KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Pro Jared Stone of Lakeport, Calif., caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to win the $275,225 Stren Series Western Division tournament on Clear Lake with a four-day total of 20 bass weighing 99-14. For his victory, Stone earned $25,000 cash.
“It’s hard to put into words what it is I’m feeling right now,” said Stone, who signed up for the Clear Lake tournament just two days before competition started. “This is the biggest thing to ever happen to me in my life.
“I had been on good fish for the three weeks leading up to the tournament, and I knew this was the biggest tournament that was coming to Clear Lake, so I decided to ask off of work and give it a shot,” Stone added.
A Clear Lake regular, Stone relied on a swimbait as his bait of choice, but knew he had to change tactics on the last day of competition as the bite got tougher.
“I pretty much came into the tournament with the intention of throwing a swimbait, and I threw it from blastoff to weigh-in,” Stone said. “I knew that’s how I would catch the better fish.
“But I was getting fewer and fewer fish every day,” Stone added. “The fish I was catching on the swimbait were staging fish. I threw the swimbait for four hours and only had one fish in the boat by 10 a.m. So I went to a 6-inch Roboworm and targeted deeper spawning beds. After I caught my limit, I went back to the swimbait for quality fish.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Michael Tuck of Antelope, Calif. (20 bass, 99-10, $9,481 plus $5,000 Ranger bonus); Jim Davis of San Jose, Calif. (20 bass, 94-14, $8,534 plus $5,000 Ranger bonus); Wayne Breazeale of Kelseyville, Calif. (20 bass, 94-0, $7,585); and Jason Borofka of Salinas, Calif. (20 bass, 93-4, $6,637).
Don Connole of Helena, Mont., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Friday – a 10-pound, 10-ounce largemouth – that earned him the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $285.
Michael Tuck also earned Ranger Cup and Powered by Yamaha bonuses of $2,250 as the highest finishing participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program.
Overall there were 50 bass weighing 235 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 10 pros Saturday. The catch included 10 five-bass limits.
Kyle Clement of Anderson, Calif., won the Co-angler Division and $5,000 with a four-day total of 20 bass weighing 80-15.
“I didn’t get bit all morning on a swimbait, so I picked up a frog and caught two fish pretty quickly,” said Clement, who plans to fish as a co-angler in Stren Series events for another year before moving to the pro side and then fishing FLW Series events as a co-angler. “I tried a drop-shot rig and ended up catching all five of my weigh-in fish on the beds.
“The feeling I have after winning this event is unbelievable,” Clement added. “You’re so nervous one minute, and the next thing you know it’s all excitement.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Steve Ericksen of San Jose, Calif. (20 bass, 76-4, $3,836); Gary Haraguchi of Brentwood, Calif. (20 bass, 76-1, $3,117; Andy Scholz of Reno, Nev. (20 bass, 74-1, $2,398); and Roy Desmangles of Lincoln, Calif. (20 bass, 72-2, $1,919).
Zachary Holwerda of Cave Creek, Ariz., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday – a 13-pound, 1-ounce largemouth – that earned him the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $144.
Overall there were 50 bass weighing 177 pounds, 0 ounces caught by 10 co-anglers Saturday. The catch included 10 five-bass limits.
The next Stren Series Western Division event, hosted by Yamaha, will be held May 16-19 on the California Delta in Oakley, Calif. Boats will launch from Russo’s Marine in Bethel Island, Calif., and the final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart located at 4893 Lone Tree Way in Antioch, Calif.
After four qualifying events are complete in each of the Stren Series’ five divisions, the top 40 pros from each division will advance to the $1 million Stren Series Championship in Mobile, Ala., Nov. 8-11 for a shot at $140,000. 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.
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.
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 241 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 Walmart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.