LA PLATA, Md. – Pro Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 13 ounces Friday to widen his lead in the $275,225 Stren Series Northern Division tournament presented by Evinrude on the Potomac River. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 56-11, he holds a 7-pound, 12-ounce lead over his closest competitor heading into the final day of competition.
“I had another great day of fishing,” said Lane, who has 19 top-10 tournament finishes with FLW Outdoors. “I get my limit early in the morning and look for quality fish in the afternoon.”
Lane said he caught his bass flipping a frog in and around grass.
Rounding out the top five pros are Ryan Park of Mount Joy, Pa. (15 bass, 49-0); Sparky Petersen of Laytonsville, Md. (15 bass, 44-11); Nick Gainey of Charleston, S.C. (15 bass, 43-11); and Michael Hall of Annandale, Va. (15 bass, 43-10).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 41 pounds, 6 ounces in the Pro Division are James Kemper of Frankfort, Ky.; Thomas Wooten of Huddleston, Va.; Terry Olinger of The Plains, Va.; Jess Caraballo of Danbury, Conn.; and George Acord Jr. of Lancaster, Pa.
Jeffrey Thomas of Broadway, N.C., earned $268 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 15-ounce bass.
Overall there were 621 bass weighing 1,251 pounds, 1 ounce caught by 160 pros Friday. The catch included 86 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for as much as $65,000, including a 519VX Ranger powered by Evinrude or Yamaha if contingency guidelines are met, and valuable points toward qualifying for the $1 million Stren Series Championship in Mobile, Ala., Nov. 8-11 for a shot at $140,000. After four qualifying events are complete in each of the circuit’s five divisions, the top 40 pros from each division will advance to the championship. The highest-finishing pro from each division at the championship will also earn a spot in the $2 million 2008 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, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series and TBF (The Bass Federation) for bass fishing’s biggest prize – $1 million.
Matt Grennblatt of Oldsmar, Fla., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 519VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met, thanks to a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 32-10.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are David Williams of Fredericksburg, Va. (15 bass, 32-7); Charlie Reed Jr. of Hayes, Va. (15 bass, 30-13); Joshua Wagy of Dewitt, Va. (14 bass, 30-5); and Alan Hench of Lititz, Pa. (14 bass, 29-5).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 26 pounds, 14 ounces in the Co-angler Division are Kermit Crowder of Matoaca, Va.; Michael Baker of Laurel, Md.; Teddy Bradley of Mishawaka, Md.; Moo Bae of West Friendship, Md.; and Sam Mitchiner of Garner, N.C.
Bae earned $138 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 4-pound, 13-ounce bass.
Overall there were 410 bass weighing 749 pounds, 9 ounces caught by 146 co-anglers Friday. The catch included 37 five-bass limits.
The top 40 co-anglers from each Stren Series division will also advance to the championship, where they will fish for as much as $70,000. The highest-finishing co-angler from each division at the championship will then advance to the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 Saturday morning from Smallwood State Park located at 2750 Sweden Point Rd. in Marbury, Md. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 40 Drury Drive in La Plata, beginning at 4 p.m. The takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Stren Series tournaments are four-day events consisting of two rounds. The entire field competes Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. At the conclusion of Friday’s weigh-in, the field is cut to the top 10 pros and co-anglers based on the heaviest three-day accumulated weights. These anglers continue competition Saturday, with the winners determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
FLW Outdoors historically maintains a 98 percent live release rate in all of its bass tournaments.
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, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, 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 of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.
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 Walmart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.