Wellman and Carman lead Stren Series event on Kentucky Lake

B.J. Nelson of Louisa, Ky., leads the Co-angler Division

BENTON, Ky. – Tied for first place in the Stren Series Central Division tournament on Kentucky Lake are pros Nate Wellman of Jenison, Mich., and Jeff Carman of Liberty, Ky. Wellman caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 11 ounces Friday to maintain a share of the lead, while Carman moved into a tie atop the leaderboard after catching five bass weighing 18 pounds, 7 ounces on the third day of competition. With three-day catches of 15 bass weighing 50-10, the pros hold a 1-pound, 14-ounce lead over their closest competitor heading into the final day of competition.

Wellman plans to stay on Kentucky Lake for the final day of the competition. “Today was a tough day; I broke one off and had one jump off, but I still feel pretty good about tomorrow,” said Wellman, who has won over $97,000 in FLW Outdoors events since 2001. “If I can get the bites in the boat, it should get really interesting. I have serious potential for bringing in a huge bag of fish.”

A wave of strong storms moved in while Wellman was making the 20-mile run back to the marina, creating low visibility.

“I was 1.3 miles from the 68 bridge and couldn’t see it until I was half a mile away,” Wellman said. “The only reason I knew it was there was because of my GPS. I have to tip my hat to Lowrance; I wouldn’t have gotten back without it.”

If weather permits on Saturday, Carman plans to make the 50-mile run to Lake Barkley to catch his bass.

“I was fishing really shallow,” said Carman, who has already had nine top-10 finishes in Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League and Stren Series tournaments. “I have been running about 50 miles to fish in Barkley, but today I stayed close and fished within 5 miles of Moors.”

Rounding out the top five pros are Ramie Colson Jr. of Cadiz, Ky. (15 bass, 48-12); Troy Eakins of Nixa, Mo. (15 bass, 47-11) and Bobby McMullin of Pevely, Mo. (15 bass, 47-07).

Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 45 pounds, 5 ounces in the Pro Division are Dick Shaffer of Rockford, Ohio; Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla.; Mark Rose of Marion, Ark.; David Young of Mayfield, Ky.; and Michael Wooley of Collierville, Tenn.

Zack Bull of Lakeland, Tenn., earned $295 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 6-pound, 3-ounce bass.

Overall there were 654 bass weighing 1,789 pounds, 9 ounces caught by 199 pros Friday. The catch included 83 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 Wal-Mart 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.

B.J. Nelson of Louisa, Ky., 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 14 bass weighing 38-05.

“I’ve been doing the same thing all week-fishing shallow,” Nelson said. “With all the pros I’ve had, the farthest we’ve run has been 5 miles.”

Nelson bagged four keepers, but couldn’t manage to pull in a fifth.

“I had the fifth one on three different times, but couldn’t get it in the boat,” Nelson said.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Mitch Greenwood of Russellville, Ky. (12 bass, 31-00); Lawrence Bean of Union, Mo. (11 bass, 28-04); Tim Cummings of Waynesboro, Tenn. (10 bass, 28-01); and Lonnie Seawood of Hamtramck, Mich. (10 bass, 28-00).

Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 26 pounds, 7 ounces in the Co-angler Division are Clint Williams of Fayetteville, Ark.; Tim Rhoades of Leitchfield, Ky.; Joey Rogers of Mayfield, Ky.; Arnold Payne Jr. of Cuba, Mo.; and Justin Russell of El Dorado, Kan.

Williams earned $148 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 6-pound, 7-ounce bass he caught on a spinnerbait.

Overall there were 319 bass weighing 822 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 199 co-anglers Friday. The catch included 9 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 6:30 Saturday morning from Moors Resort & Marina located at 570 Moors Road in Gilbertsville, Ky. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 310 West Main St. in Benton, Ky., beginning at 4 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, call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.