BASS RETAINS LEAD IN $1 MILLION STREN SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP ON WHEELER LAKE

BASS RETAINS LEAD IN $1 MILLION STREN SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP ON WHEELER LAKE

King, Borofka, Billmaier, Shuga earn berths into the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup

DECATUR, Ala. (Nov. 2, 2006) - After catching an incredible five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces on a mild and calm opening day of the $1 million Stren Series Championship on Wheeler Lake, Southeast Division rookie Sam Bass of Section, Ala., caught just two bass weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces Thursday. His two-day total of seven bass weighing 23-12 was enough, however, to keep him at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final round of competition.
"That's fishing," said Bass, lamenting his day-two catch. "One day you catch everything, and the next day they humble you."
Bass caught his limit on opening day using a topwater bait in grass on Decatur Flats. On Thursday, however, he switched to a flipping laydowns in Flint Creek in an effort to seek refuge from the wind. "I knew I wouldn't be able to fish the flats, so I had a backup plan," he said. "But apparently, so did a lot of other people."
Bass said he arrived in Flint Creek to find a dozen boats fishing the same areas he was targeting. Like Bass, the boats moved into the area after a cold front moved through overnight, bringing 30 degree temperatures, clear skies and strong winds to the region - conditions that made fishing open water difficult at best.
"I was knocking on wood all day long," Bass said. "I kept thinking, 'All I have to do is catch a limit, and I'll be fishing tomorrow.'"
Fortunately for Bass, conditions were tough on everyone, and he didn't need a limit after all. The 3-pound lead he opened on day one held up.
"There are a lot of good fishermen here, and I really left the door open," Bass said. "I'm fortunate to have finished where I did."
Spiderwire pro Bobby Lane of Lakeland, Fla., held on to his No. 2 spot as well to advance to Friday's final round of 10 pros with a two-day total of seven bass weighing 23 pounds, 8 ounces.
Ricky Scott of Van Buren, Ark. (10 bass, 23-3); Kellogg's pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa. (10 bass, 23-1) and Mark Shepard of Labelle, Fla. (10 bass, 22-3) rounded out the top five pros.
Pros Ott Defoe of Knoxville, Tenn.; Jason Borofka of Salinas, Calif.; Stacey King of Reeds Spring, Mo.; Thanh Le of Las Vegas, Nev.; and JT Kenney of Daytona Beach, Fla., also cleared the top-10 cut weight of 21 pounds, 2 ounces and will continue fishing Friday for a top award of $140,000.
Despite finishing the opening round in seventh and eighth place, respectively, King and Borofka have earned a place in the history books as the first pro qualifiers for the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug 2-5, 2007. Three more pro spots are still up for grabs this week, as the top finishers from each of the Stren Series' five divisions will secure an automatic berth into the world's most lucrative bass tournament for a chance to win the sport's first $1 million award.
"This was a goal of mine at the start of the season," said King, a 12-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier. "I'm also in contention to qualify through the FLW Series, so this takes the pressure off. It's a thrill."
Le earned the day's Snickers Big Bass award of $750 in the Pro Division with a 5-pound, 12-ounce largemouth that he caught on a Carolina rigged Baby Brush Hog with just seven minutes remaining to fish.
Thomas Szwankowski of Hope, Ark., leads the top 10 co-anglers in their hunt for a $70,000 payday with a two-day catch of nine bass weighing 18-10.
Szwankowski caught five bass weighing 12-7 Wednesday while fishing with Justin Kerr of Simi Valley, Calif., then added another four bass weighing 6-3 to his total Thursday while fishing with Bounty Basics pro Jacob Powroznik of Prince George, Va.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Marty Sexton of St. Paul, Minn. (10 bass, 16-6); Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss. (10 bass, 16-5); Phillip Hudnall of Newkirk, Okla. (nine bass, 14-13); and Daniel Shuga of Botkins, Ohio (nine bass, 14-9).
Kerry Barnett of Waldron, Ark.; Jason Billmaier of Las Vegas, Nev.; Monte Knight of Quiteman, Miss.; Alan Hench of Lititz, Pa.; and Thomas Rizzo of Rochester, Pa., also cleared the top-10 cut weight of 13 pounds, 8 ounces.
Like King and Borofka, Shuga and Billmaier have also earned a place in the history books as the first co-angler qualifiers for the Forrest Wood Cup. Three more co-angler qualifiers will be determined Friday.
Shuga earned the day's Snickers Big Bass award of $375 in the Co-angler Division with a 4-pound, 4-ounce largemouth.
Overall, 851 bass weighing 1,330 pounds, 4 ounces were caught by 156 pros and 131 co-anglers Thursday. There were 78 five-bass limits caught and more than 99 percent of the bass were released alive.
Anglers will take off from Ingalls Harbor located on Highway 20 W. in Decatur at 7 each morning. Friday and Saturday's weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 2800 Spring Ave. S.W. in Decatur beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend the Family Fun Zone Friday and Saturday outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The Family Fun Zone, which opens at 2 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday, features interactive displays, product samples and games for the entire family to enjoy. Admission to all activities is free.
Weights will be cleared Friday, and co-angler competition will conclude with the winner determined by the day's heaviest catch. Pro competition will conclude Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest cumulative weight from days three and four.
The winning pro will earn an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 519VX equipped with Lowrance electronics, a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries 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/Yamaha bonus for a total award of $140,000. The winning co-angler will receive a fully rigged Ranger 519VX 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.
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, Stratos Owners' Tournament Trail, 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 exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America's largest and most-respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world's leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.

