JASPER, Texas – Pro Tommy Dickerson of Orange, Texas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 6 ounces Wednesday to lead opening day of the Stren Series Texas Division tournament presented by Yamaha on Sam Rayburn Reservoir.
“It’s a tough bite out there,” said Dickerson, who won the Stren Series Central Division Lake Texoma event in 2006. “I practiced for five days and my biggest fish was 4 pounds. I have not been getting the big bites until today. I started the tournament with 35 GPS spots that I found in practice, where I could catch keepers.
“I went to the first spot this morning and only caught one fish. It’s not like I am on a bunch of fish,” he said. “I catch a couple at each spot and move on. Today, I caught a total of 15 keepers. I’m getting the bigger bites now because of the water level. This is the first time the water has been this low in 6 or 7 years. It’s really changing things.”
Dickerson caught his limit on a Rat-L-Trap.
“I’m doing what everyone else is doing that is from here,” he added. “With grass and the water being cold, 95 percent of the tournaments won here between January and February are caught on Rat-L-Trap’s.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Gary Vining of Morgan City, La. (five bass, 23-3); Brandon Crouch of Buna, Texas (five bass, 22-8); Bradley Stringer of Huntington, Texas (five bass, 21-3); and Russell Cecil of Willis, Texas (five bass, 20-11).
Mickey Horn of Prosper, Texas, earned $268 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 10-pound bass.
Overall there were 777 bass weighing 1,956 pounds, 7 ounces caught by 173 pros Wednesday. The catch included 136 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 offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every FLW Tour stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s 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 Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
Neil Ward Jr. of Brookland, Texas, leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 198VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. He caught five bass weighing 20-08 while fishing with pro David Gregg of Haslet, Texas, who is currently in 96th place.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jonathan Simon of Orange, Texas (five bass, 18-12); Jared Dean of Lufkin, Texas (four bass, 16-15); Ryan O’Neal of Woodville, Texas (five bass, 16-13); and Allan Shivers of Vidor, Texas (five bass, 16-9).
Dean earned $138 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 8-pound, 12-ounce bass.
Overall there were 625 bass weighing 1,467 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 173 co-anglers Wednesday. The catch included 80 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 each morning from Umphrey Family Pavilion located at 5438 RR 255 W. in Sam Rayburn, Texas. Thursday and 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 800 W. Gibson St. in Jasper, 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.
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, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.