COLUMBUS, Miss. – Pro Kenneth Sheets of Lake Saint Louis, Mo., caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 14 ounces Wednesday to lead the opening day of the $275,225 Stren Series Central Division tournament presented by Evinrude on the Columbus Pool.
“Today was a great day to fish,” said Sheets, who has been fishing with FLW Outdoors since 1999. “I’m really excited to be where I am today. I think I have enough fish in the area I am fishing to keep me in this. The key is to fish slow and be patient.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Mark Rose of Marion, Ark. (5 bass, 15-3); Gene Brown of West Point, Miss. (5 bass, 12-5); Yancy Windham of Gordo, Ark. (5 bass, 12-0); and Rick Lisek of Springfield, Mo. (5 bass, 11-14).
Sheets earned $225 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 6-pound bass.
Overall, there were 479 bass weighing 782 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 131 pros Wednesday. The catch included 51 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.
Bill Bowen of Caledonia, Miss., 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 a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 13 ounces.
“Today I had a real slow start,” Bowen said. “It was tough to find fish due to extremely hot weather.”
Bowen caught his bass throwing crankbaits and spinnerbaits in shallow water.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ron Abbott of Lafayette, Ind. (5 bass, 12-8); Danny Carter of Hernando, Miss. (5 bass, 11-9); Buff Doty of Columbus, Miss. (5 bass, 8-1); and Phil Burnett of Savannah, Tenn. (4 bass, 7-15).
Bowen earned $119 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 7-pound, 7-ounce bass.
Overall, there were 237 bass weighing 351 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 104 co-anglers Wednesday. The catch included 8 five-bass limits.
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 6 each morning from Columbus Marina, located at 295 Marina Drive in Columbus. 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 1913 Hwy. 45 N. in Columbus 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 top 10 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 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, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.