EUFAULA, Ala. (March 18, 2006) – Pro Ryan Ingram of Phoenix City, Ala., caught a final-round total of 10 bass weighing 40 pounds, 13 ounces to win the Stren Series Southeast Division event on Lake Eufaula Saturday. Ingram won a 519VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude outboard and equipped with Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and EverStart batteries plus $10,000 cash. He also earned a $10,000 contingency bonus from Ranger for a total of $60,000 in cash and prizes.
Most of the pros during the event have been targeting bedding bass, and either catching them with subtle sight-fishing presentations or blind-casting for them in thick cover. Johnny Crews of Lakeland, Fla., led the first two days of the event by blind-casting for bedding fish with a jig and heavy, braided line. Crews slipped out of the top 10 on day three after landing only one keeper.
Pro Shannon Devere of Berea, Ky., led on day three after catching a limit weighing 20 pounds, 3 ounces. At the end of day three, Devere stated that he’d used up all the fish in his area. Because the water was rapidly being lowered in Lake Eufaula, anglers fishing for bedding bass found the conditions a little tougher and the bass a little spookier each day. Devere did manage to bring in a limit weighing 12 pounds, 9 ounces on the final day, good for second place and a check for $10,000 plus $1,500 for the Ranger Cup award.
Ironically, while the falling water hurt many pros in the field, it actually aided in Ingram’s pattern. Rather than target bedding bass, Ingram has fished around prespawn stump flats this week that ranged from 5 to 12 feet deep. He was able to get plenty of bites each day on heavy, 1-ounce Ledgebuster spinnerbaits, jigs and watermelon colored Zoom Craws rigged Texas style.
“The falling water helped me beyond a shadow of a doubt,” Ingram said. “It kept fish that were moving in to spawn off the banks.” While many weights fell on day four, Ingram increased the size of his limit. His final-day catch weighed 22 pounds, and included a 6-pounder. And, while many pros have struggled to get enough keeper bites for a limit, Ingram managed to cull around 50 times on the final day.
Rounding out the top five pros are Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla. (10 bass, 31 pounds, 4 ounces, $9,000); Timothy Little of Acworth, Ga. (10 bass, 29 pounds, 10 ounces, $8,000); and Thanh Le of Davie, Fla. (10 bass, 29 pounds, 4 ounces, $7,500).
Curt Fannin of Prestonsburg, Ky., won the Co-angler Division thanks to a final-round total of nine bass weighing 22 pounds, 14 ounces. Fannin earned a 519VX Ranger plus $5,000 cash for a total award of $35,000.
“I figured out how to get those big bedding females to bite on the first two days,” Fannin said. “I was using a solid black Zoom Trick Worm with a small weight to catch them.
“The last two days, both of my pros have been fishing off the bank, so I switched to a Carolina-rigged Brush Hog.”
Fannin fished with Ingram on the final day. “I was fortunate to draw Ryan for my pro,” he said. “Once he turned me loose, I had my limit in about 12 minutes.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Mike Mahady of Kennesaw, Ga. (nine bass, 19 pounds, 1 ounce, $4,000); Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss. (eight bass, 17 pounds, $3,500); Jim Buchanan of Dothan, Ala. (five bass, 12 pounds, 12 ounces, $2,500); and Steve Smith of Marianna, Fla. (six bass, 12 pounds, 3 ounces, $2,000).
Stren Series tournaments are four-day events consisting of three rounds. The entire field competes Wednesday and Thursday, and the top 20 pros and co-anglers – based on two-day accumulated weights – advance to day three. Anglers start at zero Thursday and compete for 10 spots in each division in the final round. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
The top 40 pros and top 40 co-anglers from each of the Stren Series’ five divisions – Central, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and Western – following four tournaments in each division will advance to the $1 million Stren Series Championship on Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Ala., Nov. 1-4 where they will fish for top awards of $140,000 and $70,000, respectively. The highest-finishing pro from each division at the Stren Series Championship will also earn a spot in the new $2 million 2007 Forrest Wood Cup where they will compete against top pros from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League and Ranger owners’ tournaments for bass fishing’s first $1 million top award.
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, Stratos Owners’ 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 about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit 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 an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com