WAL-MART FLW SERIES EVENT FROM LAKE OF THE OZARKS TO AIR NOV. 12 ON FSN

Star-studded top-10 field competes for $100,000 first-place purse

MINNEAPOLIS (Nov. 2, 2006) - Tune in Sunday, Nov. 12 to "FLW Outdoors" on FSN for the $900,000 Wal-Mart FLW Series bass fishing tournament held on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Mo. The fourth of five tournaments in the $6.5 million FLW Series season concludes with the winning pro claiming a cash prize of $100,000.
The Nov. 12 show features Chevy pro Dion Hibdon of Stover, Mo., who owns a commanding lead after catching a three-day total of 51 pounds, 15 ounces. Hibdon has tapped Lake of the Ozarks' deep-water bite, catching most of his fish in 20 to 40 feet of water. The former FLW Tour Championship winner is using 3/4-ounce and 1-ounce jigs to trigger his strikes. Fishing on his home water, things look optimistic for Hibdon, but he does have a major problem: a star-studded top-10 field, including his own father Guido, is breathing down his neck.
This tournament marks the first time in history that the legendary father-son duo has qualified for the top-10 together. While Dion is squarely in the driver's seat, his father, the Gravois Mills, Mo., pro, is eighth with a three-day total of 44 pounds, 13 ounces.
FSN also shadows red-hot pro Steve Kennedy, who has been closing in on the top position all week. On day three, the Auburn, Ala., native weighed 14 pounds, 9 ounces to move into second place with a three-day total of 49 pounds, 9 ounces. After a victory earlier this year on Kentucky Lake and a seventh-place finish at the 2006 FLW Tour Championship, Kennedy continues to enjoy his best year on tour.
Complicating matters even further for the younger Hibdon is one Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Ark. Nixon, one of the true legends of bass fishing, is also clawing his way to the top with solid limits each day. His opening-round total stands at 48 pounds, 4 ounces, good enough for third place with one day of competition remaining. Much like the Hibdons, Nixon is also fishing deep in the 25- to 35-foot range with a jig. His primary lure is a 5/8-ounce Eakin's football-head jig, peanut butter and jelly color, with a Berkley Chigger Craw on the back tied to 14-pound-test Vanish fluorocarbon.
Also in contention is Kellogg's pro Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas, who sits in sixth place after three days on Lake of the Ozarks. His two main patterns are walking a 3/8-ounce spinnerbait along rocky bluff banks and casting square-billed crankbaits alongside floating boat docks. The FLW Series points leader said the key to his success is using big baits that imitate gizzard shad.
FSN broadcasts "FLW Outdoors" Sundays from 11 a.m. to noon ET. Check local listings for show times and channels in your area. FLWOutdoors.com also provides an online guide listing upcoming episodes on "FLW Outdoors."
FSN is broadcast to more than 81 million homes through its network of 20 regional sports channels. Established in 1996, FSN is the only cable network that supplies national, regional and local sports programming. FSN serves as the cable TV home to 62 of the 82 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States, and produces more than 4,500 live events each year. FSN has an extensive catalog of original national programs, including "Best **** Sports Show Period" and "Beyond the Glory" documentary series, along with national packages of collegiate sports. Based in Los Angeles, FSN is part of the vast FOX Sports television family. For the latest up-to-the-minute sports news and opinions, visit the FOX Sports/FSN website at [url]www.FoxSports.com[/url].
"FLW Outdoors" is also broadcast internationally to more than 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 service men and women stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
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, Stratos Owners' Tournament Trail, 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 exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
Wal-Mart and many of America's largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world's leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com.
FLW Outdoors

