Texas Pro Wins Early Summer Bass Tournament on Sam Rayburn

BROOKELAND, Texas (June 15, 2019) – Pro Kris Wilson of Montgomery, Texas, caught a five-bass limit Saturday weighing 24 pounds, 1 ounce, to lead the event from start to finish and win the three-day Costa FLW Series on Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Mercury Marine. Wilson’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 72 pounds, 8 ounces, was enough to earn him the victory by a 13-pound, 15-ounce margin over second-place pro Josh Bensema of Willis, Texas, and earn him $37,586.

“Coming into this event I expected the fish to be in the bushes, but it really evolved as the week went on,” said Wilson, who earned his second career FLW Series victory on Sam Rayburn. “I really focused on finding fish that were coming to me rather than leaving. And that ended up being about 300 yards out from the bushes.

“My main areas were mainly in the mouths of big coves, and the fish were set up on hard spots – ledges and points,” Wilson continued. “The key was that it had to have a hard bottom. I was running a lot of spots, but I had three spots that produced big fish each day.”

Wilson said he caught around 15 keepers each day. His main tactic was dragging a Carolina-rigged red bug creature bait that resembles a Zoom Brush Hog, poured by him and his tournament partner, Harold Moore. He also weighed in two keepers on chartreuse and blue-colored 6^th Sense Lures C15 and C20 crankbaits.

The top 10 pros on Sam Rayburn Reservoir finished:

              1^st:          Kris Wilson, Montgomery, Texas, 15 bass, 72-8, $37,586

              2^nd:         Josh Bensema, Willis, Texas, 15 bass, 58-9, $13,910

              3^rd:         Justin Morton, Etoile, Texas, 15 bass, 50-0, $10,692

              4^th:         Cole Moore, Anacoco, La., 15 bass, 47-6, $8,910

              5^th:         Albert Collins, Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 47-1, $8,019

              6^th:         Cory Rambo, Orange, Texas, 15 bass, 46-15, $7,128

              7^th:         Dicky Newberry, Houston, Texas, 15 bass, 44-0, $6,237

              8^th:         Matt Pangrac, Broken Arrow, Okla., 15 bass, 43-0, $5,346

              9^th:         Bob Vote, Kingwood, Texas, 15 bass, 41-3, $4,455

              10^th:       Eric Wright, Balch Springs, Texas, 15 bass, 40-15, $3,812

A complete list of results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Wilson weighed a 9-pound, 5-ounce bass Friday – the heaviest of the tournament in the Pro Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $248.

Zack Freeman of Russellville, Arkansas, won the Co-angler Division with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 53 pounds, 5 ounces. For his win, Freeman took home the top prize package of a new Ranger Z175 boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The top 10 co-anglers on Sam Rayburn finished:        

              1^st:          Zack Freeman, Russellville, Ark., 15 bass, 53-5, $27,347

              2^nd:         Alan Moore, Lufkin, Texas, 15 bass, 47-6, $4,628

              3^rd:         Steve Phillips, Diboll, Texas, 15 bass, 40-7, $3,712

              4^th:         Charles Dubroc, Hessmer, La., 14 bass, 37-4, $3,204

              5^th:         Jerry Meece, Lufkin, Texas, 15 bass, 33-13, $2,997

              6^th:         Buddy Hicks, Port Neches, Texas, 15 bass, 33-2, $2,289

              7^th:         Louis Ferguson, Woodville, Texas, 15 bass, 32-15, $1,831

              8^th:         John Hatton, Buna, Texas, 13 bass, 32-9, $1,602

              9^th:         James Callaghan, De Berry, Texas, 15 bass, 32-5, $1,373

              10^th:       Michael Bates, Corsicana, Texas, 10 bass, 27-6, $1,144

Freeman also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 10 ounces. He earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $165.

The Costa FLW Series on Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Mercury Marine was hosted by the Jasper Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce. It was the second of three Southwestern Division tournaments of the 2019 regular season. The next tournament for FLW Series anglers will be the Northern Division presented by Gajo Baits opener, the Costa FLW Series at Lake Champlain, held July 18-20 in Plattsburgh, New York. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.

The Costa FLW Series consists of five U.S. divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western – along with the International division. Each U.S. division consists of three regular-season tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to compete in the season-ending Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2019 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Oct. 31 – Nov. 2 on Lake Cumberland in Burnside, Kentucky.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW and their multiple tournament circuits at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2019 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.