MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. – Pro Robbie Dodson of Harrison, Ark., caught a four bass weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces Friday to widen his lead in the Stren Series Central Division tournament on Norfork Lake. With a two-day catch of eight bass weighing 18-04, he holds a 3-pound, 9-ounce lead over his closest competitor heading into the final day of competition.
“Today, I caught all the fish in different places,” Dodson said. “In seven days, I haven’t caught fish in the same place twice.”
Dodson caught his bass fishing slow with a 1/2-ounce Lucky Strike jig with a big Guido Bug and a custom painted Rogue.
“The weather has cleared up, but it is still really cold,” Dodson said. “It’s just going to be that same old winter pattern; it’ll be slow until it starts to warm up.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Travis Fox of Springdale, Ark. (seven bass, 14-11); Tim Fleetwood of Forsyth, Mo. (six bass, 13-11); Preston Havens of Mountain Home, Ark. (eight bass, 13-05); and Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Mo. (seven bass, 13-03).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 11 pounds, 5 ounces in the Pro Division are Mike Foree of Osage Beach, Mo.; Tom Murphy of Richland, Mo.; Steve Ruff of Wentzville, Mo.; Wes Endicott of Joplin, Mo.; and Greg Ryan of Nixa, Mo.
Josh Wray of Harrison, Ark., earned $225 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 4-pound, 3-ounce bass.
Overall there were 140 bass weighing 275 pounds, 8 ounces caught by 136 pros Friday. The catch included five five-bass limits.
Pros are competing for as much as $65,000, including a 198VX Ranger powered by Evinrude or Yamaha if contingency guidelines are met, and valuable points toward qualifying for the $1 million Stren Series Championship in Branson, Mo., Nov. 5-8 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 2009 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 TBF (The Bass Federation) for bass fishing’s biggest prize – $1 million.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
Kurt Evans of Hardy, Ark., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 198VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met, thanks to a two-day total of five bass weighing 12-09.
“I got out there and did a little jerk baiting,” Evans said. “I suppose I just got lucky today.”
Evans caught two bass on a jerk bait, two on a Shad Rap, and one on a flat-tailed grub off channel banks.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jamie Alan Horne of Jonesboro, Ark. (three bass, 6-01); Steve McFarland of Mountain Home, Ark. (two bass, 6-00); Lawrence Bean of Union, Mo. (two bass, 5-14); and Tory Iverson of Galena, Mo. (three bass, 5-12).
Also clearing the top 10 cut weight of 5 pounds, 5 ounces in the Co-angler Division are Brad Baldwin of Dayton, Ohio; Chuck Lee of South Bend, Ind.; Howard Fulgham Jr. of Ash Flat, Ark.; Keith Abrams of West Plains, Mo.; and Robert Prebeck of Norwood, Mo.
Bean earned $119 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 3-pound, 4-ounce bass.
Overall there were 57 bass weighing 112 pounds, 11 ounces caught by 136 co-anglers Friday. No limits were caught.
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 2009 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 7 Saturday morning from Henderson Point Park located at Highway 62 East in Henderson, Ark. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 65 Wal-Mart Drive in Mountain Home, Ark, beginning at 4 p.m. The takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public.
Stren Series tournaments are normally 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.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.