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$6 MILLION STREN SERIES TO VISIT
LAKE OKEECHOBEE FOR SEASON OPENER
Chase for the $1 million Stren
Series Championship, $2 million Forrest Wood Cup set to begin
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Dec. 19, 2005) - The $6
million Stren Series is
headed to Lake Okeechobee Jan. 4-7 for the season-opening event,
a $262,125
Southeast Division tournament launching from Okee-Tantie Marina
in
Okeechobee.
Anglers competing in the Pro Division will fish
for a top award
worth as much as $64,500, including a 519VX Ranger boat powered
by an
Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with 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 519VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are
met.
Competitors will also be vying for valuable points
that could earn
them a trip to the $1 million Stren Series Championship in Decatur,
Ala., for a shot at $140,000 in the Pro Division and $70,000
in the
Co-angler Division. The highest-finishing pro and co-angler from
each division
at the Stren Series Championship will also earn a spot in the
new $2
million 2007 Forrest Wood Cup, where top pros from the Wal-Mart
FLW Tour,
Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League
and
Ranger owners' tournaments will compete for bass fishing's first
$1
million top award.
The Lake Okeechobee season opener in 2005 produced
some impressive
catches. Though hurricane damage had removed extensive amounts
of
aquatic vegetation, anglers still caught plenty of fish. A&W
pro J.T. Kenney
of Daytona Beach caught a five-bass limit weighing 32 pounds,
12 ounces
on day one - breaking the Stren Series record for a one-day catch
-
then went on to post a two-day total of 48 pounds, 14 ounces,
which broke
the Stren Series record for the heaviest two-day catch. Kenney
ultimately finished second behind local favorite Daryl Deka of
Wellington.
"The lake is going to be a lot different this
year than it was last
year," Kenney said. "We'll catch plenty of fish. Lots
more areas have
opened up, and anglers will have the chance to spread out a little
more
than they did last year. Some of the traditional areas may not
produce
as well, but there are new areas available. There will be more
ways to
catch them this year than by just flipping."
Anglers will take off from Okee-Tantie ramp at
7:30 each morning.
Wednesday and Thursday's weigh-ins will also be held at the marina,
which
is located at 10430 Highway 78 W. in Okeechobee, beginning at
3 p.m.
Friday and Saturday's weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart
store
located at 2101 S. Parrot Ave. in Okeechobee beginning at 4 p.m.
Takeoffs and
weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Two hundred pros and 200 co-anglers will compete
for two days to
determine the top 20 pros and top 20 co-anglers who advance to
the
semifinal round based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights
are cleared
on day three 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,
Midwest, Northeast, 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
2007 FLW
Series, where they can compete for a share of $6.5 million.
Each Stren Series division features four regular-season
tournaments.
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 Texas Tournament
Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League,
Wal-Mart
FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart
FLW Redfish
Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.5
million
through 235 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its
tournament programs,
visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
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
Wal-Mart.com.
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