REDDING, Calif. – Pro Michael Tuck of Antelope, Calif., caught a five-bass limit weighing 12 pounds, 6 ounces Friday to capture the lead in the $275,225 Stren Series Western Division tournament on Lake Shasta. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 35-5, he holds a 14-ounce lead over his closest competitor heading into the final day of competition.
“Sitting in first place going into the final day of competition is always better than sitting in second place,” said Tuck, who is just in his sophomore season in the Stren Series and has already qualified for one championship, has one top-10 finish and amassed nearly $20,000 in tournament winnings. “We still have one more day of competition left. I need to fish well again tomorrow. The fish I’m following are moving everyday. I spend most of my mornings trying different structure and baits to see what the fish are relating to that day. Once I figure that out, I follow them the rest of the day. ”
Tuck is fishing a combination of swimming jigs in shallower water and finesse tackle around deeper structure.
“Tomorrow I’m going to do what I did today. It is just a matter of getting the right bites,” he said.
Rounding out the top five pros are Cody Meyer of Grass Valley, Calif. (15 bass, 34-8); Gene Gray of Atascadero, Calif. (15 bass, 33-11); Jim Davis of San Jose, Calif. (15 bass, 33-1); and Mike Menne of Redding, Calif. (15 bass, 32-15).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 31 pounds, 8 ounces in the Pro Division are Bill McLaughlin of Redding, Calif.; Phil Strader of Glide, Ore.; Gary Dobyns of Yuba City, Calif.; Gary Howell of Stockton, Calif.; and Robert Lee of Angels Camp, Calif.
Greg Hatleberg earned $250 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 4-pound, 8-ounce bass.
Overall there were 753 bass weighing 1,302-pounds, 9-ounces caught by 155 pros Friday. The catch included 146 five-bass 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.
Jason Milligan of Anderson, Calif., 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 30-10.
“It feels pretty good to have the lead going into the final day,” said Milligan, who is fishing in his very first Stren Series event. “The fishing slowed down some today. I’m just trying to stay consistent. Hopefully if I find the right bites tomorrow, I will stay in first place.”
Milligan is slowly fishing finesse gear around deep, rocky points to catch his bass.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Charles Keller of Redding, Calif. (15 bass, 29-14); Scott Burke of Oakdale, Calif. (15 bass, 28-12); and Charles Bean of Brentwood, Calif., and Michael Peterson of Redding, Calif., are tied for fifth place (15 bass, 28-8).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 28 pounds, 2 ounces in the Co-angler Division are Roy Desmangles Jr. of Lincoln, Calif.; Stacy Gee of Sacramento, Calif.; Willie Cummings of Tucson, Ariz.; Vaughn Hansen of Saint George, Utah; and Gary Haraguchi of Brentwood, Calif.
Don Shimatsu of Forestville, Calif., earned $131 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 4-pound, 4-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 Bridge Bay Resort located at 10300 Bridge Bay Road in Redding, Calif. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1515 Dana Drive in Redding, Calif., 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.