TRENTON, Mich. – Pro A.C. Campbell of Mineral Springs, Pa., caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 2 ounces Thursday to capture the lead in the $275,225 Stren Series Northern Division tournament presented by Yamaha on the Detroit River. With a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 40-4, he now holds an 11-ounce lead over second place pro Chip Harrison of Bremen, Ind., who managed to haul in a total of 10 bass weighing 39-10 during the first two days of competition.
“The bite was really tough today,” said Campbell. “The area I fished yesterday had several boats on it today. I fish Lake St. Clair because I believe I can catch a more consistent bag than on Lake Erie. I went to Lake Erie one day for practice, and I wasn’t going back.”
Campbell caught his fish on tubes in 8 to 14 feet of water around scattered vegetation.
“I hope to catch some quality fish early Friday morning, if not I will have to go searching. Hopefully it works out.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Joe Balog of Harrison Township, Mich. (10 bass, 39-5); Mike Trombly of Perrysburg, Ohio (10 bass, 39-3); and David Hasty of Toledo, Ohio (10 bass, 38-5).
Todd Steele of Port Huron, Mich., earned $285 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass.
The weather forecast for Friday calls for mainly sunny skies with a high of 79 degrees and winds of 15 to 25 miles per hour.
Overall there were 734 bass weighing 2,116 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 176 pros Thursday. The catch included 112 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 on Lake Murray in Columbia, S.C., 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.
Renee Hensley of Edwardsburg, Mich., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 519VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. She caught five bass weighing 17-11 while fishing with pro Rob Genter of Tidioute, Pa., Wednesday and five bass weighing 18-12 while fishing with pro Frank Novock of Rockwood, Mich., Thursday for a total of 10 bass weighing 36-7.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Robert Case of Point, Texas (10 bass, 35-0); Doug Caldwell of Kane, Pa. (10 bass, 34-6); Jeffery Cox of Saling, Mich. (10 bass, 33-10); and Paul Mueller of Southbury, Conn. (10 bass, 33-2).
John Shultz of Trucksville, Pa., earned $144 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 6-pound, 5-ounce bass.
Overall there were 634 bass weighing 1,749 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 170 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 83 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 each morning from Elizabeth Park Marina located at 202 Grosse Isle Parkway in Trenton, Mich. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 23800 Allen Road in Woodhaven, Mich., 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 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, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.