PAYSON, Ariz. (April 9, 2009) The $6.5 million Stren Seriesis headed to Lake Roosevelt April 16-18 for a $260,750 bass tournament…
PAYSON, Ariz. (April 9, 2009) The $6.5 million Stren Seriesis headed to Lake Roosevelt April 16-18 for a $260,750 bass tournament. As many as 400 pros and co-anglers will be competing in the second Western Division tournament of the season for top awards of $65,000 and $30,000, respectively.
Right now weve had a little bit of the spawning phase, said Team National Guard pro Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz. Its hard to say how the fish will act. There will be both spawning and post-spawn fish, and overall the fishing should be really good.
Pirch said the typically clear canyon reservoir has been a little dingy as of late, as high winds have limited water visibility to about 5 feet deep. Pirch said the water clarity shouldnt play a large factor, as anglers will use a multitude of approaches and techniques to catch their limits.
Lake Roosevelt has got tons and tons of flooded mesquite, saltcedar and willows, Pirch said. Theres an incredible amount of shoreline coverage, but theres also lots of deep water.
Guys will be throwing a ton of different baits, Pirch said. Its a real versatile lake, so there will be some topwater patterns, some spawning patterns and some deep fish as well. Theres backwater fishing, theres river fishing, theres main lake stuff, deep stuff, clear stuff, dingy stuff pretty much everything.
Lake Roosevelt has a slot limit, and anglers will be allowed to weigh fish that measure 12 to 13 inches as well as those longer than 16 inches.
Anglers will take off from the Cholla Recreation Site located five miles northwest of Roosevelt Dam on Highway 188 in Roosevelt, Ariz., at 6:30 each morning. Thursday and Fridays weigh-ins will be held at the Cholla Recreation Site beginning at 3 p.m. Saturdays weigh-in will be held at the Walmart store located at 300 N. Beeline Hwy. in Payson beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
The Lake Roosevelt Stren Series tournament is hosted by the Town of Payson.
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 fishings 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, two and three, with the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers advancing to day four based on their three-day accumulated weight. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
Total awards are based on a full field of 150 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 Players 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 Players Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
