Long wins Stren Series event on Lake of the Ozarks
Moore wins co-angler title
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – Pro Shane Long of Sarcoxie, Mo., caught a five-bass limit weighing 14 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win the Stren Series Central Division tournament on Lake of the Ozarks with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 47 pounds, 6 ounces. For his victory, Long earned $15,843 cash and a fully rigged Ranger boat.
“The fishing was a lot tougher today,” Long said. “I’ve been fishing shallow all week … churning mud with the trolling motor. It seemed like as the week went they just kept getting shallower and shallower. By the end of the day today they were all the way in the backs of the pockets.
“I wasn’t getting a lot of bites, but I was catching some good quality fish,” Long added.
Long said he caught a total of 10 fish on the last day of competition. Long said his key baits were a 4 1/2-inch shad-pattern swimbait and a green pumpkin finesse jig with a large brown Guido Bug trailer. Long said the larger trailer helped slow the descent of his finesse jig in the shallow water.
“This is just a dream come true to win a big tournament,” Long said. “In other circuits I’ve been the bridesmaid way too many times. It feels really good to get over the hump.”
Rounding out the top five pros were Zack Bull of Arlington, Tenn. (13 bass, 44-5, $6,337); Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie, Mo. (15 bass, 41-8, $5,070); Mark Tucker of Kirkwood, Mo. (15 bass, 41-5, $4,436); and Joe Bennett of Independence, Mo. (15 bass, 39-14, $3,802).
Jason Weast of Camdenton, Mo., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Thursday – a 5-pound, 14-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Folgers Big Bass award of $229.
Justin Moore of Portage, Mich., won the Co-angler Division and a 177TR Ranger boat and trailer, with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 28-8.
Moore caught five bass weighing 12-10 Thursday while fishing with pro Scott Nelson of Lake Ozark, Mo., to open the tournament in first place. On Friday he added five more bass weighing 8-13 to make the top-10 cut in first place while fishing with pro Richard Stevens of Galatia, Ill. Finally, on Saturday, he sealed the win with three bass weighing 7-1 while fishing with Bull.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Rick Brame of Festus, Mo. (seven bass, 22-8, $2,770); Brien Vaughn of Kinmundy, Ill. (10 bass, 22-8, $2,078); Derek Brown of Osage Beach, Mo. (eight bass, 19-8, $1,731); and Craig Brown of Powell, Ohio (seven bass, 18-12, $1,558).
Brame caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday – a 5-pound, 15-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Folgers Big Bass award of $114.
After four qualifying events are complete in each Stren Series division – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western – the top 40 pros and 40 co-anglers based on the points standings from each division advance to the Stren Series Championship on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala., Nov. 5-7 for a shot at $150,000 in the Pro Division and $60,000 in the Co-angler Division. The top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers from each division will also qualify for the 2010 Walmart FLW Tour® and Walmart FLW Series®, bass fishing’s top professional circuits. The highest-finishing pro and co-angler from each division at the Stren Series Championship also qualify for the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup, where anglers will compete for the $1 million grand prize – 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 and two, with the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers advancing to day three based on their two-day accumulated weight. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all three days.
Total awards are based on a 200-boat field in every tournament.
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