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ELLIS WINS STREN SERIES EVENT ON
Rodrigue wins Co-angler
Division, $35,000
MANNING, S.C. (April 14, 2007) – Pro Ken Ellis
of Bowman, S.C., caught a huge five-bass limit weighing 27 pounds, 5 ounces
Saturday to win the $275,225 Stren Series Southeast Division tournament
presented by Yamaha on the Santee Cooper lakes with a four-day total of 20
bass weighing 86-7. For his victory, the well-know local pro earned $25,000
cash. He also earned the division’s Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year title
with a total of 745 points.
“I’ve always wanted to win the points
championship,” said Ellis, who entered the tournament second in the Angler
of the Year points standings. “It’s a real honor to have my name listed
alongside all the anglers who have won the title before me.”
Ellis opened the tournament in 48th place
Wednesday with five bass weighing 11-8 that he caught on a Texas-rigged
trick worm while fishing cypress trees. On Thursday he added another five
bass weighing 20-12, including an 8-pound, 12-ounce largemouth, using a
Senko and a trick worm. He then caught five bass weighing 26-14 on a Senko
and a 4-inch Zoom lizard Friday to make the crucial top 10 cut in first
place with a 9-pound lead.
“In order to win one of these things everything
has to go well,” Ellis said. “I had a rough opening day, and I was really
down because it is rare that you can have a bad day and come back and win.
The wind on day two (gusting to 30 mph) helped me climb out of the hole
because it kept the weights down for the entire field. It really played to
my advantage.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Mark Hutson
of Moncks Corner, S.C. (17 bass, 77-6, $9,299); Joseph Kremer of
Thrift also earned Ranger Cup and Powered by
Yamaha bonuses of $2,250 as the highest finishing participant in the Range
Cup incentive program.
Kremer caught the biggest bass of the
tournament in the Pro Division Wednesday – a 9-pound, 2-ounce largemouth –
that earned him the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $280.
Overall there were 42 bass weighing 167 pounds,
10 ounces caught by 10 pros Saturday. The catch included eight five-bass
limits.
Brad Rodrigue of Pierre Part,
“This win is very special to me,” said Rodrigue, who has earned two FLW Outdoors victories since 2003. “I didn’t have a real good year, so it’s nice to go out on a high note.”
Rodrigue caught two bass weighing 7-11
Wednesday using a Carolina rigged Baby Brush Hog in watermelon/gold color
while fishing with pro Lloyd Picket Jr. of
Rounding out the top five
Rodrigue and Ryan Valentine of
Overall there were 15 bass weighing 47 pounds,
5 ounces caught by 10 co-anglers Saturday. The catch included two five-bass
limits.
Aaron Fahnestock of
The top 40 pros from the Stren Series Southeast
Division will now advance to the $1 million Stren Series Championship in
The top 40 co-anglers from the Southeast
Division will also advance to the championship, where they will fish against
top qualifiers from four other Stren Series divisions for as much as
$70,000. The highest-finishing co-angler from each division at the
championship will then advance to the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup.
FLW
Outdoors historically maintains a 98 percent live release rate in all of its
bass 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 presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament
Championship Series, 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 nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.
Wal-Mart and many of
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its
tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
