Wet finale on the Hudson
Gluszek closing in on second Stren victory
CATSKILL, N.Y. – It was rainy, dark and chilly when the top 10 pro and co-angler finalists took off onto the Hudson River for the final round of Stren Series Northern Division competition Saturday morning, but the future looks bright for Pete Gluszek.
Anchored by his stellar 16-pound stringer Thursday, the top pro extended his lead Friday to more than 8 pounds over second-place Sparky Petersen. Judging by the stingy bite experienced by the anglers so far this week, that gap looks almost impossible to overcome.
Almost. Three pros, including Gluszek and Petersen, managed to catch more than 8 pounds yesterday, and several double-digit bags have, indeed, crossed the scale this week. So, if Gluszek somehow fails to catch a keeper Saturday, it’s conceivable that Petersen or even local favorites Bill Alexander or Tom Lavictoire could catch him if one of them lands a huge sack today.
Still, Gluszek’s firmly in the driver’s seat. A win today would give him his second Stren Series victory; he last won at Lake Champlain in 2006.
Bottom line
Both the pro and co-angler winners will be determined Saturday by four-day combined weight.
The pros are fishing for a top award of $25,000 plus a $40,000 519VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and EverStart batteries if contingency guidelines are met. Ranger will award another $3,000 to the winner if he or she is a participant in the Ranger Cup program. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $1,500 to the highest-finishing participant in the contingency program. Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup earnings if “Powered by Yamaha” guidelines are met.
Co-anglers are competing for a top award of $5,000 plus a $30,000 Ranger boat and trailer if contingency guidelines are met.
Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 265 W. Bridge St. in Catskill beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern time.
On the Web
For those unable to catch the weigh-in action in person, FLWOutdoors.com offers FLW Live, an online application that brings fans real-time weigh-in results, streaming video and audio.