five teams, based on heaviest combined weight, advance to Saturday’s final round. The winning team is determined Saturday based on the heaviest three-day accumulated weight.
The FLW Redfish Series consists of two divisions – Eastern and Western. Each division is comprised of four qualifying events with a $200,000 purse for each event. The top 100 teams – 50 from each division after four qualifying events – will qualify for the three-day, no-entry-fee $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship to be held in Biloxi, Miss., Oct. 30-Nov. 1. 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.
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, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
Awards are based on a full field of 125 boats in every tournament.