Stren Texas anglers set to sack ’em
Sam Rayburn Reservoir event kicks off Wednesday in wake of heavyweight weekend tourney
JASPER, Texas – Prefishing for stop No. 2 on the 2008 Stren Series Texas Division schedule has been better than expected, according to some of the anglers in the 173-boat field. Add to that favorably changing conditions and reports of serious stringers caught just days ago in a weekend team tourney – 23 over 20 pounds, including two that broke the 30-pound mark – and you have all the telltale signs of an impending heavyweight slugfest at Sam Rayburn Reservoir.
Morning reports
Though Longview, Texas, pro Jim Tutt said his prefishing “has been kind of tough,” he was still on the verge Wednesday morning of revising his predictions from last month about it taking 14 pounds a day to make the top-10 cut on day three. He said results from the weekend tourney, coupled with dock talk from some of his Stren Series peers, could add up “to some really huge sacks being weighed in,” and he hopes to be one of the anglers struggling to lug such a catch across the stage this week.
“I’m fishing here to win … because I typically do pretty well down here,” Tutt said of the perennial Sam Rayburn stops. He has a half-dozen FLW Outdoors top-10 finishes on the eastern Texas fishery, including a Stren Series win in 2002, and he’s come close to making the cut almost every time he fishes here.
“I’m fishing a prespawn pattern … I’m not going to get locked into one thing,” he said. “Slow down – that’s always the main thing … and find grass. That’s key.”
Tutt said Sam Rayburn bass “are real close to spawning” now, that he’s been finding them at depths of 7 feet or less, and that they’ll likely come on a variety of baits – from Rat-L-Traps to Carolina rigs to Senkos.
Pro Tom Redington of Lake Fork, Texas, who placed 19th at the Texas Division opener on Falcon Lake, also said the reservoir’s population of bass is moving into creek channels and drainage offshoots, readying for the spawn. He said he’s targeting fish in 3 to 8 feet of water.
“We had a pretty big rain over the weekend, bringing the lake up a foot, followed by a cold front,” said Redington, who’s been here prefishing for five days. “That muddied it up a bit, but we’ve had some bright, sunny days since then; I think the fishing will be pretty good.”
Redington said he plans to “cover a lot of water with moving baits,” like Rat-L-Traps and spinnerbaits, and switch to plastic baits like the Lake Fork Tackle Live Magic Shad when he finds a school. He predicts it will take 17 to 18 pounds a day to make the cut and upwards of 70 pounds to reel in the win on the pro side.
Tournament logistics
Pros will fish for a top award of $25,000 plus a $40,000 198VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor and Lowrance electronics if contingency guidelines are met. Ranger will award another $3,000 to the winner if he or she is a participant in the Ranger Cup program. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $1,500 to the highest-finishing participant in the contingency program. Yamaha or Evinrude will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup earnings if “Powered by Yamaha” or “Powered by E-Tec” guidelines are met.
Co-anglers will cast for a top award of $5,000 plus a $30,000 Ranger boat and trailer if contingency guidelines are met.
Competitors will also be vying for valuable points that could earn them a trip to the $1 million Stren Series Championship on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Mo., Nov. 5-8 for a shot at $140,000 in the Pro Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. After four qualifying events are complete in each Stren Series division – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western – the top 40 pros and 40 co-anglers based on Angler of the Year points standings from each division will advance to the championship.
In Stren Series competition, pros supply the boats, fish from the front deck against other pros and control boat movement. Co-anglers fish from the back deck and compete against other co-anglers. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points that determine angler standings. Two hundred points are awarded to the winner, 199 points for second, 198 points for third, and so on. The full field competes on days one, two and three, with the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers advancing to day four based on their three-day accumulated weight. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
Event information
Anglers will take off from Umphrey Family Pavilion located at 5438 RR 255 W. in Sam Rayburn, Texas, at 7 each morning. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins also 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.
The Sam Rayburn Reservoir Stren Series tournament is hosted by the City of Jasper.
On the Web
For bass-fishing fans unable to attend the festivities in person, you can catch all the weigh-in action live at FLWOutdoors.com with FLW Live. Show time starts at 3 p.m. Central today.
Wednesday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:52 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 50 degrees
Expected high temperature: 66 degrees
Water temperature at the ramp: 55 to 58 degrees
Wind: calm
Maximum humidity: 87 percent
Day’s outlook: mostly cloudy with chance of afternoon rain showers and ESE winds up to 6 mph