WEST DENNIS, Mass. – Team Doubled Up, captained by Steve Howell of Paxton, Mass., caught two striped bass weighing 35 pounds, 4 ounces Saturday to win $35,000 at the fourth stop of the Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series, a tournament presented by Folgers, in West Dennis, Mass.
“This was a great tournament,” Howell said. “Within the first 10 minutes of trolling, Mike had a fish in the boat that was a centimeter under 34 inches. The excitement started right there.”
The team, which consists of Howell, Mike Scichilone, Tyler Maki and Anthony Rucho, started its day by trolling red bucktail jigs on wire in 20 to 28 feet of water near Handkerchief Shoals.
“Immediately after Mike caught that fish, I turned the boat around and made another pass through the same area,” Howell said. “We caught our second fish that measured within 2 centimeters of 34 inches. It was about a quarter until 8 a.m., and we had our two fish.”
Team Doubled Up knew it had two excellent tournament fish and went the extra mile to ensure they remained alive.
“We motored back to the mouth of Bass River going no more than 5 miles per hour,” Howell said. “Once we got inside, the water was calm and the fish were very relaxed. It’s important to us to preserve striper fishing for our kids and future generations to come.”
Team Doubled Up’s winnings include a $20,000 first-place cash prize and a $15,000 Yamaha bonus. With their win in West Dennis, the team will be one of the top 25 teams from each qualifier to advance to a three-day, no-entry-fee championship in Virginia Beach, Va., Dec. 7-9 for a shot at a top award of $50,000 cash. The championship will be televised on FSN (Fox Sports Net),
Rounding out the top five finishers were Team No Name, captained by Kenneth Cleary of Cambridge, Mass. (two fish, 34 pounds, 11 ounces, $2,500); Hogie Bear Fishing Team, captained by Bob Joyce of Sandwich, Mass. (two fish, 33 pounds, 6 ounces, $1,250); Team Anxiety, captained by Matthew Swenson of Chatham, Mass. (two fish, 33 pounds, 5 ounces $937); and Team Riptide, captained by Terry Nugent of Bourne, Mass. (two fish, 33 pounds, 5 ounces, $937).
The new $1 million FLW Striper Series features seven qualifying tournaments held on Saturdays plus a no-entry-fee $150,000 championship. Teams, ranging in size from two to four anglers each, compete for a guaranteed top award of $20,000 cash in each qualifier and as much as $50,000 cash based on boat and engine bonuses from Hydra-Sports, Seaswirl, Wellcraft, Evinrude and Yamaha. The winning team is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight of two striped bass falling within a 28- to 34-inch slot limit.
The next FLW Striper Series tournaments will be held at Jersey City, N.J., Sept. 30; Cedar Creek Marina in Milford, Del., Oct. 28; and Gootee’s Marine in Cambridge, Md., Nov. 4.
Entry fees are $450 per team for all entries received prior to the day of registration for each tournament. The entry fee for entries received on registration day for a tournament or on-site during tournament registration is $500 per team. Teams may register online at FLWOutdoors.com or by calling (270) 252-1000.
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, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, 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 exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
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.