MANNING, S.C. (April 17, 2008) - Pro Ott Defoe of Knoxville, Tenn., caught a five-bass limit weighing 22 pounds, 6 ounces Thursday to retain the lead in the Stren Series Southeast Division bass fishing tournament on Santee Cooper. With a two-day catch of 10 bass weighing 50-04, he now holds a 4-pound, 5-ounce lead over second place pro Mike Jackson of San Mateo, Fla., who managed to haul in a total of 10 bass weighing 45-15 during the first two days of competition.
"My day was pretty much like yesterday," said Defoe, who has won more than $151,000 in FLW Outdoors events. "I didn't really get started until a little later in the day. Then the first couple of fish I had on came off. I settled back down and then caught a 4 ½-pounder about 9:30. "
Defoe remained tight-lipped about his methods on the water, but did say he did not catch any fish sight-fishing. Defoe said he caught 10 keepers throughout the course of the day and had his limit by 11:15 a.m. He fished the same area he did on the first day of competition, but looked for other potential areas after he had caught his limit.
"I culled two or three 3-pounders today," Defoe said. "I just put one rod in my hand and fished it. I moved around and found some other areas that were similar to what I was fishing. I don't think they're quite as good, but they've got fish in them."
Rounding out the top five pros are Henry McFadden of Georgetown, S.C. (10 bass, 42-03); Ron Klys of Gainesville, Fla. (10 bass, 40-15); and Team Snickers pro Greg Pugh of Cullman, Ala. (10 bass, 40-09).
Lee McCracken of Ocala, Fla., earned $231 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Pro Division thanks to a 7-pound, 12-ounce bass he caught. Overall there were 489 bass weighing 1,488 pounds, 9 ounces caught by pros Thursday. The catch included 62 five-bass limits.
Larry Breckenridge of Dothan, Ala., 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 18-02 while fishing with pro David Tanner of Johnsonville, S.C., Wednesday and four bass weighing 12-11 while fishing with pro Lee Pitts of Gaylesville, Ala., Thursday for a total of nine bass weighing 30-13.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jason Ober of Johnstown, Penn. (eight bass, 25-04); Greg Hamblin of New Albany, Miss. (eight bass, 22-15); Patrick Cook of Johnsonville, S.C. (six bass, 22-05); and Kenneth Owens of Wise, Va. (three bass, 19-14).
Blake Parker of Harpersville, Ala., earned $122 for the Snickers Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division thanks to an 8-pound, 14-ounce bass he caught.
Overall there were 186 bass weighing 512 pounds, 3 ounces caught by co-anglers Thursday. The catch included three 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 John C. Land III Landing located at County Road S-14-260 in Summerton, S.C. 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 2010 Paxville Highway in Manning 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.