CURTISS WINS RAYOVAC FLW SERIES WESTERN DIVISION EVENT ON CALIFORNIA DELTA

OAKLEY, Calif. (May 9, 2015) – Wade Curtiss of Meadow Vista, California, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the Rayovac FLW Series Western Division event on the California Delta presented by Ranger  Boats with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 61 pounds, 13 ounces. For his victory, Curtiss earned $36,100.

“This has been an amazing tournament,” said Curtiss, who earned the first victory of his career. “After starting the day in 10^th place, I knew I’d have my work cut out for me. And I honestly didn’t think that I had enough weight to win it. This is my seventh or eighth tournament that I’ve competed in on the Delta, and to get the win is just so sweet.”

Curtiss said that he fished, “from the north end of the Delta to the south end of the Delta,” targeting grass beds and big flats.

“The first two days I ran my areas and caught a lot of fish – around 50 keepers on day one, and 25 keepers on day two. Today, I just went fishing and ended up fishing a lot of new water. I caught around 20 keepers, and none of my fish came deeper than 6 feet of water all week.”

Curtiss credited two key baits for his success throughout the week – a Jackall MC 60 crankbait in red or brown and orange, and a 3/8-ounce bluegill-colored swimjig with a Zoom Horny Toad trailer. He also said that he picked up a Jackall Iobee Frog Saturday and used it to boat his largest bass of the day.

“In the mornings I would catch them real well on the incoming tide,” Curtiss said. “I would just try to run the high tide each day as long as possible. The key for me was definitely finding the right fish along the grass lines. I knew the fish were there and that’s how I like to fish, so this tournament set up perfectly for me.”

The top 10 pros on the California Delta were:

  1^st:         Wade Curtiss, Meadow Vista, Calif., 15 bass, 61-13, $36,100

  2^nd:       Ken Mah, Elk Grove, Calif., 15 bass, 59-9, $13,989

  3^rd:                       David Valdivia, Norwalk, Calif., 15 bass, 55-13, $10,830

  4^th:                       Chris Parks, Eugene, Ore., 15 bass, 55-13, $9,025

  5^th:                       Stephen Tosh Jr., Turlock, Calif., 15 bass, 55-5, $8,122

  6^th:                       Joe Uribe Jr., Surprise, Ariz., 15 bass, 54-6, $7,220

  7^th:                       Phillip Dutra, Antioch, Calif., 14 bass, 50-4, $6,317

  8^th:                       Gary Dobyns, Live Oak, Calif., 15 bass, 49-15, $5,415

  9^th:                       Austin Bonjour, Atascadero, Calif., 15 bass, 47-9, $4,512

  10^th:      Nick Nourot, Benicia, Calif., 13 bass, 43-12, $3,610

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Valdivia caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Friday – a monster weighing 10 pounds even – that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $254.

Jack Farage of Discovery Bay, California, won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117C with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor, with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 54 pounds, 9 ounces. Farage’s winning margin of 15 pounds, 7 ounces was the third largest co-angler margin of victory in Rayovac FLW Series history.

 The top 10 co-anglers on the California Delta were:

  1^st:         Jack Farage, Discovery Bay, Calif., 15 bass, 54-9, Ranger Z117C with a 90-horsepower outboard

  2^nd:       Todd Kline, San Clemente, Calif., 15 bass, 39-2, $4,536

  3^rd:                       Jordan Pinasco, Galt, Calif., 14 bass, 38-15, $3,629

  4^th:                       John Rossetti, Stockton, Calif., 14 bass, 38-4, $3,175

  5^th:                       Eric Hawkins, Sacramento, Calif., 15 bass, 38-0, $2,721

  6^th:                       Randy Bruno, Huntington Beach, Calif., 13 bass, 37-8, $2,268

  7^th:                       Daniel Leue, Colusa, Calif., 15 bass, 36-11, $1,814

  8^th:                       Paul Reutlinger, West Jordan, Utah, 12 bass, 36-9, $1,588

  9^th:                       Rafael Ortiz, Roseville, Calif, 12 bass, 33-10, $1,361

  10^th:      Tom Nokes, Riverton, Utah, 15 bass, 33-6, $1,134

Bruno caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division to earn the day’s Big Bass award of $169.

The Rayovac FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the no-entry-fee Rayovac FLW Series Championship. The 2015 Rayovac FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 29-31 on the Ohio River in Paducah, Kentucky.

The Rayovac FLW Series on the California Delta was presented by Ranger Boats and was hosted by the City of Oakley. It was the second of three Western Division tournaments in 2015. The next Rayovac FLW Series tournament will be a Southeastern Division event presented by Evinrude, held May 21-23, on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

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