COLUMBUS, Miss. – Pro Yancy Windham of Gordo, Ala., caught a five-bass limit weighing 11 pounds, 8 ounces Friday to capture the lead in the $275,225 Stren Series Central Division tournament presented by Evinrude on the Columbus Pool. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 34-6, he holds a 1-pound, 3-ounce lead over his closest competitor heading into the final day of competition.
“I tried to keep my head up today,” said Windham, who is approaching the $50,000 mark for career earnings with FLW Outdoors. “The weather keeps coming and going and I have to change with it.”
Windham caught his bass limit throwing a Davis spinnerbait and a Norman crankbait.
Rounding out the top five pros are Greg Bohannan of Rogers, Ark. (13 bass, 33-4); Jeff Evans of Benton, Ky. (13 bass, 33-2); Mark Rose of Marion, Ark. (15 bass, 32-7); and Joseph Webster of Fulton, Miss. (15 bass, 32-4).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 28 pounds, 9 ounces in the Pro Division are Gene Brown of West Point, Miss.; Kevin Reynolds of Bentonville, Ark.; Robert Robinson of Mobile, Ala.; Kenneth Sheets of Lake Saint Louis, Mo.; and Shan Schoenrock of Aliceville, Ala.
Tad Ladd of Princeton, Ky., earned $225 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 6-pound, 7-ounce bass.
Overall there were 430 bass weighing 732 pounds, 3 ounces caught by 121 pros Friday. The catch included 42 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, thanks to a three-day total of 12 bass weighing 23-8.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Danny Carter of Hernando, Miss. (11 bass, 22-8); Ron Abbott of Lafayette, Ind. (11 bass, 21-15); Mark Guin of Crossett, Ark. (10 bass, 19-0); and Steven Mcfarland of Mountain Home, Ark. (10 bass, 18-15).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 13 pounds, 9 ounces in the Co-angler Division are Greg Loveday of Columbus, Miss.; Randy Webster of Brilliant, Ala.; Paul Brunson of Mountain Home, Ark.; Darrell Durham of Saint Peters, Mo.; and Ryan Valentine of Jonesboro, Ga.
Brandon Hunter from Benton, Ky., earned $119 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 5-ounce bass.
Overall there were 214 bass weighing 321 pounds, 12 ounces caught by 104 co-anglers Friday. The catch included six 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 Saturday morning from Columbus Marina located at 295 Marina Drive in Columbus. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1913 Hwy. 45 N. in Columbus beginning at 4 p.m. The takeoff and weigh-in 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.