Fuqua wins Stren Series event on Red River
Category: press release
Sep 28th, 2008 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Sep 28th, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Hults wins co-angler title, $35,000NATCHITOCHES, La. – Pro Ricky Fuqua of Effie, La., caught four bass weighing 9 pounds, 09 ounces Saturday to win the Stren Series Texas Division tournament on the Red River with a four-day total of 16 bass weighing 44-15. For his victory, Fuqua earned $25,000 cash. “This event was great … super, even,” said Fuqua, who won the first and only Stren Series event he has fished. “I just couldn’t catch any fish. And then yesterday I had one of those awesome days and it worked out real good.”Fuqua’s “awesome” day was a five-bass limit that weighed 19-14. In a tournament that didn’t see many 14-pound stringers, Fuqua’s third-day weight gave him a little breathing room on the final day of competition.”I went into the final day almost three pounds in the lead, so that was like already having a kicker fish in the boat,” Fuqua said. “Even though I only had four fish, it was like having five.”Fuqua said he used a swimming jig in 1 ½ to 2 feet of water near wood structure to catch his fish all four days of competition.Fuqua opened the tournament in 31st place Wednesday with four bass weighing 8-02. On Thursday he added another three bass weighing 7-06 to move to 27th place. He then caught the monster five-bass limit weighing 19-14 on Friday to make the crucial top 10 cut in first place.Rounding out the top five pros are Ricky Scott of Van Buren, Ark. (19 bass, 42-01, $5,473 plus $5,000 Ranger bonus); Kevin Lasyone of Dry Prong, La. (20 bass, 41-06, $4,925 plus $5,000 Ranger bonus); David Curtis of Trinity, Texas (18 bass, 38-01, $4,378); and Stephen Johnston of Hemphill, Texas (17 bass, 36-11, $3,831).Fuqua caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Friday – a 5-pound, 14-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $165.Overall there were 37 bass weighing 64 pounds, 9 ounces caught by pros Saturday. The catch included three five-bass limits. Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss., won the Co-angler Division and $35,000, including a 198VX Ranger boat, with a four-day total of 15 bass weighing 28-11.”We fished the backwater area that had a lot of structure in it,” said Hults, who has won more than $138,000 fishing as a co-angler in FLW Outdoors events. “I really struggled. I ended up catching them on a few different baits than what I had thrown all week.”Hults said he caught one of his final-day fish on a chatter-type bait and the other on a spinnerbait. Earlier in the tournament, Hults said he caught the majority of his fish on worms and jigs.”I lost a good one right off of the bat and then I caught the two I weighed,” Hults said. “We just didn’t have any good bites.”I was the most nervous I had ever been in a tournament,” Hults added. “I thought one or two people would catch them real good, but they didn’t.”Hults caught five bass weighing 9-12 Wednesday while fishing with pro Peter Daniels of Shreveport, La., to open the tournament in fifth place. He then caught five bass weighing 9-09 Thursday while fishing with pro Stan Burgay of Timpson, Texas, to capture his lead. On Friday he added three more bass weighing 5-13 to make the top 10 cut in first place while fishing with pro Ricky Scott of Van Buren, Ark. Finally, on Saturday, he sealed the win with a two-bass catch weighing 3-09 while fishing with Fuqua. Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Stephen Francis of Brookeland, Texas (14 bass, 25-14, $2,609); Keith Honeycutt of Temple, Texas (13 bass, 24-11, $2,120); Chris Weaver of Lawton, Okla. (13 bass, 23-02, $1,629); and Bennie Anderson of Grand Prairie, Texas (14 bass, 21-14, $1,304).Larry Beauboeuf of Natchitoches, La., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Wednesday – a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $99.Overall there were 19 bass weighing 27 pounds, 9 ounces caught by co-anglers Saturday. The catch included one five-bass limits. After four qualifying events are complete in each of the Stren Series’ five divisions, the top 40 pros from each division will advance to the $1 million Stren Series Championship in Branson, Mo., Nov. 5-8 for a shot at $140,000. The highest-finishing pro from each division at the championship will also earn a spot in the $2 million 2009 Forrest Wood Cup, where they will compete against top pros from the Walmart FLW Tour®, Walmart FLW Series®, Walmart Bass Fishing League® and TBF (The Bass Federation) for bass fishing’s biggest prize – $1 million.