The bass tournament scene shifts to the south end of the lake this week as the megabuck FLW-Outdoors Stren bass tournament get underway today. The four-day event will feature 200 boats (400 anglers) with the first three days operating out of Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa and final day winding up in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Clearlake. Wal-Mart is a major national sponsor of the FLW-Outdoors tournaments.
The weigh-ins today, Thursday and Friday will be held beginning at 3 p.m. at the Konocti Harbor Resort. Saturday”s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store, located at 15960 Dam Road, beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Pros will fish for a top award of $25,000 plus a $40,000 519VX Ranger powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard and equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor, Lowrance electronics and EverStart batteries if contingency guidelines are met. Ranger will award another $3,000 to the winner if he or she is a participant in the Ranger Cup program. If the winner is not a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award $1,500 to the highest-finishing participant in the contingency program. Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup earnings if “Powered by Yamaha” guidelines are met.
Co-anglers will cast for a top award of $5,000 plus a $30,000 Ranger boat and trailer if contingency guidelines are met.
Competitors will also be vying for valuable points that could earn them a trip to the $1 million Stren Series Championship, Nov. 8 to 11 on the Mobile Delta in Mobile, Ala., for a shot at $140,000 in the Pro Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division.
After four qualifying events are complete in each Stren Series division Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western the top 40 pros and 40 co-anglers based on Angler of the Year points standings from each division will advance to the championship. The top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers from each division will also qualify for the 2008 Wal-Mart FLW Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Series, bass fishing”s top professional circuits, where they can compete for a share of $17.5 million.
Overall the bass pros should find the bass fishing good. Warm weather is forecast for the tournament and the bass should be moving onto their spawning beds. Most of the experts predict that it will take a four-day total weight of at least 90 pounds to take home the first place money.
