46 Louisiana Sportsman^ | April 2015
news breakers
9-pounder anchors winning stringer
From News ReportsW
ith a 9-pound monster
safely onboard, Gary
Caruso didn’t need five
fish to win the first FLW
Bass Fishing League
Cowboy Division tournament of 2015.
The Baton Rouge angler’s four-fish
stringer weighed-in at 19 pounds, 6
ounces and was good enough for the Feb.
28 victory and $5,273 at Sam RayburnReservoir.
“I just picked up a new boat,
I had my girlfriend with me at
the tournament and I got the
win,” Caruso said. “I can’t think
of a better weekend.”
Caruso caught almost 20
pounds of bass by heading
south to a cove and targeting two shal-
low spawning flats with a creek channelrunning between them. He said he knew
the fish would be active in the grass and
cypress trees that flourish
there.
“I got into about 3 feet of
water and started working
down the bank, and caught a
4-pounder on my fourth cast
of the day,” he said.
When the bite slowed,
Caruso explored deeper
water using a Rat-L-Trap in
Rayburn red to test out the
grass and hydrilla.
When he found a suitable
patch, he switched to a black-
and-red flaked Mister Twister
Flip’n Out with more success.
He eventually moved to the
edge of the spawning flat and
caught the 9-pounder around
11:30 a.m.
Although he wasn’t able to
catch a limit, Caruso caught
a fourth fish late in the day
that turned out to be the
difference-maker.
“I caught a 4-pound fish
within the last 15 minutes of
the tournament, and that’s
the one that put me over the
top,” he said. “It was amaz-
ing.” ■Gary Caruso of Baton Rouge only caught four fish
during the BFL stop on Sam Rayburn Reservoir,
but his 9-pound kicker pushed him to the win.Baton Rouge angler
wins Rayburn BFL
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