REITZELL WINS WALMART BASS FISHING LEAGUE COWBOY DIVISION EVENT ON RED RIVER

NATCHITOCHES, La. (April 27, 2015) – 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 finished the tournament in:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

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.

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 were:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10th:        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.

The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

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