REDDING, Calif. – Pro Chris Laskowski of Anderson, Calif., caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds Thursday to retain his lead in the Stren Series Western Division tournament presented by Evinrude on Lake Shasta. With a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 31-00, he now holds an 6-pound, 12-ounce lead over second place pro Bill Townsend of Redding, Calif., who managed to haul in a total of 10 bass weighing 24-04 during the first two days of competition.
Rounding out the top five pros are Robert Lee of Angels Camp, Calif. (10 bass, 23-06); Rob Dearmond of Redding, Calif. (10 bass, 20-11); and Steve Klein of Oroville, Calif. (10 bass, 19-01).
Lee earned $243 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass.
Pros are competing for as much as $65,000, including a 198VX Ranger powered by Evinrude or Yamaha if contingency guidelines are met, and valuable points toward qualifying for the $1 million Stren Series Championship in Branson, Mo., Nov. 5-8 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 2009 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® and TBF (The Bass Federation) for bass fishing’s biggest prize – $1 million.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™ (www.FantasyFishing.com), FLW Outdoors® will be awarding the largest fantasy sports payout in history. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Players Advantage and having exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Players Advantage even offers the chance for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Players Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
Matt Beller of Anderson, Calif., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 198VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. He caught three bass weighing 4-10 while fishing with pro Wayne Breazeale of Kelseyville, Calif., Wednesday and five bass weighing 17-08 while fishing with pro Bill Bishop of Lakeside, Ariz., Thursday for a total of eight bass weighing 22-02.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Craig Kraft of Cottonwood, Calif. (10 bass, 17-12); Joseph Obrien of Spanish Springs, Nev. (10 bass, 17-02); Scott Burke of Oakdale, Calif. (10 bass, 16-03); and Dan Billeci of Cottonwood, Calif. (10 bass, 15-15).
Beller earned $128 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 6-pound, 5-ounce bass.
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 2009 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 7:30 each morning from Bridge Bay Resort located at 10300 Bridge Bay Road in Redding. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 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.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $1.7 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Players Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com