MINNEAPOLIS (Jan. 3, 2008) — Tune in Sunday, Jan. 13 to “FLW Outdoors” on FSN for the no-entry-fee Stren Series Championship held in Mobile, Ala. Only the top 40 anglers based on points standings from each of the Stren Series’ five divisions qualified for the season-ending tournament. The one-hour show concludes with the final weigh-in and crowning of the pro champion, who will take home a prize of up to $140,000.In addition to the $140,000 first-place purse, the highest-finishing pro from each division at the championship will also earn a spot in the $2 million 2008 Forrest Wood Cup, where they will compete against top pros from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series and TBF (The Bass Federation) for bass fishing’s biggest prize – $1 million.
The full field competes for two days on the Mobile Delta to determine the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers who will advance to the final round based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for the final round, and co-angler competition concludes on day three with the winner determined by the day’s heaviest catch. Pro competition concludes on day four, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four. Anglers fishing the 2007 Stren Series Championship are running far and wide to find fish in places that are several area codes away. Several pros who qualified for the final round are running 220 miles per day. Others, such as day-three leader Greg Bohannan, are easily covering 80 to 120 miles per day to get away from the Delta and into the current flows of the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers. Unlike the others near the top of the leaderboard who are using finesse baits and soft plastics, Bohannan is throwing a Bandit 200 crankbait that was custom painted. The Rogers, Ark., native is essentially paralleling the banks with the crankbait, keying on little clay points that break the swift current. That presentation worked to the tune of a five-bass limit on day three that weighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces. Bohannan, who won the Stren Series Central Division qualifier on the Columbus Pool, has his sights set on a second victory and a six-figure payday.
Trailing the Stren Series Central Division points champion is David Curtis. The Trinity, Texas, native is no slouch himself, having won the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail Championship on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir just a few weeks prior to the Stren Series Championship. Curtis is making the really long run, the run that requires him to purchase fuel, not once, but twice each day. This 100-mile-plus trip is only leaving him about three and a half hours of fishing time. While there is little room for error, the quality fish are there. As evidence, Curtis caught only five keepers on day three, but they weighed 9 pounds, 8 ounces. Those fish were all spotted bass and were caught on a finesse worm and 8-pound test line.
The lone angler in the top 10 not traveling very far from the Chocolotta Bay Ramp is pro Mike Jackson of San Mateo, Fla. The Stren Series rookie is within 17 ounces of first place after catching five bass on day three that weighed 9 pounds, 3 ounces. Jackson continues to flip matted junk in Three Mile Creek – the same creek that runs through downtown Mobile. Jackson, who is using a 1 1/2-ounce flipping weight and a variety of plastic creature baits, has this area all to himself. In practice one day he caught a five-fish limit that weighed over 15 pounds. Tune in Sunday to see if his atypical honeyhole can produce yet again.
FSN is the industry leader in providing the most up-to-date technology in TV production. FSN puts viewers in the boats with the pros, shadowing them from sunrise until the final weigh-in using innovative camera work that gives fishing fans the most intimate viewing experience available.
FSN broadcasts “FLW Outdoors” Sunday mornings. Check local listings for show times and channels in your area. FLWOutdoors.com also provides an online guide listing upcoming episodes on “FLW Outdoors.”
FSN is broadcast to more than 81 million homes through its network of 20 regional sports channels. Established in 1996, FSN is the only cable network that supplies national, regional and local sports programming. FSN serves as the cable TV home to 62 of the 82 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States, and produces more than 4,500 live events each year. FSN has an extensive catalog of original national programs, including “Best Damn Sports Show Period” and “Beyond the Glory” documentary series, along with national packages of collegiate sports. Based in Los Angeles, FSN is part of the vast FOX Sports television family. For the latest up-to-the-minute sports news and opinions, visit the FOX Sports/FSN website at www.FoxSports.com.
“FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to more than 429 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 service men and women stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of more than $40 million through 230 events in 2008.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most-respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Walmart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
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