BULL SHOALS, Ark. – Pro Randall Hutson of Washburn, Mo., caught a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces despite a tough bite Wednesday to lead opening day of the $275,225 Stren Series Central Division tournament presented by Yamaha on Bull Shoals. Only 18 limits were brought to the weigh-in stage – all by pro anglers.
Rounding out the top five pros are Brent Maurer of Ledbetter, Ky. (five bass, 13-2); David Cochran of Royal, Ark. (five bass, 12-14); Stu Moyer of Indianapolis, Ind. (five bass, 12-10) and Tim Fleetwood of Forsythe, Mo. (five bass, 12-4).
Cochran earned $250 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass he caught.
Overall there were 249 bass weighing 526 pounds, 9 ounces caught by pros Wednesday.
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.
Ed Shay of Chesterfield, Mo., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 519VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. He caught four bass weighing 10-2 while fishing with pro Maurer, who is currently in second place.
“I feel very blessed to have had the number of bites I did have,” said Shay, who capitalized on the four bites he had by boating four fish. “My two bites I had during two days of practice were on a jerkbait, so I started with that. At 9:30 I had my first keeper bite, and by 11 I had my second keeper.”
Shay caught his fish on a Smithwick Rogue fishing upriver about a 40-minute boat ride from the take-off site.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Steven McFarland of Mountain Home, Ark. (four bass, 10-2); Barney Moore of Johnston City, Ill. (three bass, 6-4); Shane Williams of Fordland, Mo. (three bass, 5-5); and Kevin McKnight of Versailles, Mo. (one bass, 4-13).
McKnight earned $131 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 4-pound, 13-ounce bass he caught.
Overall there were 69 bass weighing 144 pounds, 15 ounces caught by co-anglers Wednesday. No limits were caught by co-anglers.
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 each morning from Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock located at Eastwold Cove in Bull Shoals, Ark. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 168 Walmart Drive in Flippin, Ark., 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.
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.