$6 Million Stren Series Heads to Potomac River

August 07 , 2006

LAPLATA, Md. — The $6 million Stren Series is headed the Potomac River near LaPlata, Md., Aug. 16-19 for the third 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.

“The Potomac River is an awesome fishery,” said Stren Series Northeast Division points leader Chris Baldwin of Lexington, N.C. “This tournament will probably be won in the grass.”

Baldwin, who has two wins and 28 top-10 finishes in FLW Outdoors competition, believes the majority of anglers will flip the grass and fish a crankbait around and available wood.

“The better fish are usually in the grass,” he said. “But a little crankbait around the wood can produce some quality fish. A frog fished over the mats can also produce well too.”

Baldwin predicts that it will take about 12 pounds a day to make the top-20 cut and the winning angler will weigh 10 bass on the final two days that will exceed 32 pounds.

Anglers will take off from Smallwood State Park at 6 each morning. Wednesday and Thursday's weigh-ins will also be held at the park, which is located at 2750 Sweden Point Road in Marbury, Md., beginning at 2:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday's weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 40 Drury Road in LaPlata 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 Potomac River Stren Series event is hosted by the Charles County Office of Tourism. For more information, call (800) 766-3386.

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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