Matt Rigsby of Texas City, Texas, correctly picked four of the top 10 anglers in last week’s Walmart FLW Tour event on Lewis Smith Lake presented by Evinrude. For his picks, Rigsby won $5,000 by playing FLW Fantasy Fishing, held in conjunction with the FLW Tour fishing tournament.
“I was shocked to hear I had won the top prize,” said Rigsby. “I had confidence in my picks but figured other people may edge me at some point during the tournament.”
Rigsby said it was the research he did before making his picks, as well as his fishing knowledge, that helped him climb the leaderboard.
“I went back and looked up top fishing patterns on Lewis Smith Lake and which anglers excelled at bed-fishing,” said Rigsby. “I have been fishing all of my life and always read FLW Bass Fishing magazine. After putting the puzzle pieces together I made my picks.
“With the $200 salary cap, I started out by picking well-known guys like Anthony Gagliardi and Scott Martin,” Rigsby said. “They’re the type of anglers you see consistently making the top-20 cut. For the last five spots I strictly went for value.
“It’s really amazing how FLW has their Fantasy Fishing game set up. I think it’s a lot of fun, I really do,” Rigsby said. “I hope I can pull out another win at Beaver Lake.”
Finishing in second place on the fantasy side for the Lewis Smith Lake event was Jared Castleman of Lumberton, Texas, who won $1,000, and in third place was Tony O’Neal of Thomaston, Georgia, who won $500. Several other winners from across the globe took home prizes including cash, ShopFLW gift cards, hats and baits.
The 2015 Fantasy Fishing season consists of seven tournaments surrounding the Walmart FLW Tour regular season as well as the season-ending Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing. Fans compete for more than $7,000 in cash and prizes from each of the six tournaments and a top prize of $5,000. The cumulative grand prize for the highest ranked player at the end of the season is $10,000.
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