BULL SHOALS, Ark. – Pro Tim Fleetwood of Forsythe, Mo., caught a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 7 ounces Friday to capture the lead in the $275,225 Stren Series Central Division tournament presented by Yamaha on Bull Shoals. With a three-day catch of 15 bass weighing 41-3, he holds an 8-pound, 15-ounce lead over his closest competitor heading into the final day of competition.
Rounding out the top five pros are Mark Rose of Marion, Ark. (13 bass, 32-4); Randall Hutson of Washburn, Mo. (12 bass, 32-3); Jerry Weisinger of Wyandotte, Okla. (13 bass, 27-15); and Jeff Evans of Benton, Ky. (10 bass, 27-11).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 23 pounds, 6 ounces in the Pro Division are Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark.; Mo.; Matthew Jones of Spokane, Mo.; Brent Maurer of Ledbetter, Ky.; Ben Kurtz of Elkhorn, Wis., and Robbie Dodson of Harrison, Ark.
Paul Helton of Russelleville, Ark., earned $250 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 5-pound, 6-ounce bass he caught.
Overall there were 236 bass weighing 475 pounds, 4 ounces caught by pros Friday. The catch included 10 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 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.
Stephen McFarland of Mountain Home, Ark., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 519VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met, thanks to a three-day total of six bass weighing 18-11.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ed Shay of Chesterfield, Mo. (six bass, 15-15); Michael Waltrip of Fayetteville, Ark. (seven bass, 14-0); Steve Amata of Nixa, Mo. (six bass, 13-6); and Barney Moore of Johnston City, Ill. (six bass, 10-9).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 8 pounds, 14 ounces in the Co-angler Division are Charles Radford of Sullivan, Mo.; Mark Gilliland of Louisburg, Kan.; James Southard of Jordan, Ark.; Brad Wiegmann of Springdale, Ark.; and Kim Fischer of High Ridge, Mo..
Phillip Terry of Decatur, Ala., earned $65 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 4-pound, 7-ounce bass he caught.
Overall there were 70 bass weighing 194 pounds, 7 ounces caught by co-anglers Friday. The catch included one 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 7 Saturday morning from Bull Shoals Lake Boat Dock located at Eastwold Cove in Bull Shoals, Ark. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 168 Walmart Dr. in Flippin, Ark., beginning at 4 p.m. The takeoff and weigh-in 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 238 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 Wal-Mart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.