Curtis leads Stren Series event on Lake Texoma

DENISON, Texas – Pro David Curtis of Trinity, Texas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 4 ounces Wednesday to lead opening day of the Stren Series Texas Division tournament on Lake Texoma.

“It was an incredible day,” said Curtis, who has won four tournaments and amassed over $440,000 with FLW Outdoors. “It totally outweighed my expectations. I’ve struggled during a lot of competition days on this lake; it was just a phenomenal day.”

Remaining tight-lipped about any specific baits he used, Curtis said he was “junk fishing.”

“I did a lot of running around today,” Curtis said. “I didn’t have any long runs. I just covered a lot of water.”

Rounding out the top five pros are Cody Martin of Taylor, Texas (five bass, 17-04); Robert Robinson of Mobile, Ala. (five bass, 15-08); Marty Sugg of Pattonville, Texas (five bass, 15-07); and David Mauldin of Tomball, Texas (five bass, 15-01).

Curtis earned $218 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass.

Overall there were 487 bass weighing 1,093 pounds, 1 ounce caught by 131 pros Wednesday. The catch included 62 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.

Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot 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 Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.

Dan Wilson of Pilot Point, Texas, 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 five bass weighing 12-11 while fishing with pro David Truax of Beaumont, Texas, who is currently in 62nd place.

“Actually, the boater wasn’t on anything, so he let me fish my water,” Wilson said. “That helped some, since this is my home lake.”

Wilson described today’s conditions as very windy and rough, with rain and lightening.

“I caught my fish on a spinnerbait, and we were just fishing windy points,” Wilson said. “I caught numerous stripers and white bass with largemouth mixed in.”

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are George Coffman of Marlow, Okla. (five bass, 12-01); Anthony Ferdinando of Spicewood, Texas (four bass, 11-15); Rusty Harvey of Nederland, Texas (five bass, 11-11); and Mike Moody of Flint, Texas (four bass, 11-05).

Chris Bobo of Sherman, Texas, earned $116 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 4-ounce bass.

Overall there were 267 bass weighing 560 pounds, 14 ounces caught by 131 co-anglers Wednesday. The catch included 14 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 6:30 each morning from Highpoint Marina located at 120 Texoma Harbor Drive in Pottsboro, Texas. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 401 U.S. North Highway 75 in Denison, Texas, 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.

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.