SCOTT LEADS $1 MILLION STREN SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP ON WHEELER LAKE

Knight wins Co-angler Division, wins $62,500

DECATUR, Ala. (Nov. 3, 2006) - Ricky Scott of Van Buren, Ark., caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 2 ounces Friday - the third heaviest limit of the tournament - to lead 10 finalists in the $1 million Stren Series Championship on Wheeler Lake. He now holds a solid 6-pound, 2-ounce lead over A & W pro JT Kenney of Daytona Beach, Fla., who caught a five-bass limit weighing 10 pounds. If he can maintain his lead Saturday, Scott will earn $115,000.
"I would rather have a 6-pound lead than have to try to overtake a 6-pound lead as tough as it has been," said Scott, who qualified for the championship as the No. 15 seed from the Central Division. "I've not caught fish in the same place any two days of this tournament, though, so I expect I'll have to find new water tomorrow, too."
Scott opened the tournament Wednesday in fourth place with five bass weighing 14-5 that he caught in an area where runoff from the day's rain was entering the lake. After a cold front swept through the region Wednesday night, Scott changed locations and added another five bass weighing 8-14 to his total Thursday by fishing shallow wood under bluebird skies. The catch was enough, however, to advance Scott to the final round as the No. 3 seed. On Friday, he caught his fish along the edge of stained water. He was throwing a homemade white spinnerbait on all three days.
Kellogg's pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa., claimed the No. 3 spot heading into the final day of competition with five bass weighing 7-14 while Thanh Le of Las Vegas, Nev. (five bass, 7-13) and Ott Defoe of Knoxville, Tenn. (five bass, 6-11) rounded out the top five pros.
Monte Knight of Quitman, Miss., took top honors and $62,500 in the Co-angler Division Friday with three bass weighing 5-3. He caught two of his fish on a Bill Norman Fat Boy crankbait in chartreuse and black and one bass on a drop-shot rigged Zoom finesse worm in grasshopper color while fishing with veteran pro Stacy King of Reeds Spring, Mo.
"I knew it was going to be tough when I just had two fish," said Knight, who won a Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League tournament in the Mississippi Division earlier this season. "That's why I tied on a drop shot and with 15 minutes left, I caught my last fish. This feels great."
Knight's award included a fully rigged Ranger 519VX plus $15,000 cash and an additional $7,500 cash bonus from Ranger Boats.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Alan Hench of Lititz, Pa. (three bass, 4-12, $5,500); Thomas Rizzo of Rochester, Pa. (four bass, 4-11, $4,500); Kerry Barnett of Waldron, Ark. (two bass, 2-11, $6,000); and Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss. (two bass, 2-3, $5,500).
On Thursday, Daniel Shuga of Botkins, Ohio, representing the Midwest Division, and Jason Billmaier of Las Vegas, Nev., representing the Western Division, earned a place in the history books as the first co-angler qualifiers for the 2007 $2 million Forrest Wood Cup. On Friday, Knight, representing the Central Division, Hench, representing the Northeast Division, and Hults, representing the Southeast Division, joined them as Forrest Wood Cup qualifiers by virtue of being the highest finishing co-anglers from their respective Stren Series divisions.
Overall, 48 bass weighing 84 pounds, 7 ounces were caught by the 10 pro and 10 co-angler finalists Friday. There were five five-bass limits caught and more than 99 percent of the bass were released alive.
Anglers will take off from Ingalls Harbor located on Highway 20 W. in Decatur at 7 Saturday morning. Saturday's final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 2800 Spring Ave. S.W. in Decatur beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend the Family Fun Zone Saturday outside the weigh-in tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The Family Fun Zone, which opens at noon, features interactive displays, product samples and games for the entire family to enjoy. Admission to all activities is free.
Weights were cleared for the start of Friday's competition, and the winning pro will be determined Saturday based on the heaviest cumulative weight from both Friday and Saturday.
The winning pro will earn an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 519VX equipped with Lowrance electronics, a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries 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/Yamaha bonus for a total award of $140,000.
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, Stratos Owners' Tournament Trail, 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 exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America's largest and most-respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world's leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SCOTT WINS $1 MILLION STREN SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP ON WHEELER LAKE

King, Borofka, Scott, Defoe and Kenney earn berths into the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup

