$6 million Stren Series to visit Clear Lake - Major League Fishing

$6 million Stren Series to visit Clear Lake

Western Division stop No. 2 kicks off March 1
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Some 136 boats checked in at Redbud Park to begin Wednesday's competition at Clear Lake. Photo by Jeff Schroeder.
February 21, 2006 • MLF • Archives

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The $6 million Stren Series is headed to Clear Lake near Lakeport, Calif., March 1-4 for the second of four regular-season Western Division events where the winning pro could earn as much as $64,500 in cash and prizes and the winning co-angler could earn as much as $35,000.

Anticipation is high for this year’s event on Clear Lake. In 2005, the record for the largest four-day catch in the history of FLW Outdoors bass-fishing events was broken by Sieg Taylor of Clearlake, Calif. Amazingly, Taylor broke the record with only 16 bass, following Clear Lake’s 2005 limit of four bass daily. Those 16 bass, however, weighed an amazing 94 pounds, 11 ounces.

The limit has been upped to five bass for this year’s event, and legendary Western pro Gary Dobyns of Yuba City, Calif., all but guaranteed the record will again be broken. “We’ve got 70-degree weather in the middle of February right now,” Dobyns said. “The fish are already starting to move around. If the weather holds, there will be a strong prespawn bite and the records will fall.” Dobyns said anglers should look to catch bass on jerkbaits and Rat-L-Traps as well as on spinnerbaits and flipping shallow cover.

“We’re happy to have the Stren Series out West,” Dobyns continued. “It’s the best tournament trail in the West, with an awesome schedule for the rest of the season.”

The top award in the Pro Division includes a fully rigged Ranger 519VX powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard, Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and EverStart batteries plus $10,000 cash. Pros will have the chance to earn an additional $10,000 bonus award from Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. Ranger will award another $3,000 to the winner if he or she is a participant in the Ranger Cup program, or $1,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant. Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup earnings if the participant meets “Powered by Yamaha” guidelines.

Co-angler competitors cast for $5,000 plus a Ranger boat and trailer if contingency guidelines are met. Competitors will also be vying for valuable points that could earn them a berth into the $1 million Stren Series Championship in Decatur, Ala., for a shot at $140,000 in the Pro Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. The highest finishing pro and the highest finishing co-angler from each division at the championship will qualify for the 2007 $2 million Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will have a shot at bass fishing’s first $1 million prize.

Anglers will take off from Konocti Vista Casino Resort and Marina at 7 each morning. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina, which is located at 2755 Mission Rancheria Road in Lakeport beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 15960 Dam Road in Clearlake beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

As many as 200 pros and 200 co-anglers will compete for two days to determine the top 20 pros and top 20 co-anglers who advance to Friday’s semifinal round, based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for the semifinal round and anglers compete for 10 spots in each division in the final round. Winners on day four are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.

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 top 40 pros and top 40 co-anglers from each of the Stren Series’ five divisions – Central, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast and Western – will advance to the $1 million Stren Series Championship on Wheeler Lake Nov. 1-4. The top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers from each division also qualify for the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the world’s most lucrative tournament series, where they can compete for a share of $7.6 million in 2007.

Each Stren Series Division features four regular-season tournaments.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Stren Series as well as the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owner’s Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.

For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.