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HODGES
LEADS STREN SERIES EVENT ON
BENTON, Ky. (May 2, 2007) – Pro Andy Hodges of
Cadiz, Ky., caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 9 ounces Wednesday
to lead opening day of the $275,225 Stren Series Central Division tournament
on Kentucky Lake.
“This is a fantastic lake to fish a tournament
on,” said Hodges, who is making his rookie debut in the Stren Series in the
“Right now, I’m just picking the water apart,”
Hodges added. “I’m looking for specific areas that are holding fish. The
cloud cover had fish stacked up and I caught fish anywhere from 6 inches of
water to 4 feet deep.”
Hodges said he caught a mixture of pre-spawn
and post-spawn fish and covered a lot of water while doing it, covering
water from north
“I’m going to keep fishing the same way and
targeting areas like I did today,” Hodges said. “I quit fishing and left my
spots at 10:30 this morning to leave the fish alone until the next day.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Curt McGuire
of
John Hill of Western Grove,
Overall there were 794 bass weighing 2,128
pounds, 0 ounces caught by pros Wednesday. The catch included 114 five-bass
limits.
Pros are competing for as much as $65,000,
including a 519VX Ranger powered by Evinrude or Yamaha if contingency
guidelines are met, and valuable points
toward qualifying for the $1 million Stren Series Championship in
Stephen Smith of
“We made a real short run to Barkley and fished long-running points and threw crankbaits and soft plastics,” said Smith, who also has fished FLW Tour and FLW Series events as a co-angler. “We caught fish all day. That was the most fish I’ve ever caught in one day. This place is phenomenal.”
Smith said he caught a number of keepers that
allowed him to cull fish repeatedly during the day.
“Ralph caught a lot of fish too, but I got a
couple of big bites that just happened to put me near the top,” Smith said.
Rounding out the top five
Chad Porter of Paducah, Ky., earned $150 for
the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 6-pound,
6-ounce bass he caught.
Overall there were 448 bass weighing 1,168
pounds, 5 ounces caught by co-anglers Wednesday. The catch included 30
five-bass limits.
The top 40 co-anglers from each Stren Series
division will also advance to the championship, where they will fish 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.
Anglers will take off at 6:30 each morning from
Moors Resort & Marina located at 570 Moors Road in Gilbertsville, Ky.
Thursday and Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3
p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 310
W. 5th St. in Benton, Ky., beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and
weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Stren Series tournaments are four-day events
consisting of two rounds. The entire field competes Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday. At the conclusion of Friday’s weigh-in, the field is cut to the top
10 pros
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