DECATUR, Ala. (Nov. 4, 2006) - With 11 top-10 finishes dating back to 1995, Ricky D. Scott is no stranger to FLW Outdoors competition. Most of his success, however, has come in the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League for weekend anglers. Most, that is, until Saturday. That's when the Van Buren, Ark., angler netted a $125,000 victory in the Stren Series Championship on Wheeler Lake and earned a berth into the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug 2-5, 2007, where he will fish for the sport's first $1 million award.
Scott qualified for the Stren Series Championship as the Central Division's No. 15 seed and proceeded to catch five bass weighing 14 pounds, 5 ounces Wednesday to finish the opening day of competition in fourth place. He focused his opening-day efforts around barge pilings, where runoff from the day's rain was pouring soybean dust into the lake. His bait of choice was a homemade 3/8-ounce spinnerbait with white blades and a white skirt.
After a cold front swept through the region Wednesday night, bringing bluebird skies and brisk winds to Wheeler Lake, Scott's runoff dried up, so he targeted wood cover in less than a foot of water below Flint Creek on Thursday. He stuck with his spinnerbait, though, and the spot paid off with five bass weighing 8-14 to boost his opening-round total to 23-3 - good enough to advance to the final round of 10 pros as the No. 3 seed.
On Friday, Scott arrived at his fishing hole only to find his wood cover high and dry. Overnight the lake dropped almost 2 feet, so Scott was forced to change locations once again. This time he found an area of stained water adjacent to a shallow mud flat and proceeded to catch the third heaviest limit of the tournament on his trusty homemade spinnerbait. The 16-pound, 2-ounce catch gave him what turned out to be an insurmountable 6-pound, 2-ounce lead heading into the final day of competition.
His four bass, 7-pound, 6-ounce catch Saturday - caught once again on the same homemade spinnerbait, plus one fish on a Lucky Craft Pointer - pushed his final-round total to 23-8 and sealed his victory by a comfortable 4-pound, 4-ounce margin over A&W pro JT Kenney of Daytona Beach, Fla. Kenney finished the final round with 10 bass weighing 19-4 to win $55,000.
"It was tough today," Scott said. "I didn't catch my first keeper until 11:30, and I covered a lot of water. I hit all my spots that produced yesterday and couldn't get anything. I didn't know how it was going to turn out. I've been doing this for a long time, and days like today make it all worthwhile."
Rounding out the top five pros were Kellogg's pro Dave Lefebre of Union City, Pa. (10 bass, 18-1, $38,500); Ott Defoe of Knoxville, Tenn. (10 bass, 15-14, $31,000); and Thanh Le of Las Vegas, Nev. (10 bass, 15-8, $24,000).
Kenney (Northeast Division) and Defoe (Southeast Division) joined Scott (Central Division), Jason Borofka of Salina, Calif., (Western Division), and veteran pro Stacey King of Reeds Spring, Mo., (Midwest Division) as the first five pro qualifiers for the $2 million Forrest Wood Cup.
Monte Knight of Quitman, Miss., took top honors and $62,500 in the Co-angler Division Friday with three bass weighing 5-3. He caught two of his bass on a Bill Norman Fat Boy crankbait in chartreuse and black and one bass on a drop-shot rigged Zoom finesse worm in grasshopper color while fishing with veteran pro Stacy King of Reeds Spring, Mo.
"I knew it was going to be tough when I just had two fish," said Knight, who won a Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League tournament in the Mississippi Division earlier this season. "That's why I tied on a drop shot and with 15 minutes left, I caught my last fish."
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Alan Hench of Lititz, Pa. (three bass, 4-12, $5,500); Thomas Rizzo of Rochester, Pa. (four bass, 4-11, $4,500); Kerry Barnett of Waldron, Ark. (two bass, 2-11, $6,000); and Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss. (two bass, 2-3, $5,500).
Co-angler Bill Gift of Alix, Ark., earned the Evinrude and Stren Co-angler of the Year award as the highest finishing points champion this week. Representing the Central Division, Gift finished in 16th place and received a Ranger 520VX powered by Evinrude as Co-angler of the Year.
Overall, 40 bass weighing 76 pounds, 9 ounces were caught by the 10 pro finalists Saturday. There were five five-bass limits caught and more than 99 percent of the bass were released alive.
Scott earned an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 519VX equipped with Lowrance electronics, a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries plus $50,000 cash. He also received a $25,000 bonus from Ranger Boats and a $10,000 Ranger Cup bonus for a total award of $125,000.
Coverage of the Stren Series Championship will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the "FLW Outdoors" television program airing Dec. 3. "FLW Outdoors" airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. "FLW Outdoors" is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary, the United Kingdom, among other others, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
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, Stratos Owners' Tournament Trail, 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 exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America's largest and most-respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world's leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.