Fishing News - 3/16/02
From Operation BASS
Strader Wins Ouachita’s $550,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Showdown
Hot Springs, Ark. (March 16, 2002) — Lake Ouachita’s $550,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop presented by Alpo promised to be a true clash of the titans Saturday, but when the scales settled, it was Team Fujifilm angler Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., who claimed victory over some of the sport’s biggest names.
Wielding a final-round catch of four bass weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces, Strader vanquished such fabled bass pros as two-time FLW Tour champion Gary Klein of Weatherford, Texas; three-time FLW Tour champion Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo.; and reigning Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year and Chevy Pro staffer Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., to claim his first $110,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour victory.
"I’ve always had confidence in my fishing ability, but everything has just come together for me this year," said Strader, who finished ninth at last month’s Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop on Alabama’s Wheeler Lake. "If I get focused on Gary Klein, Rick Clunn or VanDam, I’d be nervous all day. I just have to do what Wesley Strader knows how to do."
Strader gained the upper hand thanks to a 6-pound, 10-ounce bass that he caught on a green pumpkin Lake Fork Tackle Mega Jig with a Pig Claw trailer. The rest of his fish came on a spinner bait that he was casting to laydowns. He entered Friday’s semifinal round of 20 pros in eighth place with a two-day total of six bass weighing 15 pounds, 8 ounces. After starting from zero with the rest of the field, he then advanced to Saturday’s 10-man finale in fifth place with three bass weighing 6 pounds, 8 ounces. Anglers started from zero again Saturday and fished for the heaviest five-bass limit.
VanDam (five bass, 13 pounds, 5 ounces, $40,000); Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn. (five bass, 9 pounds, 5 ounces, $24,500); Shad Schenck of Waynetown, Ind. (three bass, 8 pounds, 7 ounces, $20,000); and Mark Rose of Marion, Ark. (three bass, 8 pounds, 5 ounces, $17,500) rounded out the
top-five anglers.Combined, Saturday’s finalists have earned 48 top-10 Wal-Mart FLW Tour finishes, seven victories and nearly $2.5 million in winnings. VanDam’s second place finish was his fourth in 10 FLW Tour career events. Competition began Wednesday with a 350-angler field comprising 175 pros and 175 co-anglers who fish from the back of the pros’ boats. Co-angler Bobby Hendricks of Bullard, Texas, won $15,000 cash plus a $500 Castrol bonus Friday with four bass weighing 10 pounds, 8 ounces.
The next stop on the seven-event, $5.1 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour is the $1 million Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake near Rogers, Ark., April 17-20 where the winning pro will walk away with $210,000 cash.
At the end of the season, the top 48 pros and co-anglers advance to the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship featuring a new, bracketed style format and an $800,000 cash purse. More than $300,000 was added to the championship purse for 2002. The winning pro receives $260,000 — the largest cash award of any professional bass fishing series.
Named after Ranger Boats founder, Forrest L. Wood, the Wal-Mart FLW Tour is run by FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing tournaments. The organization operates 170 tournaments through the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League,
Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit and Ranger M1. FLW Outdoors will award anglers up to $22 million in 2002.Sponsors of the 2002 Wal-Mart FLW Tour are Wal-Mart, ALPO Pet Foods,
BFGoodrich Tires, Castrol, Chevy Trucks, Coleman, Conseco, Eagle Electronics, Energizer, EverStart Batteries, Evinrude, Faded Glory, Frito-Lay, Fujifilm, Kellogg’s, Land O’Lakes, Maxwell House, Minn Kota, Pepsi, Poulan, Ranger Boats, Shop-Vac, Snickers, Stanley Works, US Bank, Weed Eater and Yamaha Outboards. Associate sponsors are Abu Garcia, Act II, Berkley, David Sunflower Seeds, Eagle Claw, Laker, Plano and Solar Bat.For more information, visit FLWOutdoors.com.
