Porter Wins Stren Series on California Delta
Category: Tournament
May 17th, 2008 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified May 17th, 2008 at 12:00 AM
OAKLEY, Calif. (May 17, 2008) – Pro Kyle Porter of Acampo, Calif., caught a five-bass limit weighing 31 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the Stren Series Western Division tournament on the California Delta with a four-day total of 20 bass weighing 100-08. For his victory, Porter earned $25,000 cash.”This is an awesome feeling,” said Porter, who now has his first FLW Outdoors victory under his belt. “It’s like you try for so long and finally all of the pieces come together.”
Porter threw a jig with a pork trailer all four days to catch his quality bass.
“I fished different spots all week, because my areas were getting beat up so bad,” Porter added. “Today, I fished 10 different spots until I got my limit. I caught a total of nine keepers today.”
Porter opened the tournament in second place Wednesday with five bass weighing 28-07. On Thursday he added another five bass weighing 18-12. He then caught five bass weighing 21-14 Friday to make the crucial top 10 cut in third place.
“It was really tough this week but it was all worth it in the end,” Porter said. “I can’t even describe what I am feeling right now.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Jeremy Zipton of Discovery Bay, Calif. (20 bass, 96-00, $9,299); Chris Raza of Roseville, Calif. (20 bass, 86-00, $8,370 plus $5,000 Ranger bonus); Timothy Venkus of Wilton, Calif. (20 bass, 85-09, $7,439); and Hunter Schlander of Modesto, Calif. (20 bass, 85-08, $6,509).
Dugan Mcintosh of Palermo, Calif., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Thursday – an 10-pound, 3-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $280.
Overall there were 45 bass weighing 181 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 9 pros Saturday. The catch included 9 five-bass limits.
Charles Peak of San Jose, Calif., won the Co-angler Division and $5,000 with a four-day total of 20 bass weighing 75-00.
“This is my first big win,” Peak said. “I really owe everything to the boaters I had this week. I really learned a lot.”
Peak was throwing a wacky-rigged watermelon-red finesse worm to key in on quality bass.
“I put a small nail in the head of the worm that creates a different fall which triggered the bite,” Peak said. “This was the key to my success.”
Peak caught five bass weighing 10-14 Wednesday while fishing with pro Scott Koehler of Galt, Calif., to open the tournament. He then caught five bass weighing 23-08 Thursday while fishing with pro Ryan German of Fairfield, Calif. On Friday he added five more bass weighing 19-12 to make the top 10 cut in first place while fishing with pro Mark Casey of Fairfield, Calif. Finally, on Saturday, he sealed the win with a five-bass catch weighing 20-14 while fishing with pro Mike Andrews of Oakley, Calif.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Kyle Baker of Lancaster, Calif. (20 bass, 73-06, $3,779); Chris Hughes of Orangevale, Calif. (20 bass, 70-03, $3,071); Aaron Reitz of Soda Springs, Calif. (20 bass, 54-08, $2,362); and Roy Desmangles Jr. of Lincoln, Calif. (20 bass, 54-06, $1,891).
Tommie Goldston of Gardnerville, Nev., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday – an 9-pound, 13-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $142.
Overall there were 45 bass weighing 147 pounds, 11 ounces caught by 10 co-anglers Saturday. The catch included 8 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 Wal-Mart FLW Tour®, Wal-Mart FLW Series®, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League® and TBF (The Bass Federation) for bass fishing’s biggest prize – $1 million.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
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.
FLW Outdoors historically maintains a 98 percent live release rate in all of its bass tournaments.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.