Dim day, bright hope

Returning clouds and wind bode well for final day of Texoma Stren event

DENISON, Texas – The weather facing Stren Series anglers on Lake Texoma has been like a sunshine sandwich – cloudy on day one, then two days of mostly bright conditions and now back to gloomy skies. Most are eager to take a bite of the final round special.

Second place pro Robert Robinson appreciates the clouds, but he’s most enthused by the day’s forecast of southerly winds. Calm water resulting from still conditions hampered him on days two and three, but he managed to put together competitive limits that kept him in the hunt.

“I need the wind,” Robinson noted. “This will allow me to cover more water. Yesterday, I had a lot of slick water that I couldn’t fish because it didn’t have any wind on it. Those fish got a break so hopefully, they’ll be there today – unmolested so we can go get them.”

With a spinnerbait and a jig as his primary tools, Robinson hopes to at least match his day-three weight of 14 pounds, 4 ounces. “I’m going to need another 14-15 pound stringer today.”

Pro leader Dave Parsons of Yantis, Texas brings a 3-pound lead into the final round. A meticulous practice effort has positioned him to work the numbers game and adjust to the day’s meteorological makeup.

“I’ll be starting on (rocky points) this morning and then moving to the wood and chunk rock as the day goes on,” Parsons said. “I have (several) different spots and they all have different kinds of structure. It really depends on which way the wind is blowing and how my fish are setting up on it.”

Although he’d like to bang out a good limit early, Parsons said he knows that it’ll be hard to find a concentration of quality fish that haven’t been beaten up. “The first day, I stayed in one area, the second day I hit two, yesterday I hit four. Today, hopefully I can get by with two. If not, I’m prepared to hit six or seven spots.”

After clearing the no wake buoys at the mouth of Highport Marina, Parsons immediately hooked back in to the shoreline and worked the rocky points to the west. Obviously looking for an early jump on his limit, Parsons and top co-angler George Coffman of Marlow, Ok had baits in the water well before the last boat cleared the buoys.

Should he need to employ a multi-spot plan, Parsons will have to spend a lot of time behind the console. “I’m probably going to be doing more running than I have all week. I may have to hit all my stuff today, but we have a long enough day to do that. I have a couple of places that are pretty far apart, so I filled the boat up with gas.”

With a three-day total of 35-4, Coffman holds a 2-pound, 9-ounce lead over second-place co-angler Stephen Francis. Coffman threw a crankbait on day three and had his best success of the tournament. He said cranking was a possibility in the final round, but adjusting to his pro’s lead was his plan.

A couple of notables in the co-angler division are Chris Bobo of Sherman, Texas and Bo Middleton of Elgin, Ok., who sit in sixth and seventh place, each with 22 pounds, 12 ounces. Fishing his first FLW tournament, Bobo lead his division on day two and caught the biggest co-angler bass on day one. Middleton won the 2007 Stren Series event on Lake Texoma.

Tournament logistics

The Stren Series event, which runs May 7-10, represents the third of four regular-season Texas Division tournaments. The total purse for the Lake Texoma event is $275,225. The winning pro could earn as much as $65,000 in cash and prizes if various contingencies are met, and the winning co-angler could earn as much as $35,000.

Action continues at today’s weigh-in, scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. (Central Time) at the Wal-Mart store located at 401 U.S. North Highway 75, Denison, Texas.

Saturday’s conditions:

Sunrise: 6:29 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 67 degrees

Expected high temperature: 86 degrees

Water temperature: 70 degrees

Wind: SE 11 mph, shifting to SW 12-14 mph

Humidity: 47 percent

Day’s outlook: Cloudy