REDDING, Calif. – Chris Laskowski of Anderson, Calif., caught a five-bass limit weighing 7 pounds, 10 ounces Friday to widen his lead in the Stren Series Western Division tournament presented by Evinrude on Lake Shasta. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 38-10, he holds an 6-pound, 14-ounce lead over his closest competitor heading into the final day of competition.
“Every day I’ve been doing the same thing, fishing the same areas.” Laskowski said. “When it was raining, I was doing much better. When the sun came out today the bite wasn’t as good, but there has been a great afternoon bite.”
Laskowski caught his limit fishing slow with worms.
“I fish about 25 spots a day and stay in the spots anywhere from two minutes to an hour. If they’re not there on the first couple casts, I leave,” Laskowski said. “I’m going to try to catch 9-10 pounds tomorrow to win.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Robert Lee of Angels Camp, Calif. (15 bass, 31-12); Bill Townsend of Redding, Calif. (15 bass, 31-02); Jim Riley of Shasta Lake, Calif. (15 bass, 30-14); and Bret Gouvea of Redding, Calif. (15 bass, 30-06).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 27 pounds, 2 ounces in the Pro Division are John Maes of Roseville, Calif.; David Rush of Palermo, Calif.; Stephen Leatz of San Bernardino, Calif.; Dewayne Bonham of Brentwood, Calif.; and Denny Goldston of Gardnerville, Nev.
Riley earned $243 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass.
Overall there were 634 bass weighing 917 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 150 pros Friday. The catch included 109 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for as much as $65,000, including a 198VX Ranger powered by Evinrude or Yamaha if contingency guidelines are met, and valuable points toward qualifying for the $1 million Stren Series Championship in Branson, Mo., Nov. 5-8 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 2009 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® and TBF (The Bass Federation) for bass fishing’s biggest prize – $1 million.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® will be awarding the largest fantasy sports payout in history. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Players Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Players Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Players Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
Craig Kraft of Cottonwood, Calif., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 198VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met, thanks to a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 25-12.
“I’m pretty confident going into tomorrow.” Kraft said. “I think I will need at least 8 pounds to win. Tomorrow I’m partnered with Laskowski and he has a lot of good areas. I’ve been catching my fish slow on a Senko and that’s my game plan for tomorrow.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Brody Bramlett of Finley, Calif. (15 bass, 24-04); Matt Beller of Anderson, Calif. (nine bass, 23-10); Aaron Agner of Anderson, Calif. (15 bass, 23-10); and Michael Wright of Grass Valley, Calif. (15 bass, 23-10).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 22 pounds, 10 ounces in the Co-angler Division are Scott Burke of Oakdale, Calif.; Joseph Obrien of Spanish Springs, Nev.; Kyle Clement of Anderson, Calif.; Tony Zanotelli of Redding, Calif.; and Mike Krnaich of Petaluma, Calif.
Bramlett earned $128 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 4-pound, 3-ounce bass.
Overall there were 569 bass weighing 744 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 150 co-anglers Friday. 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 2009 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 7:30 Saturday morning from Bridge Bay Resort located at 10300 Bridge Bay Road in Redding. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the marina, beginning at 3 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.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, all (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Players Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.