OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – Pro Jason Christie of Park Hill, Okla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 4 ounces Thursday to retain the lead in the $275,225 Stren Series Central Division tournament on Lake of the Ozarks. With a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 36-10, he now holds an 5-pound, 4-ounce lead over second place pro Roger Fitzpatrick of Eldon, Mo., who managed to haul in a total of eight bass weighing 31-7 during the first two days of competition.
“I’m just going to the right spots,” Christie said. “I’m fishing fast, if I don’t get a bite, I go to my next spot. I hope to do this well tomorrow.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Mark Dunbar of Jefferson City, Mo. (eight bass, 29-14); Brian Maloney of Osage Beach, Mo. (10 bass, 29-14); and Sam Newby of Pocola, Okla. (10 bass, 28-12).
Ralph Laster Jr. of Lees Summit, Mo., earned $237 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass.
Overall there were 480 bass weighing 1,173 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 140 pros Thursday. The catch included 56 five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for as much as $65,000, including a 519VX Ranger powered by Evinrude or Yamaha if contingency guidelines are met, and valuable points toward qualifying for the $1 million Stren Series Championship in Mobile, Ala., Nov. 8-11 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 2008 Forrest Wood Cup, where they will compete on Lake Murray in Columbia, S.C., against top pros from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series and TBF (The Bass Federation) for bass fishing’s biggest prize – $1 million.
Tony Spinks of Springfield, Mo., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 519VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. He caught five bass weighing 13-7 while fishing with pro Daniel Porterfield of Clinton, Mo., Wednesday and four bass weighing 8-4 while fishing with pro David Mangelsdorf of Barnheart, Mo., Thursday for a total of nine bass weighing 21-11.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Joe Waggoner of Carthage, Mo. (nine bass, 19-14); Tommy Lowery of O’Fallen, Mo. (eight bass, 19-02); Ron Abbott of Lafayette, Ind. (nine bass, 15-11); and Ed Shay of Chesterfield, Mo. (seven bass, 15-10).
Randy Fraser of New Florence, Mo., earned $125 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass.
Overall there were 194 bass weighing 426 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 97 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included three 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 2008 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 each morning from Grand Glaize Recreation Area located in Kaizer, Mo. Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 4252 Highway 54 in Osage Beach 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.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Walmart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.