Buzzbait Brings Reitzell Some Hardware

Dellard wins co-angler title on Red River

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Stephen Reitzell of Colfax, Louisiana, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the second Walmart Bass Fishing League Cowboy Division tournament of 2015 on the Red River. For his victory, Reitzell earned $4,037.

“It feels awesome to grab a check,” said Reitzell. “It’s my first win with FLW and I couldn’t be happier.”

Reitzell started his day fishing ditches and targeting stumps. After not much success, he switched to targeting grass flats and caught a 5-pound, 15-ounce fish, the biggest bass of the tournament, using a white-colored buzzbait. 

“The night before the tournament I made a last-minute decision to rig the buzzbait,” Reitzell said. “It was a key move for me.”

Reitzell capped off his strong morning when he returned to the stumps around 1 p.m.

“We went back to the stumps and I caught a 4½-pounder using a chartreuse-colored Luck-E-Strike Rick Clunn crankbait,” said Reitzell.  “At that point I knew I had a good shot at winning.

“The water was a lot more stable than it was supposed to be,” added Reitzell. “That really helped me to catch my 15 keepers.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Stephen Reitzell, Colfax, La., five bass, 18-10, $4,037

2^nd:         Brooke Morrison, Youngsville, La., five bass, 13-7, $2,019

3^rd:          Joshua Moore, Grand Cane, La., five bass, 13-3, $1,345

4^th:          Randy Despino, Colfax, La., five bass, 13-1, $942

5^th:          Brian Branum, Sam Rayburn, Texas, five bass, 12-10, $807

6^th:          Randy Deaver, Blanchard, La., five bass, 12-0, $740

7^th:          Michael Brewton, Nacogdoches, Texas, five bass, 11-14, $673

8^th:          James Davis, Ferriday, La., five bass, 11-13, $606

9^th:          George Jeane, Evans, La., five bass, 11-12, $538

10^th:        Nicky McNeely, Natchitoches, La., five bass, 11-9, $471              

Complete results can be found here.  

Reitzell also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $545.

Dellard wins co-angler title

Charles Dellard of Burleson, Texas, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 11 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to win $2,019 in the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Charles Dellard, Burleson, Texas, five bass, 11-15, $2,019

2^nd:         Doug Odom, Huntsville, Texas, five bass, 11-12, $1,009

3^rd:          Bill Gift, Lindale, Texas, five bass, 11-5, $675

4^th:          Henry Trotty, Kountze, Texas, four bass, 10-8, $471

5^th:          Kenny Domingue, Sulphur, La., five bass, 9-10, $404

6^th:          Chris Pearson, Marthaville, La., five bass, 9-4, $370

7^th:          Brandt Dillon, Cypress, Texas, five bass, 8-15, $336

8^th:          Percy Richardson , Lufkin, Texas, five bass, 8-10, $303

9^th:          James Callaghan, DeBerry, Texas, five bass, 8-5, $269

10^th:        Norman Ramey, Killeen, Texas, four bass, 7-15, $235

Dellard also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $272.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 22-24 Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.