JASPER, Texas (Feb. 20, 2008) - Pro Tommy Dickerson of Orange, Texas, caught a five-bass limit weighing 24 pounds, 6 ounces Wednesday to lead opening day of the Stren Series Texas Division bass fishing tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir.
"It's a tough bite out there," said Dickerson, who won the Stren Series Central Division Lake Texoma event in 2006. "I practiced for five days and my biggest fish was 4 pounds. I have not been getting the big bites until today. I started the tournament with 35 GPS spots that I found in practice, where I could catch keepers.
"I went to the first spot this morning and only caught one fish. It's not like I am on a bunch of fish," he said. "I catch a couple at each spot and move on. Today, I caught a total of 15 keepers. I'm getting the bigger bites now because of the water level. This is the first time the water has been this low in 6 or 7 years. It's really changing things."
Dickerson caught his limit on a Rat-L-Trap.
"I'm doing what everyone else is doing that is from here," he added. "With grass and the water being cold, 95 percent of the tournaments won here between January and February are caught on Rat-L-Trap's."
Rounding out the top five pros are Gary Vining of Morgan City, La. (five bass, 23-03); Brandon Crouch of Buna, Texas (five bass, 22-08); Bradley Stringer of Huntington, Texas (five bass, 21-03); and Russell Cecil of Willis, Texas (five bass, 20-11).
Mickey Horn of Prosper, Texas, earned $268 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 10-pound bass.
Overall there were 777 bass weighing 1,956 pounds, 7 ounces caught by 173 pros Wednesday. The catch included 136 five-bass limits.
Neil Ward Jr. of Brookland, Texas, 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 20-08 while fishing with pro David Gregg of Haslet, Texas, who is currently in 96th place.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jonathan Simon of Orange, Texas (five bass, 18-12); Jared Dean of Lufkin, Texas (four bass, 16-15); Ryan O'Neal of Woodville, Texas (five bass, 16-13); and Allan Shivers of Vidor, Texas (five bass, 16-09).
Dean earned $138 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to a 8-pound, 12-ounce bass.
Overall there were 625 bass weighing 1,467 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 173 co-anglers Wednesday. The catch included 80 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 Umphrey Family Pavilion located at 5438 RR 255 W. in Sam Rayburn, Texas. Thursday and Friday's weigh-in will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 800 W. Gibson St. in Jasper, 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.