DENISON, Texas – The third leg of the Stren Series Central Division season began under a stiff, cool breeze. Just a week ago, the Denison area experienced record high temperatures that reached the upper 90s. For the 177 pros and 177 co-anglers who took off Wednesday morning, that heat wave was a distant memory.
That recent hot spell triggered a fast and furious spawn on Lake Texoma. The consensus among the field is that the bass are now transitioning to postspawn mode and are suspending. Postspawn fish can be finicky; couple that with a stern cold front and Stren Series anglers are likely in for a challenging opening day. The good news is that sun should make an appearance later in the day, eventually pushing the air temperature into the low 70s.
Pro Clarke Reehm of Leesville, La., plans to fish primarily topwater baits, hoping to scratch out a limit.
“It’s just typical postspawn fishing,” Reehm said. “It’s been real difficult; guys are catching a few on spinnerbaits, but it’s just hard to keep the stripers off the line.”
Mabelvale, Ark., pro Eric Ambort generally agreed with Reehm, but offered a slightly more optimistic forecast.
“I plan to fish in shallow water with mostly spinnerbaits and crankbaits, maybe some topwater stuff early in the day, “Ambort said. “I think a lot of fish have already moved back out. If I caught a limit, I’d be real happy. If you catch 10 or 12 pounds each day, you’ll be in real good shape.”
Payouts, contingencies
Anglers competing in the Pro Division will fish for a top award worth as much as $60,000, including a fully rigged Ranger 519VX powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard, Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and EverStart batteries plus $10,000 cash. Pros will have the chance to earn an additional $10,000 bonus award from Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. Ranger will award another $3,000 to the winner if he or she is a participant in the Ranger Cup program, or $1,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant. Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup earnings if the participant meets “Powered by Yamaha” guidelines.
Co-angler competitors cast for a top award worth as much as $35,000, including a Ranger boat and trailer if contingency guidelines are met.
Logistics
Anglers will take off from Highpoint Marina at 7 Central each morning. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina, which is located at 120 Texoma Harbor Drive, in Pottsboro beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 401 Highway 75 North in Denison beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Pros and co-anglers will compete for two days to determine the top 20 pros and top 20 co-anglers who advance to Friday’s semifinal round, based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for the semifinal round and anglers compete for 10 spots in each division in the final round. Winners on day four are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
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 top 40 pros and top 40 co-anglers from each of the Stren Series’ five divisions – Central, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast and Western – will advance to the $1 million Stren Series Championship on Wheeler Lake Nov. 1-4. The top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers from each division also qualify for the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the world’s most lucrative tournament series, where they can compete for a share of $7.6 million in 2007.
Wednesday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:43 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 48 degrees
Expected high temperature: 71 degrees
Water temperature: 60-63 degrees
Wind: N at 12 mph
Maximum humidity: 55 percent
Day’s outlook: partly cloudy