Stren Series Western Division to open season on Lake Shasta

Bass anglers start along qualifying road toward $1 million Stren Series Championship, $2 million Forrest Wood Cup

REDDING, Calif. – The $6.5 million Stren Series is headed to Lake Shasta Jan. 9-12 for a $275,225 bass tournament that will kick off the 2008 season. As many as 400 pros and co-anglers from 10 states will be competing in the first Western Division tournament of the season for top awards of $65,000 and $35,000, respectively.

“It should be another good event this year,” said Gene Gray of Atascadero, Calif., who won the Lake Shasta tournament in 2007. “I love fishing on Shasta. It really fits my style and it has been good to me in the past. I think the fishing will be really similar to last year. If the water stays clear, I think swimbaits will be king. If they get any kind of weather and it stains the water, bottom contact baits like jigs, Texas-rigs and drop-shots will be key offerings. The big thing that’s different from last year is the lake is down 80 feet. It will be an interesting event”

Gray says if the weather stays consistent and the water clarity and temperature stay pretty much on schedule, the weights might be up from last year. His thinking is to make the top 10, one would have to catch around 12 pounds a day and have about 45 or 50 pounds to take the win.

Anglers will take off from Bridge Bay Resort located at 10300 Bridge Bay Road in Redding, Calif., at 7:30 each morning. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins also 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 1515 Dana Drive in Redding beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

The Lake Shasta Stren Series tournament is hosted by the Shasta Lake Chamber of Commerce.

Pros will fish for a top award of $25,000 plus a $40,000 198VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor and Lowrance electronics if contingency guidelines are met. Ranger will award another $3,000 cash if the winner is a Ranger Cup participant. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $1,500 to the highest-finishing participant in the contingency program. Yamaha or Evinrude will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup earnings if “Powered by Yamaha” or “Powered by Evinrude E-Tec” guidelines are met. That puts the total potential first-place award at $69,500.

Co-anglers will cast for a top award of $5,000 plus a $30,000 Ranger boat and trailer if contingency guidelines are met.

Competitors will also be vying for valuable points that could earn them a trip to the $1 million Stren Series Championship on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Mo., Nov. 5-8 for a shot at $140,000 in the Pro Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. After four qualifying events are complete in each Stren Series division – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western – the top 40 pros and top 40 co-anglers based on Angler of the Year points standings from each division will advance to the championship. The top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers from each division will also receive priority entry into the 2009 Wal-Mart FLW Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Series, bass fishing’s top professional circuits, where they can compete for a share of $17.5 million. The highest-finishing pro and co-angler from each division at the Stren Series Championship will also qualify for the $2 million 2009 Forrest Wood Cup, where pros will fish for as much as $1 million – the most lucrative award in bass fishing.

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 full field competes on days one, two and three, with the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers advancing to day four based on their three-day accumulated weight. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.

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 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 more than $40 million through 230 events in 2008.

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.

Awards are based on a 200-boat field.