CECIL WINS RAYOVAC FLW SERIES TEXAS DIVISION EVENT ON TOLEDO BEND

3/24/2014

MANY, La. (March 22, 2014) – Russell Cecil of Willis, Texas, weighed five bass
totaling 15 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the Rayovac FLW Series Texas Division
event presented by Frabill on Toledo Bend Reservoir with a three-day total of 15
bass weighing 61 pounds, 9 ounces. For his victory, Cecil earned $33,000 and a new
Ranger Z518 with a 200 horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.

"I’m as excited as I’ve ever been to win one of these because I sure didn’t think I
pulled it off today," said Cecil, who earned his fifth career victory in FLW
competition. "I thought I only had about 14 pounds. I made a strategic decision
this morning that I would catch five and not stop until I caught a big one. I
caught five keepers and fished for three big ones, but I didn’t catch any of them.
Sitting there after Clark (Reehm) had weighed his fish, I thought I had lost it."

Cecil fished for spawning bass the entire tournament, and underperformed his
expectations on days one and three.

"I won this tournament on the first day. At noon I had no fish, and I was like
‘what am I going do to save myself.’ I had a little pocket that I was going to save
that I didn’t think anyone else would be fishing. I didn’t go there, but I ran to
another place and ended up catching a 2-pounder and a 7-pounder there. Then, with
five minutes to go, I ran to my little pocket, caught two 3-pounders and got my
limit. I could have easily weighed only three fish for 10 pounds.

"I don’t have a lot of experience on Toledo Bend in the spring," continued the
Texas pro. "I have a whole lot more summer experience here. These fish were coming
to the bank really hard and this was not an event where you could find them in
practice and then go catch them. All of the fish that I caught I found during
tournament hours. It was very mentally taxing. But, I kind of like tournaments like
this. I hate it when it turns into a boat race and everyone knows where the same
fish are."

Cecil said that he caught almost all of his fish on a Texas-rigged Big Bite Baits
WarMouth and credited his Costa Del Mar sunglasses for his ability to see fish that
others didn’t in the crowded pockets.

The top 10 pros on Toledo Bend were:

1st: Russell Cecil, Willis, Texas, 15 bass, 61-9, $33,000 + Ranger Z518 with
200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Clark Reehm, Huntington, Texas, 15 bass, 61-2, $12,778
3rd: Todd Castledine, Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 58-0, $9,901
4th: Andrew Upshaw, Tulsa, Okla., 15 bass, 57-13, $8,251
5th: Ronnie Wagner, Houston, Texas, 15 bass, 55-8, $7,426
6th: Nick Lebrun, Tyler, Texas, 15 bass, 52-13, $6,600
7th: Troy Broussard, Beaumont, Texas, 15 bass, 51-14, $5,775
8th: Lendell Martin Jr., Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 51-4, $4,950
9th: Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats pro Jim Tutt, Longview, Texas, 15 bass, 49-5,
$4,125
10th: Ricky Guy, Humble, Texas, 12 bass, 42-1, $3,300

Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.

Corey Stanley of Orange, Texas caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro
division Thursday – a 10-pound, 3-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Rayovac
FLW Series Big Bass award of $222.

Ronnie Ray Jr. of McKinney, Texas, 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 32 pounds, 9 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers on Toledo Bend were:

1st: Ronnie Ray Jr., McKinney, Texas, 15 bass, 32-9, Ranger Z117C with
90-horsepower outboard
2nd: Mike Power, Conroe, Texas, nine bass, 31-7, $4,163
3rd: Jeff Kitchens, Henderson, Texas, 10 bass, 29-11, $3,330
4th: Kerry Barnett, Waldron, Ark., nine bass, 25-3, $2,914
5th: Ryan Bailey, Humble, Texas, eight bass, 24-3, $2,497
6th: Travis Kelehan, Broussard, La., eight bass, 23-8, $2,081
7th: Clint Lipham, Conroe, Texas, nine bass, 22-3, $1,665
8th: John Martin, Buna, Texas, six bass, 21-12, $1,457
9th: Dan Wilson, Pilot Point, Texas, eight bass, 20-6, $1,249
10th: Neil Herline, Silsbee, Texas, eight bass, 18-6, $1,041

Mack McCoy of Ringgold, La. caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the
co-angler division Friday – an 8-pound, 7-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s
Rayovac FLW Series Big Bass award of $148.

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 2014 Rayovac FLW
Series Championship is being held Oct. 30-Nov. 1 on Wheeler Lake in Rogersville,
Ala.

The final Rayovac FLW Series Texas Division tournament of 2014 will be held October
2-4, at Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Lufkin, Texas.