BROWNE LEADS STREN SERIES EVENT ON LAKE OKEECHOBEE
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Jan. 5, 2007) – Berkley pro Glenn Browne of Ocala, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces Friday to maintain his lead in the $275,225 Stren Series Southeast Division tournament presented by Evinrude on Lake Okeechobee. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 45-6, he holds a five ounce lead over his closest competitor heading into the final day of competition.
“It was a little slow today,” said Browne. “I caught a lot of fish; they were just small ones.”
Winds on Lake Okeechobee had different effects on different anglers, and the anglers who adjusted to the wind succeeded.
“When the wind blows, it shifts the water to the windward side,” Browne added. “Today on the south side, the water dropped a foot.”
Browne found good fortune with a Berkley Frenzy crankbait, fishing it in five to six feet of water around rocky banks.
“Saturday I’m going to pretty much stay in the same area and maybe throw a Carolina rig a little bit,” said Browne. “It’s going to take upper 50s to 60 pounds to win. I need a big bite. I’m around a lot of small fish, but I’m pretty confident I can get nine to 10 pounds.”
Browne credited an ABU Garcia Revo spooled with 12-pound-test Berkley Big Game line as the key to landing his big fish.
Rounding out the top five pros are Sam Bass of Section, Ala. (15 bass, 45-2); Scott Browning of Franklin, N.C. (15 bass, 44-8); Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minn. (15 bass, 42-8); and Robert Boyd of Russellville, Ala. (15 bass, 41-13).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 37 pounds, 9 ounces in the pro division are Slim Jim pro Michael Murphy of Gilbert, S.C.; Matthew Parker of Whitesburg, Ga.; Barry Isbell of Trussville, Ala.; Craig Dowling of Many, La.; and Clark Smith, Jr., of Pell City, Ala.
Gary Niemi earned $300 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 9-pound, 13-ounce bass.
Overall in the pro division Friday, the anglers weighed in 746 bass weighing 1,449 pounds and 1 ounce which included 112 limits.
Pros are competing for as much as $65,000, including a 519VX Ranger powered by Evinrude or Yamaha if contingency guidelines are met, and valuable points toward qualifying for the $1 million Stren Series Championship in Mobile, Ala., Nov. 8-11 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 2008 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, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series and TBF (The Bass Federation) for bass fishing’s biggest prize – $1 million.
Ralph Myhlhousen of Orlando, Fla., leads the co-angler division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 519VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met, thanks to a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 33-0.
“This is a new experience for me at the Stren level,” said Ralph Myhlhousen. “It’s a testament to the professionals and how great they are. It’s their fish and they’re letting me play with them. My pro, Timothy Sisk, went above and beyond today. He knew the position I was in and was really great to help me out.”
Myhlhousen spent the first three days of the tournament fishing grass on the main lake, but knows his partner for Saturday, Browne, will be fishing crankbaits on the bank. Myhlhousen said the change in techniques places him at a slight disadvantage for the final day of competition.
“Every day you have to go out and make adjustments,” said Myhlhousen. “You just hope you make the right decision.
“Your confidence is really low because you’re basically starting over and changing baits. In three days of fishing, I caught 90 percent of my fish on one bait – a watermelon fluke in grass. Now I have to change the way I’m thinking.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Aaron Fahnestock of Enterprise, Ala. (12 bass, 29-8); Chuck Webb of Sarasota, Fla. (15 bass, 27-10); Al Reed of Tequesta, Fla. (15 bass, 27-6); and Austin Spurlin of Fayetteville, Ga. (10 bass, 26-15).
Also clearing the top-10 cut weight of 25 pounds, 11 ounces in the co-angler division are Brad Pegram of Henderson, N.C.; John Sisson of Brookeville, Md.; Danielle Kremer of Osteen, Fla.; Brady Nelson of Palmetto, Fla.; and Brantley Peoples of Raleigh, N.C.
Tom Burks earned $150 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 7-pound, 5-ounce bass.
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 2008 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 7:30 Saturday morning from C. Scott Driver Park located at 10100 W. Highway 78 in Okeechobee, Fla. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 2101 South Parrot Ave. in Okeechobee, Fla., 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.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses on nearly $43 million through 238 events in 2007.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.