$6 Million Stren Series Heads to Lake Erie

July 10, 2006

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The $6 million Stren Series is headed Lake Erie in Cleveland Ohio, July 19-22 for the second of four $262,125 regular-season Northeast Division events.

Anglers competing in the tournament presented by Yamaha will fish for a top pro award worth as much as $64,500, including a 519VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a 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 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 will cast for a top award worth as much as $35,000, including a 519VX Ranger boat and trailer 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 qualify for the $2 million 2007 Forrest Wood Cup, where the winning pro will have a shot at bass fishing's first $1 million prize.

“Lake Erie is full of smallmouths and I think they will be biting too,” said pro Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C., who has five combined top-10 finishes in FLW Tour and Stren Series competition. “Some fish will still be spawning and some will be prespawn.”

Baumgardner believes drop-shotting and dragging tubes will play a major part in the tournament's outcome.

“They always do,” he said. “Anglers that can find the fish in deeper water will do well.”

Turbulent waters caused by windy conditions may limit the areas anglers can or cannot fish. Condition such as those could reduce the number of heavy weight limits brought to the scales on a given day. Baumgardner, however, is not discouraged.

“The weights will drop off some, but I don't care,” he said. “Lake Erie has some of the best smallmouth fishing there is. Let the wind blow, I'm going to have a lot of fun. I love fishing for those smallies.”

Anglers will take off from Voinovich Park Marina at 6 each morning. Wednesday and Thursday's weigh-ins will also be held at the marina, which is located at 9th Street in Cleveland beginning at 2:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday's weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 3606 Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

As many as 200 pros and 200 co-anglers will compete for two days to determine the top 20 pros and top 20 co-anglers who advance to day three based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for day three and anglers compete for 10 spots in each division on day four. Winners 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, Northeast, Midwest, 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 Wal-Mart FLW Series, where they can compete for a share of $6.5 million in 2007.

Each Stren Series division features four regular-season tournaments.

The Lake Erie Stren Series event is hosted by the Cleveland Convention and Visitors Bureau. For more information, visit travelcleveland.com .

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 presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners' Tournament Trail, 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 exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.

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 .

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.

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