Howard-Ault win Stratos Owners Tournament Trail event on Lake Ouachita

Steve Howard of Conway, Ark., and Greg Ault of Hot Springs, Ark., won the Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail event on Lake Ouachita March 17-18. Anglers: Greg Ault, Steve Howard.

March 18, 2006 • MLF • Archives

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The team of Steve Howard of Conway, Ark., and Greg Ault of Hot Springs, Ark., won the Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail event on Lake Ouachita near Hot Springs, Ark, March 17-18. The anglers earned $3,457.

With overcast skies and windy, rainy conditions, Howard and Ault were able to put together a two-day winning catch of 10 bass weighing 37 pounds, 5 ounces. The team caught their bass, which included a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass on day one and a 6-pound, 12-ouncer on day two, both of which earned the daily big-bass awards worth $125, on moss beds growing on main-lake offshore structure.

Rounding out the top five teams were Bobby Graves of Mt. Ida, Ark., and Dennis Bean of Hot Springs (10 bass, 32 pounds, 6 ounces, $1,731); Ronald Boatright and Brent Ward, both of Pine Bluff, Ark., (10 bass, 31 pounds, 13 ounces, $1,384); Ron and Kevin Coleman, both of Hot Springs, Ark. (10 bass, 27 pounds, 13 ounces, $1,038) and Joey Brannon and Gary Bono, both of Benton, Ark. (10 bass, 27 pounds, 13 ounces, $686).

The next Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail regional event will be held on the Santee Cooper Lakes in Manning, S.C., April 14-15. Another event will be held on the California Delta April 21-22 near Stockton, Calif., followed by an event on the Bay of Quinte in Belleville, Ontario, July 22 and 23. The final regional event will be held August 4-5 on Lake Erie near Brownstown, Mich.

The top 35 teams from the Lake Seminole, Lake Ouachita, Santee Cooper Lakes and Lake Erie regionals as well as the top 20 teams from the California Delta and top 10 teams from the Bay of Quinte regional will be invited to the 2006 Stratos Owners’ Championship held Oct. 6-7 on Old Hickory Lake in Gallatin, Tenn. The winning team from each of the stateside regionals will also advance to the 2007 $2 million, no-entry-fee Forrest Wood Cup where they will compete in the Co-angler Division.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.