MARBURY, Md. – Pro Bryan Schmitt of Deale, Md., caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 8 ounces Friday to widen his lead in the Stren Series Northern Division tournament on the Potomac River. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 47-13, he holds a 15-ounce lead over his closest competitor heading into the final day of competition.
“I am very excited about fishing tomorrow,” said Schmitt, who is looking for his first Stren Series victory. “I really don’t know what to say except that I feel very blessed to get this opportunity.”
Schmitt is throwing a spinnerbait near grass to catch his quality bass.
“My key spot was crowded again today so I had to go to a backup spot,” Schmitt said. “In this spot I caught a lot of fish but they weren’t very big. I caught around 25 fish today but the weight just wasn’t there. I am looking forward to fishing tomorrow in my main spot without all the other boats. I should have it all to myself.”
Schmitt’s sweet spot is about 15 minutes from Smallwood State Park.
Rounding out the top five pros are Mike Hoskings of Alexandria, Va. (15 bass, 46-14); Chad Hicks of Rockville, Va. (15 bass, 46-03); Darrell Stevens of Roseland, Va. (15 bass, 46-00); and Thomas Wooten of Huddleston, Va. (15 bass, 45-15).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 42 pounds, 9 ounces in the Pro Division are Chris Dillow of Waynesboro, Va.; Brian Stack of Nanjemoy, Md.; James Dudley of Lynchburg, Va.; Michael Iaconelli of Runnemede, N.J.; and Mike Balon of Clewiston, Fla.
Brian Trieschmen of Ellicott City of Md., earned $172 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 9-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 Walmart FLW Tour®, Walmart FLW Series®, Walmart Bass Fishing League® and TBF (The Bass Federation) for bass fishing’s biggest prize – $1 million.
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Lew Jenkins of Waldorf, Md., 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 15 bass weighing 40-15.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Lynn Baciuska Jr. of Afton, N.Y. (15 bass, 40-09); Robert Clark of Woodbridge, Va. (14 bass, 36-01); Mickey Pettry of Manassas, Va. (15 bass, 34-12); and David Benoit of Brattleboro, Vt. (14 bass, 33-02).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 30 pounds, 7 ounces in the Co-angler Division are Thomas Rizzo of Rochester, Pa.; John Woodroof of Lynchburg, Va.; Dustin Edwards of Ellington, Conn.; Josh Querrey of Summersville, W.V.; and Gary Marean of Manassas, Va.
Jenkins earned $101 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound 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 Saturday morning from Smallwood State Park located at 2750 Sweden Point Rd. in Marbury. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 40 Drury Drive in La Plata, Md., 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. 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.