Ray Hanselman, who won all three events in the Texas Rayovacs this year, picked up his fourth victory of 2015 on Saturday as he captured the Rayovac FLW Series Championship on the Ohio River out of Paducah, Ky. His 15-13 stringer gave him a 3-day total of 46-11, which was more than 8 pounds more than runner-up Brandon Perkins.
Hanselman earned $50,000 and a berth in the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup.
“To win this championship is unbelievable. I’m in shock,” he said. “My only goal coming into this tournament was to qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup. I guess it was meant to be.”
Hanselman said he won the tournament by targeting bass in slack water between rip currents and eddys created by specific structure on the Tennessee River, about a quarter mile from the Kentucky Dam.
“I followed the same pattern all 3 days of competition,” he said. “I had three areas that I rotated through and they kept replenishing, so it worked.
“Within the first 15 minutes on the water today I had a keeper in the boat. I was really dialed in on that slack current. I could feel the change in the current’s speed with every cast. It set up perfect. After catching two more decent-sized fish, I made a move into the main current and caught a 4-pounder. From there, I drifted to other isolated areas of structure and put together a quality limit of bass.”
Hanselman said he caught his winning stringer of four smallmouth and one largemouth on an umbrella rig using 3-, 4- and 5-inch swimbaits on Strike King Squadron jigheads.
“I tried my best to imitate the small Asian carp – a popular baitfish,” said Hanselman. “I saw a lot of them in the grass and even caught a couple during practice, so I knew they’d be a factor. I don’t think many other anglers realized their potential, so they became a crucial part of my pattern.”
Full details of his winning pattern will be published soon.
The top finishing boater from each of the five Rayovac divisions who qualified for the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup were:
> Texas: Hanselman
> Central: Perkins
> Southeastern: Trevor Fitzgerald,
> Northern: David Barnes Sr.
> Western: Charlie Weyer
Additionally, the overall Top 5 finishers who did not win their division qualified for the next year's Cup. Those five anglers were Brian Holder, Nick Prvonozac, Tyler Suddarth, Jeff Hippert and Bill Chapman.
Here are the final totals for the Top 10:
1. Ray Hayselman: 46-11
2. Brandon Perkins: 38-09
3. Trevor Fitzgerald: 38-02
4. Brian Holder: 37-04
5. Nick Prvonozac: 36-10
6. Tyler Suddarth: 35-14
7. David Barnes Sr.: 35-04
8. Jeff Hippert: 35-03
9. Bill Chapman: 34-08
10. Denny Brauer: 33-04
