OAKLEY, Calif. — The $6.5 million Stren Series is headed to the California Delta May 28-30 for a $275,225 bass tournament. As many as 400 pros and co-anglers will be competing in the fourth and final regular-season Western Division tournament for top awards of $65,000 and $35,000, respectively.
“Well, the bummer is that it’s been fishing a bit tougher than it has in years past,” said Roy Hawk of Salt Lake City, Utah, who won the first two Stren Series Western Division events of the season. “I still expect there to be a few 30-pound bags, for sure. The fishing will still be really good. The weights may be down a little bit compared to last year, but it will still be a tremendous tournament with tons of fish caught, great weights and huge fish.”
Hawk predicted many anglers will find success with California Delta standbys – Texas-rigged soft plastics and drop-shot rigs. Hawk also said clearer water may allow anglers to pursue finesse techniques for a subtle presentation to bass. The only limit to bait selection is what will fit in the boat.
“There’s always a good reaction bite this time of year on topwater, (soft plastic) frogs and buzzbaits,” Hawk said. “There’s still a pretty good crankbait bite there this time of year. Swimbaits could come into play as well if we get some wind.”
Anglers will take off from Russo’s Marina located at 3995 Willow Road in Bethel Island, Calif., at 6:30 each morning. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will be held at the marina beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 4893 Lone Tree Way in Antioch, Calif., beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The California Delta Stren Series tournament is hosted by the City of Oakley.
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 $2.5 million 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 three-day accumulated weight. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all three 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 is taking fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports, $10 million in cash and prizes. Sign up for Player’s Advantage for only $10 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.
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