LAKE HAVASU, Ariz. – Pro Justin Kerr of Simi Valley, Calif., caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds Friday to net the overall lead in the Stren Series Western Division tournament on Lake Havasu. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 41-13, he holds a 1-pound, 14-ounce lead over his closest competitor heading into the final day of competition.
Kerr overcame his day-three curse to retain his lead by fishing the spots where he got his big bag yesterday. He may use that strategy tomorrow, but his plan is contingent on the weather.
“If it blows, it’s not good for some of my spots because of how I fish. Hopefully, the good Lord’s on my side and I can catch a big stringer tomorrow,” he said.
“It rained all day, so it kind of jacked my bite up a little bit. That’s why I stayed in the river today, instead of fishing on the lake. We’ll see what happens tomorrow and hope the weather’s a little bit nicer,” Kerr said. “It may be post-front, so it’s going to be a little difficult. There’s a lot of good fishermen who are right there, too.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Terrence Rath of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. (15 bass, 39-15); Mike Phua of Chino, Calif. (15 bass, 38-15); Rick Francis of Cibola, Ariz. (15 bass, 38-00); and Mike Goodwin of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. (13 bass, 35-15).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 34 pounds, 13 ounces in the Pro Division are Michael Rooke of Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; Gary Key of Phoenix, Ariz.; Robert Lee of Angels Camp, Calif.; Tim Wilsterman of Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; and Mike Folkestad of Yorba Linda, Calif.
Steve Klein of Oroville, Calif. earned $250 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 4-pound, 14-ounce bass.
Overall there were 383 bass weighing 871 pounds, 2 ounces caught by 155 pros Friday. The catch included 36 five-bass limits.
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.
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Tony Zanotelli of Redding, 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, thanks to a three-day total of 10 bass weighing 23-07.
Zanotelli caught his first fish on a crankbait, his second on a jig and the rest on a drop-shot, fishing close to the shore, 8-15 feet deep. He had a tough day with only six or seven bites all day.
“Luckily, I got five in the boat,” he said, crediting his pro for his success today. “Dave Rush was definitely a big part of why I’m where I’m at. The weather was bad; the waves were huge; waves were crashing over the bow. He basically just stood on the trolling motor and helped me out. We tried to go somewhere to get out of the weather, but the fish weren’t there, so he stayed there for me pretty much,” he said.
Zanotelli is looking forward to fishing with Kerr tomorrow. “It’s going to be exciting to watch him in action, and will be a nice learning experience for me, I’m sure,” he said. “It’s exciting. Definitely, just to be in the top 10 is a blessing, and I thank God for it.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Bob Diehl of Yucca Valley, Calif. (12 bass, 22-09); John Weisfuss of Oxnard, Calif. (13 bass, 22-04); Joseph Obrien of Spanish Springs, Nev. (nine bass, 21-10); and Lester Albury of San Marcos, Calif. (eight bass, 19-15).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 17 pounds, 15 ounces in the Co-angler Division are Bruce McCune of Anderson, Calif.; J.R. Wright of Truckee, Calif.; Ted Romero of Lakewood, Calif.; Sean Kimble of San Leandro, Calif.; and Clint Anderson of Apple Valley, Calif.
Albury earned $131 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 8-ounce bass.
Overall there were 187 bass weighing 382 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 155 co-anglers Friday. The catch included 3 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 2009 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 7 Saturday morning from Lake Havasu State Park/Windsor Beach located at 699 London Bridge Road in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1795 Kiowa Blvd. in Lake Havasu, Ariz., 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.
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, $7.3 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.