CLEVELAND, Ohio – Stratos pro Gerald Beck of Lexington, N.C., caught a 10-bass limit weighing 40 pounds to lead day two of the Stren Series Northeast Division event on Lake Erie.
Pros are competing for as much as $64,500 and valuable points that could qualify them for a trip to the $1 million Stren Series Championship for a shot at $140,000. The highest-finishing pro from each division at the Stren Series Championship will also earn a spot in the new $2 million 2007 Forrest Wood Cup where they will compete against top pros from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League and Ranger owners’ tournaments for bass fishing’s first $1 million top award.
“I’ve had two great days of fishing,” said Beck, who has two wins and nine top 10s in his FLW career. “It was a little tougher today. There were a couple of boats in one of my areas, so I had to go to another one, but it worked out very well for me and my co-angler.”
Beck and his co-angler, David Ottman of Oswego, N.Y., each caught a limit in Beck’s back-up area using a variety of soft-plastics including a drop-shot and tubejig. Ottman brought in 16 pounds, 12 ounces to make the top-20 cut.
“I’m hitting my areas hard, so I like to switch it up and show the fish something different,” Beck said. “I learned a long time ago that smallmouths like something different each day.”
Beck is making a 30-mile-run to target rock piles in 22 to 28 feet of water, but the long run can mean a rough ride back to the weigh-in.
“The weather is a big factor,” he said. “It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get back Wednesday and the wind is supposed to switch directions again tomorrow. Not only is it rough, but you have to stop and re-fill your livewells and take care of your fish so they don’t get beat up.”
Rounding out the top five pros are David McCrone of Minnetonka, Minn. (10 bass, 39 pounds, 9 ounces); Vic Vatalaro of Kent, Ohio (10 bass, 39 pounds, 9 ounces); Joe Lucarelli of New Hampton, N.H. (10 bass, 38 pounds); and Dave Lefebre of Union City, Penn. (10 bass, 36 pounds, 10 ounces).
McCrone earned $525 for the Snicker’s Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass.
Gary Guilliams of Troutville, Va., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award worth as much as $35,000, including a 519VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. He caught 10 bass weighing 39 pounds, 10 ounces.
“I have to credit my pros,” said Guilliams, who is one day away from his second top-10 Stren Series finish. “My partner today wasn’t really on anything and he basically left the decisions up to me.”
Guilliams and his pro, Jeff White of Rhoadesville, Va. fished an area that Guilliams had prefished during practice.
“I caught my five and he caught one, but broke-off four,” Guilliams said. “He asked me what I wanted to do and I said I wanted to get closer to the weigh-in area because the winds were picking up. So we went back and waited for the weigh-in. That was at 10:30 this morning. He really took care of me and made sure my fish made it in.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Tim George of Kittanning, Penn. (10 bass, 34 pounds, 2 ounces); Marc Strini of Saltsburg, Penn. (nine bass, 32 pounds, 8 ounces); Jeff Domonkos of Middleburg, Ohio (10 bass, 30 pounds, 1 ounce); and Doug Caldwell of Kane, Penn. (nine bass, 29 pounds).
Larry Drewett of Sterling, Va., earned $205 for the Snicker’s Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 14-ounce bass.
Anglers will take off from Voinovich Park Marina at 6 each morning. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 3606 Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Stren Series tournaments are four-day events consisting of three rounds. The entire field competes Wednesday and Thursday, and the top 20 pros and co-anglers – based on two-day accumulated weights – advance to day three. Anglers start at zero Thursday and compete for 10 spots in each division in the final round. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
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 Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.