COLUMBUS, Miss. – Pro Greg Bohannan of Rogers, Ark., caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 15 ounces Thursday to capture the lead in the $275,225 Stren Series Central Division tournament presented by Evinrude on the Columbus Pool. With a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 28-12, he now holds a 3-pound, 9-ounce lead over second place pro Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., who managed to haul in a total of 10 bass weighing 25-4 during the first two days of competition.
“I had a great day,” said Bohannan, who has amassed over $65,000 in career earnings with FLW Outdoors. “Today I made a run to where I was fishing yesterday and only caught one fish. I found a new area after an hour and found my limit for the day.”
Bohannan said he caught his bass throwing a War Eagle buzzbait. “Tomorrow I will go back to the same area I found today but it really depends on the weather,” he said. “It is extremely hot here.”
The weather forecast for Friday calls for isolated thunderstorms with a high of 93 degrees.
Rounding out the top five pros are Yancy Windham of Gordo, Ala. (10 bass, 22-14); Gene Brown of West Point, Miss. (10 bass, 22-12); and Jeff Evans of Benton, Ky. (eight bass, 22-2).
Bohannan earned $225 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 7-pound, 10-ounce bass.
Overall there were 453 bass weighing 758 pounds, 9 ounces caught by 126 pros Thursday. The catch included 52 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.
Ron Abbott of Lafayette, Ind., 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 five bass weighing 12-8 while fishing with pro Mike Ellenstein of Newburgh, Ind., Wednesday and five bass weighing 7-10 while fishing with pro Webb Collums of Jackson, Miss., Thursday for a total of 10 bass weighing 20-2.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Bill Bowen of Caledonia, Miss. (nine bass, 19-9); Mark Guin of Crossett, Ark. (nine bass, 17-13); Danny Carter of Hernando, Miss. (seven bass, 14-13); and Lance Jackson of Starkville, Miss. (six bass, 11-13).
Denver Henderson of Madison, Tenn., earned $119 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 4-pound, 1-ounce bass.
Overall there were 241 bass weighing 371 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 111 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 5 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. 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 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.