CATSKILL, N.Y. – Pro Pete Gluszek of Franklinville, N.J., caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds Thursday to capture the lead in the $275,225 Stren Series Northern Division tournament on the Hudson River. With a two-day catch of seven bass weighing 20-12, he now holds an 1-pound, 3-ounce lead over second place pro Bill Alexander of Sylvan Beach, N.Y., who managed to haul in a total of seven bass weighing 19-10 during the first two days of competition.
“The fishing has been tough,” said Joe Balog, who is currently in third place. “Today I had the opportunity to do a lot better than I did. I lost a lot of key fish today. The areas that I focused on had more pressure today which made it tough. My game plan for tomorrow is to catch 7 to 11 pounds and fish for mostly smallmouths.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Joe Balog of Harrison Township, Mich. (eight bass, 17-06); Thomas Lavictoire of West Rutland, Vt. (five bass, 17-00); and Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa. (six bass, 15-10).
Gluszek also earned $185 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 4-pound, 15-ounce bass.
Overall there were 82 bass weighing 202 pounds caught by 47 pros Thursday. The catch included two 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.
Charlie Reed Jr. of Hayes, Va., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 519VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. He caught three bass weighing 7-11 while fishing with pro David Cioppa of Hopkinton, Mass., Wednesday and one bass weighing 3-08 while fishing with pro Frank Leblanc of Franklin, Mass., Thursday for a total of four bass weighing 11-03.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Larry Perry of Hurricane, W.Va. (five bass, 10-15); Mark Condron of Wilton, Conn. (three bass, 10-04); Bill Spindler of Turnersville, N.J. (four bass, 10-00); and Chuck George of Upton, Mass. (two bass, 8-08).
Sharon Balon of Clewiston, Fla., and Derek Yasinski of Senoia, Ga., each earned $52.50 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 4-pound, 6-ounce bass.
Overall there were 40 bass weighing 102 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 30 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included zero 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 Dutchmen’s Landing located at Lower Main Street in Catskill. 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 265 W. Bridge St. in Catskill 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, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.