GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (Oct. 10, 2009) – Pro Christopher Lane of Guntersville, Ala., caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to win the final Stren Series Southeast Division tournament on Lake Guntersville with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 62 pounds, 4 ounces. For his victory, Lane earned $23,648 cash.
“It was an awesome day,” Lane said. “I didn’t get a lot of bites today, but I was able to stay focused and caught as many as I could. My biggest surprise came yesterday when I caught a 6- and 7-pounder on back-to-back casts.”
Lane fished shallow grassy water, no deeper than 3-feet. He was using a Gambler Ugly Otter and Cane Toad for baits to catch the majority of his fish this tournament.
Rounding out the top five pros were JT Palmore of Gasburg, Va., (15 bass, 57-1, $9,459); Gerald Swindle of Warrior, Ala., (15 bass, 51-6, $7,567); Tim Buckner of Scottsboro, Ala. (15 bass, 51-4, $6,621); and Marshall Deakins of Dunlap, Tenn. (15 bass, 49-6, $5,675).
Brent Anderson or Kingston Springs, Tenn., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Friday – a 7-pound, 3-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Folgers Big Bass award of $414.
Anthony Goggins of Sylacauga, Ala., won the Co-angler Division and a 177TR Ranger boat and trailer, with a three-day total of 12 bass weighing 38 pounds.
“I was mentally fried after yesterday,” said Goggins. “After catching only 4-pounds of fish on Friday I didn’t think I had a chance of making the top 10, and then I did. I knew I needed a big bag today and to go from last to first is just awesome. I just fished for the monsters by throwing frogs all day and things just ended up going my way.”
Goggins caught five bass weighing 15-9 Thursday while fishing with pro Tim Buckner of Scottsboro, Ala., to open the tournament in second place. On Friday he added only two more bass weighing 4-8 barely making the top-10 cut in tenth place while fishing with pro Eddie Melton of Charleston, S.C. Finally, on Saturday, he captured the win with five bass weighing 17-15 while fishing with David Gray.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Casey Martin of Huntsville, Ala. (14 bass, 36-13, $3,821); Todd Classon of Albany, Ga. (10 bass, 32-8, $2,866); Marty Sexton of Kennesaw, Ga. (10 bass, 31-13, $2,388); and Undre Montgomery of Dunwoody, Ga. (11 bass, 31-2, $2,150).
Danny Bucher of Spring City, Tenn., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday – a 7-pound, 10-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Folgers Big Bass award of $207.
Each Stren Series division – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western – will send the top 40 pros and 40 co-anglers based on point standings from each division based on four qualifying events, 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. 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 also qualify for the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.
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 and two, with the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers advancing to day three based on their two-day accumulated weight. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all three days.
Total awards are based on a 200-boat field 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.
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.