Stren Series to stop at Lake Mead

Western Division event starts Wednesday

HENDERSON, Nev. – The $6.5 million Stren Series is headed to Lake Mead Feb. 21-24 for a $275,225 bass tournament presented by Evinrude. As many as 400 pros and co-anglers from 13 states will be competing in the Western Division tournament for top awards of $65,000 and $35,000, respectively.

Many pros have already scouted Lake Mead, and they expect to see many sacks of good fish cross the weigh-in stage come tournament time.

“Lake Mead is a tough lake to be consistent on, but if a guy can average eight to nine pounds over the four days of the tournament, it will put him right in the middle of things,” said pro Allen Maynard of Henderson, Nev., who regularly fishes Lake Mead. “In a recent one-day tournament here, a lot of anglers weighed eight-pound bags, but there were a few 14-pound sacks.

“I think 24 pounds will make the cut, and it could take 34 to 36 pounds to win it,” Maynard added.

Maynard said the fish can be found now in 30 to 40 feet of water, but he expects warmer weather before tournament time will move the fish out of the depths.

“The weather’s warmed the water a few degrees over the past few weeks,” Maynard said. “February and March is traditionally a windy time for us out here. Wind is a good thing – it produces reaction strikes.”

Anglers will take off from Callville Bay-Forever Resorts located in Las Vegas at 6:30 each morning. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 300 E. Lake Mead Dr. in Henderson beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

The Lake Mead Stren Series tournament is hosted by Evinrude.

Pros will fish for a top award of $25,000 plus a $40,000 519VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and EverStart batteries 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 will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup earnings if “Powered by Yamaha” 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 the Mobile Delta in Mobile, Ala., Nov. 8-11 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. The top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers from each division will also qualify for the 2008 Wal-Mart FLW Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Series, bass fishing’s top professional circuits, where they can compete for a share of $17.5 million. The highest-finishing pro and co-angler from each division at the Stren Series Championship will also qualify for the $2 million 2008 Forrest Wood Cup, where pros will fish for as much as $1 million – the most lucrative award in bass fishing.

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.

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 of 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, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.

Awards are based on a 200-boat field.