MANNING, S.C. – Pro Ott Defoe of Knoxville, Tenn., caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 6 ounces Thursday to retain the lead in the Stren Series Southeast Division tournament on Santee Cooper. With a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 50-04, he now holds a 4-pound, 5-ounce lead over second place pro Mike Jackson of San Mateo, Fla., who managed to haul in a total of 10 bass weighing 45-15 during the first two days of competition.
“My day was pretty much like yesterday,” said Defoe, who has won more than $151,000 in FLW Outdoors events. “I didn’t really get started until a little later in the day. Then the first couple of fish I had on came off. I settled back down and then caught a 4 1/2-pounder about 9:30. ”
Defoe remained tight-lipped about his methods on the water, but did say he did not catch any fish sight-fishing. Defoe said he caught 10 keepers throughout the course of the day and had his limit by 11:15 a.m. He fished the same area he did on the first day of competition, but looked for other potential areas after he had caught his limit.
“I culled two or three 3-pounders today,” Defoe said. “I just put one rod in my hand and fished it. I moved around and found some other areas that were similar to what I was fishing. I don’t think they’re quite as good, but they’ve got fish in them.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Henry McFadden of Georgetown, S.C. (10 bass, 42-03); Ron Klys of Gainesville, Fla. (10 bass, 40-15); and Team Snickers pro Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala. (10 bass, 40-09).
Lee McCracken of Ocala, Fla., earned $231 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 7-pound, 12-ounce bass he caught.
Overall there were 489 bass weighing 1,488 pounds, 9 ounces caught by pros Thursday. The catch included 62 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.
Larry Breckenridge of Dothan, Ala., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 198VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. He caught five bass weighing 18-02 while fishing with pro David Tanner of Johnsonville, S.C., Wednesday and four bass weighing 12-11 while fishing with pro Lee Pitts of Gaylesville, Ala., Thursday for a total of nine bass weighing 30-13.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jason Ober of Johnstown, Penn. (eight bass, 25-04); Greg Hamblin of New Albany, Miss. (eight bass, 22-15); Patrick Cook of Johnsonville, S.C. (six bass, 22-05); and Kenneth Owens of Wise, Va. (three bass, 19-14).
Blake Parker of Harpersville, Ala., earned $122 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to an 8-pound, 14-ounce bass he caught.
Overall there were 186 bass weighing 512 pounds, 3 ounces caught by co-anglers Thursday. The catch included three 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 2009 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 7 each morning from John C. Land III Landing located at County Road S-14-260 in Summerton, S.C. Friday’s weigh-in 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 2010 Paxville Highway in Manning beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins 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.
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, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.