MANY, La. – The $6.5 million Stren Series is headed to Toledo Bend Oct. 15-17 for a $260,750 bass tournament. As many as 400 pros and co-anglers will be competing in the fourth Texas Division tournament of the season for top awards of $65,000 and $30,000, respectively.
“The lake is in great shape right now,” said Stephen Johnston of Hemphill, Texas, who leads the Stren Series Texas Division’s points standings. “The lake is about 3 1/2 feet low, and the fishing is average. I think the fish are in a transition period. They’re really spread out. You can find fish on the bank to 25 feet deep. It could be anybody’s game.”
Johnston said anglers will find that a variety of baits will work for the Toledo Bend bass. Johnston said popular choices will be topwater frogs, spinnerbaits, and jigs and Carolina rigs in grass. In fact, Johnston said grass may play a major role in the event.
“The grass is in great shape,” Johnston said. “The grass on the south end is as good as it’s ever been. There’s grass in the lake all the way from the south end to three-quarters of the way up the lake.
“It’s going to be a tournament where you can fish your strengths,” Johnston added.
Anglers will take off from Cypress Bend Park located at 3462 Cypress Bend Drive in Many, La., at 7 each morning. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will be held at Cypress Bend Park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 155 San Antonio Drive in Many beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The Toledo Bend Stren Series tournament is hosted by the Sabine Parish Tourism Commission and Sabine River Authority.
Pros will fish for a top award of $25,000 plus a 198VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor and Lowrance electronics if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $7,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant in the contingency program.
Co-anglers will cast for a top award of a 177TR Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and trailer. If the co-angler meets the Ranger Cup guidelines, they will earn an additional $5,000. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $2,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant in the contingency program.
Competitors will also be vying for valuable points that could earn them a trip 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. 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 will advance to the championship. 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 will also qualify for the 2010 Forrest Wood Cup.
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 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.
Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2009 alone the organization is offering more bass and walleye anglers from coast to coast the chance to win more than $33 million through 231 tournaments. FLW Outdoors also has taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports. Sign up for Player’s Advantage to get your edge and win.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.