TRENTON, Mich. – Ranger Pro Mike Trombly of Perrysburg, Ohio, caught a final-round total of 10 bass weighing 38 pounds, 8 ounces to win the $262,125 Stren Series Midwest Division tournament presented by Evinrude on the Detroit River Saturday. Trombly won a 519VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude outboard and equipped with Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and EverStart batteries plus $9,000 cash. He also earned a $10,000 contingency bonus from Ranger for a total of $54,500.
Trombly opened the tournament Wednesday with five bass weighing 20 pounds, 13 ounces. On Thursday, he added another five bass weighing 22 pounds, 7 ounces to his catch to make the top-20 cut in fourth place with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 42 pounds, 12 ounces. He then caught five bass weighing 21 pounds, 7 ounces Friday to make the top-10 cut in first place. On Saturday, he caught another five bass weighing 17 pounds, 1 ounce to secure the win.
“This is fantastic,” said Trombly, who has six Stren Series top-10 finishes. “I’ve had the opportunity to win before, but I let them slip away. I just went out and gave it a 100 percent and it worked for me.”
Trombly managed several key areas over the course of the week to earn his first Stren Series victory.
“I tried to share my time between the areas and not burn one spot out,” he said. “And it worked out perfectly.”
Wind direction was a major factor when Trombly chose and area to fish. He would fish the river if the wind was coming from any direction, but from the south. Otherwise, he would fish his areas on Lake Erie. His two key baits were the goby on a drop-shot rig and a Mike’s Rx Baits tube, both fished on humps and current breaks.
Rounding out the top five pros are Bryan Coates of Amherst, Ohio (10 bass, 38 pounds, 3 ounces, $9,000); Dick Shaffer of Rockford, Ohio (10 bass, 37 pounds, 3 ounces, $8,000); Gain Pro Vic Vatalaro of Kent, Ohio (10 bass, 35 pounds, 14 ounces, $7,350); and David Hayward of Sylvania, Ohio (10 bass, 35 pounds, 6 ounces, $6,850).
Dick Parker of Amherst, Ohio, won the Co-angler Division thanks to a final-round total of 10 bass weighing 37 pounds, 6 ounces. Parker earned a 519VX Ranger plus $4,400 cash for a total award of $34,400.
Parker made the top-20 cut Thursday with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing, 42 pounds, 3 ounces. He then caught 5 bass weighing 19 pounds, 8 ounces with pro Dick Shaffer Friday to make the top-10 cut in first place. On Saturday, he caught five bass weighing 17 pounds, 14 ounces to earn his first Stren Series victory.
“It’s a great feeling,” Parker said. “I whacked them really well this morning and had five in the boat in only 10 casts.”
Parker used an ISG tube and Poorboy goby all week, and today was no different.
“I stuck with those baits,” he said. “I did catch two on a lipless crankbait today, but I don’t know if they made it to the scales or not. We caught fish steadily and just kept culling up.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Todd Kuipers of Lafayette, Ind. (10 bass, 35 pounds, 15 ounces, $3,400); Dale Fisher of Watsontown, Penn. (nine bass, 34 pounds, 7 ounces, $3,140); Kenneth Taylor of Shelby Township, Mich. (10 bass, 34 pounds, 2 ounces, $2,240); and Charles Hasty of Toledo, Ohio (10 bass, 33 pounds, 6 ounces, $1,740).
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.
The top 40 pros and top 40 co-anglers from each of the Stren Series’ five divisions – Central, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and Western – following four tournaments in each division will advance to the $1 million Stren Series Championship on Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Ala., Nov. 1-4 where they will fish for top awards of $140,000 and $70,000, respectively. 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.
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.