Stren Series Texas Division to host event on Falcon Lake
Stren Series to kick off 2009 season Jan. 15-17
ZAPATA, Texas – The $6.5 million Stren Series is headed to Falcon Lake Jan. 15-17 for a $275,225 bass tournament. As many as 400 pros and co-anglers from 21 states will be competing in the first Texas Division tournament of the season for top awards of $65,000 and $35,000, respectively.
“I am really looking forward to fishing Falcon Lake again,” said pro Jeremy Guidry of Opelousas, La., who won the 2008 Stren Series Texas Division event on Falcon Lake. “I look for the weights to be similar to last year. With the high water and the fish moving up to spawn the fish will likely be spread out. Some anglers will really be on the fish and other anglers will struggle. The fish won’t be grouped up like they were at the FLW Series tournament in November, which will make it a little more difficult.”
Guidry caught his bass in the 2008 event throwing a ChatterBait and flipping a creature bait and plans to start off using the same baits.
“It would be nice to get on a good flipping bite this time around,” added Guidry. “It is so hard to get the big fish out of the bushes and trees. I would rather be catching them on a heavy line and a flipping bait.”
Guidry is not sure that the two locations he fished last year will be the same with the high water.
“I fished two locations during the 2008 tournament,” Guidry said. “My primary spot was in a small creek on the Mexico side of the lake, approximately four miles south of the Beacon Lodge and my secondary area was in a larger creek on the Mexico side, west of the marina.
“No matter what happens it is always a real treat to fish Falcon Lake. There aren’t many lakes in the country where you can catch so many 7 to 10 pound fish.”
Guidry set a FLW Outdoors record of 20 bass weighing 110-02 in the 2008 Stren Series Texas Division Falcon Lake event. Guidry’s catch shattered the previous record of 105 pounds, 8 ounces set by David Mauldin of Tomball, Texas, during the 2006 Stren Series tournament on Lake Amistad.
Anglers will take off from the Zapata County Boat Ramp located at 1 County Road in Zapata, at 7:30 each morning. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Zapata County Community Center located at 601 N. U.S. Hwy 83 in Zapata, beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The Falcon Lake Stren Series tournament is hosted by the Zapata County Chamber of Commerce.
Pros will fish for a top award of $25,000 plus a 198VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor and Lowrance electronics if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $7,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant in the contingency program.
Co-anglers will cast for a top award of a 177TR Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and trailer. If the co-angler meets the Ranger Cup guidelines, they will earn an additional $5,000. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $2,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant in the contingency program.
Competitors will also be vying for valuable points that could earn them a trip to the Stren Series Championship on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala., Nov. 5-7 for a shot at $150,000 in the Pro Division and $60,000 in the Co-angler Division. After four qualifying events are complete in each Stren Series division – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western – the top 40 pros and 40 co-anglers based on the points standings from each division will advance to the championship. The top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers from each division will also qualify for the 2010 Walmart FLW Tour and Walmart FLW Series, bass fishing’s top professional circuits. The highest-finishing pro and co-angler from each division at the Stren Series Championship will also qualify for the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup, where anglers will compete for the $1 million grand prize – the most lucrative award in bass fishing.
In Stren Series competition, pros supply the boats, fish from the front deck against other pros and control boat movement. Co-anglers fish from the back deck and compete against other co-anglers. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points that determine angler standings. Two hundred points are awarded to the winner, 199 points for second, 198 points for third, and so on. The full field competes on days one, two and three, with the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers advancing to day four based on their three-day accumulated weight. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 to get your edge and win.
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 Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.