OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – Pro Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds Saturday to win the $275,225 Stren Series Central Division tournament on Lake of the Ozarks with a four-day total of 20 bass weighing 70-03. For his victory, Christie earned $25,000 cash and a $40,000 519VX Ranger boat. He also earned $4,500 in Ranger Cup and Powered by Yamaha bonuses for a total of $69,500 in winnings.
“It’s and outstanding thing,” said Christie, who finally grabbed if first Stren Series victory. “This is by far my biggest win in my career so far. This was actually a pretty tough day. I only got six keeper bites, I really struggled today. My crankbait bite fizzled out and I went shallow looking for big fish all day.
“I thought I needed around 18 pounds to win and I thought I had lost it today when I lost a solid three pound fish. I thought right then I had lost it but everything worked out. It has been a great year and I’m looking forward to a lot more of these next year.”
Christie opened the tournament in first place Wednesday with five bass weighing 18-06 that he caught on Bomber Fat Free Shad crankbait while fishing offshore structure. On Thursday he added another five bass weighing 18-04 using a crankbait early with a jig and worm later in the afternoon to maintain his lead. He then caught five bass weighing 18-09 Friday to make the crucial top 10 cut in first place.
Rounding out the top five pros are Brian Maloney of Osage Beach, Mo. (20 bass, 64-5, $7,883); Kellogg’s pro Sam Newby of Pocola, Okla. (20 bass, 57-13, $7,095 plus $5,000 Ranger bonus); Roger Fitzpatrick of Eldon, Mo. (20 bass, 57-11, $6,307); and Jimmy Davis Jr. of Willard, Mo. (20 bass, 53-14, $5,518).
Brett Bell of O’Fallon, Mo., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Friday – a 6-pound, 7-ounce largemouth – that earned him the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $237.
Overall there were 46 bass weighing 118 pounds, 04 ounces caught by 10 pros Saturday. The catch included eight five-bass limits.
Tony Spinks of Springfield, Mo., won the Co-angler Division and $5,000 with a four-day total of 14 bass weighing 42-03.
“Today was remarkable,” said Spinks, who made up for his zero on Thursday with a 20 pounds, 8 ounce sack Saturday. “I almost like to think of this as divine intervention. This is unbelievable. I told myself after Thursday if I could just get back on some jig fish, I would be back in this. Today my was partner was fishing the same shallow pattern I wanted and it got me here. It was amazing”
Spinks caught five bass weighing 13-07 Wednesday while fishing with pro Stuart Arthur of Benton, Mo., to open the tournament in first place. He then caught four bass weighing 8-04 Thursday while fishing with pro David Mangelsdorf of Barnhart, Mo., to maintain his lead. On Friday he didn’t add any bass to make the top 10 cut in sixth place while fishing with pro Daniel Porterfield of Clinton, Mo. Finally, on Saturday, he sealed the win with a five-bass catch weighing 20-08 while fishing a jig around shallow docks with pro Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Mo.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Tony Lain of Greentop, Mo (14 bass, 35-03, $3,322); Joe Waggoner of Carthage, Mo. (15 bass, 31-08, $2,077); Tommy Lowery of O’Fallon, Mo. (13 bass, 31-08, $2,077); and Eugene Robinett of Springfield, Mo. (12 bass, 28-00, $1,162).
Lain caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday – a 6-pound, 6-ounce largemouth – that earned him the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $125.
Overall there were 26 bass weighing 69 pounds, 4 ounces caught by 10 co-anglers Saturday. The catch included one five-bass limits.
After four qualifying events are complete in each of the Stren Series’ five divisions, the top 40 pros from each division will advance to the $1 million Stren Series Championship in Mobile, Ala., Nov. 8-11 for a shot at $140,000. 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.
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.
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.