Stren Series Championship set to kick off on Table Rock Lake
Category: press release
Oct 24th, 2008 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Oct 24th, 2008 at 12:00 AM
BRANSON, Mo.-The $6.5 million Stren Series is headed to Table Rock Lake in Branson, Mo., Nov. 5-8 for the Walmart FLW Stren Series Championship, where the winning pro will take home as much as $140,000 and the winning co-angler will earn as much as $70,000.
“I’m excited about this year’s event,” said Ranger pro Troy Eakins of Nixa, Mo., who qualified for the Stren Series Championship in 2008 as the No. 3 seed in the Stren Series Central Division. “Table Rock is my home lake and fishing the lake in the fall is my favorite time.”
Eakins said the dominant baits will likely be an array of jigs and crankbaits. He predicts that anglers will need 28-30 pounds to make the final day cut for a chance to win the $140,000-first place prize.
“With the opportunity to fish shallow, this event is right up my alley,” he said. “I haven’t won an event all year, and it would be awesome to win this one. This is my last tournament of ’08, and it would be awesome to close it out with a win. The competition at the Stren Series championship is tough, the best anglers from all the divisions meet at one lake. These guys can hold their own, and it will probably be a challenging tournament.”
With Eakins knowledge of the lake, he doesn’t want to practice too much and hurt his key areas.
“I plan on only practicing for the tournament about five days,” Eakins said. “I have won two boats on Table Rock in the last year so I don’t want to be over confident and have the home lake curse.”
Anglers will take off from State Park Marina, located at Highway 165 South in Branson, at 7 each morning. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will be held at State Park Marina, beginning at 2:30 p.m. As part of the festivities, Pinegar Chevrolet, located at 181 Adair Rd. in Branson, will also host Chevy Pro Night on Wednesday, Nov. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Branson Convention Center, located at 200 West Main Street in Branson, along with the Stren Series Championship Family Fun Zone and Outdoor Show. The Family Fun Zone, which opens at 2 p.m. on Friday and noon on Saturday, features interactive displays, product samples and games for the entire family to enjoy. On Saturday, the first 200 children 14 and under will be treated to a free rod and reel combo. Weigh-ins both days will begin at 4 p.m. Admission to all activities is free.
Two hundred pros and 200 co-anglers (the top 40 based on points standings from each of the Stren Series’ five divisions: Central; Northern; Southeast; Texas; Western) will compete for two days on Table Rock Lake to determine the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers who will advance to the final round based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for the final round, and co-angler competition concludes on day three with the winner determined by the day’s heaviest catch. Pro competition concludes on day four, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
The winning pro will earn an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 198VX equipped with Lowrance electronics and a Minn Kota trolling motor plus $50,000 cash. If the winner is the original owner of a qualifying Ranger boat powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard that is used during the tournament, he will also receive a $25,000 bonus from Ranger and an additional $25,000 Evinrude or Yamaha bonus for a total award of $140,000. The winning co-angler will receive a fully rigged Ranger 198VX plus $15,000 cash. If the winning co-angler meets Ranger and Evinrude or Yamaha contingency guidelines, he will also receive bonuses totaling $15,000 for a total award of $70,000. For a complete list of the championship purse, please visit FLWOutdoors.com.
The Stren Series Championship is being hosted by the Branson/Lakes Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. For more information, visit explorebranson.com or call (417) 334-4084.
The top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers from each division will also qualify for the 2009 Walmart FLW Tour® and Walmart FLW Series®, bass fishing’s top professional circuits. The highest-finishing pro and co-angler from each division at the Stren Series Championship will also qualify for the $2 million 2009 Forrest Wood Cup, where pros will fish for as much as $1 million – the most lucrative award in bass fishing.
The first Stren Series tournament of 2009 is in the Texas Division on Falcon Lake in Zapata, Texas, on Jan. 15-17. The Stren Series Western Division kicks off the season at Clear Lake in Kelseyville, Calif., Jan. 22-24 and the Southeast Division will hold its first tournament of the year on Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston, Fla., Jan. 26-28. Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Ky., will host the season-opener for the Central Division on May 7-9 and the Potomac River will host the first event for the Northern Division, June 25-27. For the complete Stren Series schedule, payout tables and registration information, please visit FLWOutdoors.com.
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.