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Ranger Pro J.T. Kenney Wins FLW Tour Season Opener

Category: npaa

 Mar 11th, 2015 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Mar 11th, 2015 at 12:00 AM

 Ranger Pro J.T. Kenney Wins FLW Tour

Florida native rides home-state advantage to $125,000 payday
FLIPPIN, ARK. (March 11, 2015) With the competition site 90 minutes from his hometown of Palm Bay, Fla., Ranger Pro J.T. Kenney had lots of opportunities throughout the winter to figure out the bass in Lake Toho. What he found during his preseason scouting trips continued to produce as the FLW Tour staged its 2015 regular-season opener there last weekend.

Kenney led the FLW Tour Lake Toho event wire-to-wire and dominated the first three days of competition. He brought five-fish limits to the weigh-in stand each day of the event to finish with an even 76 pounds. With the win, Kenney earned the $100,000 first-place prize from FLW Outdoors as well as the $25,000 Ranger Cup bonus for running a Ranger Z521C.

“I did the best that I could do,” Kenney said. “I hate to use the cliché, but I left everything out on the water this week. It obviously worked out really good for me, but it has been a long week. Topping it all off, the Ranger Cup bonus is especially nice. Ranger Cup rewards are so strong that I can’t imagine entering a tournament without it.”

Kenney was on pace to challenge the prestigious and elusive 100-pound barrier for the event based on the first three days of competition. But on the fourth and final day of the tournament, Kenney struggled to find the bedding fish that he targeted earlier in the week. His final day total of five fish that weighed 9 pounds, 4 ounces was enough to bring his second FLW Tour-level win as he edged Scott Canterbury by 11 ounces.

“That was the longest hour of my life,” Kenney said of the final day’s weigh in. “It’s been a long time since I’ve won a Tour event and I put a lot of work into this one so this makes it all worth it.”

Fishing in his home state has been good to Kenney, who notched his first tour-level victory in 2002 on Lake Okeechobee.

“J.T. is a true competitor and an excellent ambassador for bass fishing and the Ranger Brand,” said Ranger Boats Vice President of Marketing Bart Schad. “We congratulate him on this impressive win and strong start to the 2015 season.”

In total, 7 of the top 10 anglers at Lake Toho were members of the Ranger Pro Staff. The Wal-Mart FLW Tour visits Lewis Smith Lake March 26-29 for the second stop of the 2015 schedule.

About Ranger Boats
Headquartered in Flippin, Ark., Ranger Boats is the nation’s premier manufacturer of legendary fiberglass and aluminum fishing boats, which include series of bass, multi-species, fish ‘n play, waterfowl utility and saltwater boats. Founded in 1968 by Forrest L. Wood, Ranger Boats continues its commitment to building the highest-quality, strongest-performing boats on the water. For more information, go to RangerBoats.com.

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