TRENTON, Mich. – Pro Joe Balog of Harrison Township, Mich., caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 7 ounces Wednesday to lead opening day of the $275,225 Stren Series Northern Division tournament presented by Yamaha on the Detroit River.
“Fishing was difficult today on Lake Erie,” said Balog, who has amassed more than $177,000 in career earnings with FLW Outdoors. “I am a Lake Erie fisherman. I live and die deep structure fishing this time of year. The fish are set up on isolated small structures in this lake. The last week or so the fishing has been very difficult on Lake Erie. I can’t say that I went to an area and found a lot of fish. The bite was very slow but when you did catch the fish they were quality fish. You know the day you catch fish on Lake Erie it’s going to be an excellent day.
“The lake was fairly calm today. The only factor was a tremendous current coming from the east combined with winds from the west. That makes it tough to get your bait where it needs to be.
“Anything could happen. You are either a hero or zero on Lake Erie and it is hard to be a hero four days in a row,” Balog said.
Rounding out the top five pros are AC Campbell of Mineral Springs, Pa. (five bass, 21-02); Chip Harrison of Bremen, Ind. (five bass, 21-00); Kevin Vida of Clare, Mich. (five bass, 20-12); and Brian Hensley of Edwardsburg, Mich. (five bass, 20-11).
Todd Steele of Port Huron, Mich., earned $285 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass.
Overall there were 721 bass weighing 2,181 pounds, 11 ounces caught by 177 pros Wednesday. The catch included 109 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.
Robert Sweeney of Baltimore, Md., 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 21-6 while fishing with pro David Hasty of Toledo, Ohio, who is currently in 24th place.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Mike Rice of Norton, Ohio (five bass, 20-11); Brad Baldwin of Dayton, Ohio (five bass, 20-06); Matt Greenblatt of Oldsmar, Fla. (five bass, 20-03); and Robert Case of Point, Texas (five bass, 19-11).
Monica Knight of Quitman, Miss., earned $144 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 15-ounce bass.
Overall there were 609 bass weighing 1,755 pounds, 6 ounces caught by 163 co-anglers Wednesday. The catch included 82 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 6:30 each morning from Elizabeth Park Marina located at 202 Grosse Isle Parkway in Trenton, Mich. 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 23800 Allen Rd. in Woodhaven, Mich., 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.