HENDERSON, N.C. (Sept. 19, 2008) – Pro Michael Iaconelli of Runnemede, N.J., caught a five-bass limit weighing 8 pounds, 14 ounces Friday to widen his lead in the Stren Series Southeast Division tournament on Kerr Lake. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 35-05, he holds a 2-pound, 11-ounce lead over his closest competitor heading into the final day of competition.
Rounding out the top five pros are Dustin Wilks of Rocky Point, N.C. (13 bass, 32-12); David Wright of Lexington, N.C. (14 bass, 30-12); Joshua Wagy of Dewitt, Va. (14 bass, 30-11); and Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa. (15 bass, 30-07).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 29 pounds, 7 ounces in the Pro Division are Robert Vogelsang of Jessup, Md.; Chad Pipkens of Holt, Mich.; Mike Miller of Trinity, N.C.; Steve Roberts of Lynchburg, Va.; and Jacob Powroznik of Prince George, Va.
Miller earned $172 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass.
Overall there were 264 bass weighing 540 pounds, 12 ounces caught by 96 pros Friday. The catch included 20 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.
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Billy Carroll of Fayetteville, N.C., 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 10 bass weighing 23-11.
“Today was really windy,” Carroll said. “Wind gusts today reached around 25 mph and I struggled to keep my plastics in the water.”
Carroll Carolina-rigged for most of the day and changed to a Rat-L-Trap in the afternoon to catch a few fish.
“If I can catch five fish tomorrow I think that I will have a good shot a winning,” Carroll said.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Mike McDonald of Randleman, N.C. (13 bass, 23-08); Moo Bae of West Friendship, Md. (nine bass, 21-11); Jerry Hayden of Charlotte, N.C. (11 bass, 20-10); and Chris Sims of Virginia Beach, Va. (12 bass, 20-09).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 17 pounds, 1 ounce in the Co-angler Division are Matthew Jennings of Suffolk, Va.; Adam Straub of Pittsburgh, Pa.; William Dorton of Church Road, Va.; Tony Dorman of Springville, Pa.; and Justin White of Slippery Rock Pa.
Ryan Bowman of Seneca, S.C., earned $101 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 4-pound, 8-ounce bass.
Overall there were 128 bass weighing 263 pounds, 10 ounces caught by 96 co-anglers Friday. The catch included one 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 Saturday morning at 7 from Satterwhite Point Recreation Area located at 6470 Satterwhite Point Road in Henderson. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 200 N. Cooper Road in Henderson, 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. 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.