Fuqua leads Stren Series event on Red River

Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss., leads the Co-angler Division

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Pro Ricky Fuqua of Effie, La., caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces Friday to capture the lead in the Stren Series Texas Division tournament on the Red River. With a three-day catch of 12 bass weighing 35-06, he holds a 2-pound, 8-ounce lead over his closest competitor heading into the final day of competition.

Rounding out the top five pros are Robert Kenyon of Cordova, Tenn. (13 bass, 32-14); Kevin Lasyone of Dry Prong, La. (15 bass, 32-08); Chris McCall of Jasper, Texas (15 bass, 31-11); and Ricky Scott of Van Buren, Ark. (14 bass, 31-05).

Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 29 pounds, 4 ounces in the Pro Division are Stephen Johnston of Hemphill, Texas; David Curtis of Trinity, Texas; Tim Reneau of Del Rio, Texas; Bud Pruitt of Houston, Texas; and Robert Robinson of Mobile, Ala.

Fuqua earned $165 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 14-ounce bass he caught.

Overall there were 246 bass weighing 479 pounds, 4 ounces caught by pros Friday. The catch included 23 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 Walmart FLW Tour®, Walmart FLW Series®, Walmart Bass Fishing League® and TBF (The Bass Federation) for bass fishing’s biggest prize – $1 million.

Tournament anglers aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offered 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 could become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, which provided them with exclusive insider information that could have guided them to a $100,000 victory at every Walmart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage gave them an edge over the competition and increased their shot for the $1 million cash grand prize awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Visit FantasyFishing.com today to find out more information and to register for next season.

Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss., 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 13 bass weighing 25-02.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Stephen Francis of Brookeland, Texas (11 bass, 22-13); Bennie Anderson of Grand Prairie, Texas (13 bass, 20-11); Chris Weaver of Lawton, Okla. (11 bass, 20-10); and David Underwood of Waco, Texas (nine bass, 18-12).

Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 16 pounds, 2 ounces in the Co-angler Division are Mark Oakley of Davis, Okla.; Jimmy Brumfield of Madison, Miss.; Matt Hults of Gautier, Miss.; Keith Honeycutt of Temple, Texas; and Bo Middleton of Elgin, Okla.

Buddy Hicks of Port Neches, Texas, Larry Hunter of Grenada, Miss., and Terry Grisham of Wichita, Kan., split the $99 Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a trio of 3-pound, 13-ounce bass.

Overall there were 131 bass weighing 229 pounds, 2 ounces caught by co-anglers Friday. The catch included two 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 Saturday morning from Grand Encore Recreation Complex located at 234 Rufus Morgan Rd. in Natchitoches. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 925 Keyser Ave. in Natchitoches 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. FLW Outdoors also took 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.