ZAPATA, Texas (Jan. 10, 2008) - Pro Jeremy Guidry of Opelousas, La., caught a five-bass limit weighing 31 pounds, 9 ounces Thursday to capture the lead in the Stren Series Texas Division bass fishing tournament on Falcon Lake. With a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 56-06, he now holds an 1-pound, 4-ounce lead over second place pro Charles Haralson of Laredo, Texas, who managed to haul in a total of 10 bass weighing 55-02 during the first two days of competition.
"Today I fished a completely different area than I fished yesterday," Guidry said. "I had three main spots that I went to in practice but decided to try a new area. We didn't catch a lot of fish but the quality was good."
Guidry caught his limit flipping Reaction Innovations baits.
"Yesterday, I caught my bigger fish flipping later in the day, but the wind started to pick up and that hurt the bite. I plan on sticking with the same pattern tomorrow," Guidry said. "I have a lot of other boats in the area, but there are a lot of good fish in there."
Rounding out the top five pros are Bob Ramsdell of Sour Lake, Texas (10 bass, 54-12); Nicky McNeely of Natchitoches, La. (10 bass, 54-09); and Thomas Redington of Royse City, Texas (10 bass, 53-06).
Nicholas Albus of Trinity, Texas, earned $243 for the Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to an 11-pound, 3-ounce bass.
Overall there were 686 bass weighing 2,721 pounds, 15 ounces caught by 151 pros Thursday. The catch included 123 five-bass limits.
Robert Arnold of Little Rock, Ark., leads the Co-angler Division in the chase for a top award of $35,000, including a 198VX Ranger if contingency guidelines are met. He caught five bass weighing 26-01 while fishing with pro Robert McFarlane of San Antonio, Texas, Wednesday and five bass weighing 27-06 while fishing with pro Michael Wohl of Burleson, Texas, Thursday for a total of 10 bass weighing 53-07.
"I realized today that we had overcast skies, so I started using a spinnerbait," Arnold said. "When you have overcast skies with a little wind that usually means it's a spinnerbait bite. Other anglers kept flipping bushes and not getting good bites. Later in the day, the sun came out and then that bite went away. But I had already caught the big fish. Tomorrow, I bet that I will go back to flipping, using worms and jigs."
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Bill Rogers of Jasper, Texas (10 bass, 48-04); Mannie Lackey of Kerrville, Texas (10 bass, 47-00); Mark Oakley of Davis, Okla. (10 bass, 46-00); and Ray Peace of Arlington, Texas (10 bass, 45-11). Jerry Lee of Kiefer, Okla., earned $128 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 11-pound, 3-ounce bass.
Overall there were 545 bass weighing 1,936 pounds, 12 ounces caught by 150 co-anglers Thursday. The catch included 75 five-bass limits.
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 2009 Forrest Wood Cup.
Anglers will take off at 7 each morning from Beacon Lodge located just off Farm Road 3074 in Zapata. Friday's weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's weigh-in will be held at the Zapata County Community Center located on Highway 83 in Zapata beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Stren Series tournaments are four-day events consisting of two rounds. The entire field competes Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. At the conclusion of Friday's weigh-in, the field is cut to the top 10 pros and co-anglers based on the heaviest three-day accumulated weights. These anglers continue competition Saturday, with the winners determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.