DECATUR, Ala. – The final step toward qualifying for $2 million 2007 Forrest Wood Cup began in Decatur Wednesday morning with 197 pros and 197 co-anglers from 37 states and Japan competing in the $1 million Stren Series Championship on Wheeler Lake for top awards of $140,000 and $70,000, respectively. Not only will lucrative awards be handed out this week, but the Stren Series Championship will also send the first five pros and co-anglers to the world’s most lucrative bass tournament, where the pros will fish against qualifiers from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League and The Bass Federation for as much as $1 million.
First things first, however. There is a lot of money at stake on Wheeler Lake this week and Southeast Division rookie Sam Bass of Section, Ala., isn’t leaving anything to chance. After qualifying for the Stren Series Championship as the No. 28 seed in his division, Bass caught five largemouths weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces to lead day one of the four-day tournament.
“I don’t fish here that often,” said Bass, who usually prefers to fish nearby Lake Guntersville. “The lake fishes somewhat the same as Guntersville, though. When the bass are in the grass, I’m happy, and that is exactly where they are.”
Bass caught eight keepers throughout the day and lost one fish that he estimates would have pushed him over 20 pounds. All of the bass came on a topwater bait that he was throwing to grass in 5 feet of water on Decatur Flats. Bass doubts, however, that he’ll be fishing the same area Thursday.
“It really depends what the wind does,” he said. “If it kicks up like is forecast, it will really mess things up. I have a couple of creeks where I can catch fish on a jig, though, if that happens.”
Trailing Bass by 3 pounds is Spiderwire pro Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., in second place with five bass weighing 16-4. Kellogg’s pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa. (five bass, 15-10), Ricky Scott of Van Buren, Ark. (five bass, 14-5) and Mark Shepard of Labelle, Fla. (five bass, 14-5) rounded out the top five pros.
David Cioppa of Hopkinton, Ma., earned the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $750 in the Pro Division with a 7-pound largemouth that he caught on a Strike King Bitsy Bug jig.
In the Co-angler Division, Thomas Szwankowski of Hope, Ark., leads the field with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 7 ounces. He fished with Justin Kerr of Simi Valley, Calif., who caught just one bass weighing 2 pounds.
“I only had five keepers,” said Szwankowski, who qualified as the No. 6 seed in the Central Division. “It was a really tough bite. Now I need to catch another limit to stay in the top 10.”
Szwankowski’s fish were caught on a Carolina rig and a Horny Toad.
Bill Gift of Alix, Ark. (five bass, 12-1), Monte Knight of Quitman, Miss. (four bass, 11-2), Sammy Orr of Maryville, Tenn. (five bass, 10-13) and Jason Billmaier of Las Vegas, Nev. (five bass, 10-12) rounded out the top five co-anglers.
Bud Strader of Rockwood, Tenn., earned the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $375 in the Co-angler Division with a 5-pound, 5-ounce largemouth.
Overall, 1,128 bass weighing 2,084 pounds, 8 ounces were caught by 187 pros and 161 co-anglers. There were 119 five-bass limits caught on opening day. More than 99 percent of the bass were released alive.
With 57 anglers, California has the largest contingent fishing the Stren Series Championship for the second consecutive season.
Anglers will take off from Ingalls Harbor at 7 each morning. Thursday’s weigh-in will also be held at Ingalls Harbor, which is located on Highway 20 W. in Decatur, beginning at 3 p.m.
Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 2800 Spring Ave. S.W. in Decatur beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend the Family Fun Zone Friday and Saturday outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The Family Fun Zone, which opens at 2 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday, features interactive displays, product samples and games for the entire family to enjoy. Admission to all activities is free.
Two hundred pros and 200 co-anglers (the top 40 based on points standings from each of the Stren Series’ five divisions) qualified for the championship. The full field will continue competition Thursday to determine the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers who will advance to the final round based on the heaviest cumulative weights from the first two days of competition. Weights will be cleared Friday, and co-angler competition will conclude with the winner determined by the day’s heaviest catch. Pro competition will conclude Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest cumulative weight from days three and four.
The winning pro will earn an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 519VX equipped with Lowrance electronics, a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries plus $50,000 cash. If the winner is the original owner of a qualifying Ranger boat powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard that is used during the tournament, he will also receive a $25,000 bonus from Ranger and an additional $25,000 Evinrude/Yamaha bonus for a total award of $140,000. The winning co-angler will receive a fully rigged Ranger 519VX plus $15,000 cash. If the winning co-angler meets Ranger and Evinrude or Yamaha contingency guidelines, he will also receive bonuses totaling $15,000 for a total award of $70,000.
The Stren Series Championship is being hosted by the Decatur/Morgan County Convention and Visitors Bureau. For more information, visit Decaturcvb.org or call (800) 524-6181.
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.