ONALASKA, Wis. (July 15, 2006) - They say football is a game of inches and competitive bass fishing is a game of ounces. The winner of $262,125 Stren Series Midwest Division bass fishing tournament on the Mississippi River was determined in the opening round - although the anglers didn't know it.
Dan Morehead of Paducah, Ky., and Stacey King of Reeds Spring, Mo., each caught a two-day limit weighing 29 pounds, 10 ounces, tying for the lead on the final day of competition Saturday. With the veteran pair of anglers dead-even, the rulebook would be the deciding factor.
"Ties on days 3 and 4 will be resolved by day 2 standings," according to FLW tournament rules.
King made the top-20 cut in 18th place with 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 15 ounces; Morehead finished in fourth place with 10 bass weighing 29 pounds, 15 ounces.
Morehead gets the win, which includes a new 519VX Ranger plus $10,000 cash.
"This is the second time this has happened to me and it's tough," said Morehead, who finished second to Scott Rook after a tiebreaker determined the winner of the 2004 Stren Series Central event on Alabama's Red River. "When I win, I like to win big like I did on Beaver Lake. This tying stuff is going to turn me gray."
Morehead caught his final-day limit of 14 pounds, 10 ounces fishing a new area he found Friday on his way back to ward the launch area.
"They told us a barge was going to go through the locks and that we better leave a little early to make sure we make it back on time," he said. "I was on the way back and stopped at this stretch near a backwater area. I caught a fish and started weighing my others to see which one I could cull. By the time I was done culling, my co-angler had caught four keepers. He only had one fish when we stopped."
Morehead used a Mann's 4-inch black with red flake tube bait Texas-rigged with a 5/16-ounce weight and 20-pound P-Line fluorocarbon line.
"The water has been falling for several days and I think the fish were pulling out of the backwater area to the main river. I found some rock where these fish were staging," he said. "I had a limit by 6:27 this morning. It was quick, fast and in a hurry."
Rounding out the top five pros are Stacey King of Reeds Spring, Mo. (10 bass, 29 pounds, 10 ounces, $10,000); Troy Eakins of Nixa, Mo. (10 bass, 27 pounds, 14 ounces, $9,000, plus $2,250 Ranger/Yamaha bonus); Robert Heilman of Dakota, Minn. (10 bass, 27 pounds, 1 ounce, $8,000); and Chris Cox of Belleville, Wis. (10 bass, 25 pounds, 14 ounces, $7,500).
Mark Myers of Minneapolis, Minn., won the Co-angler Division thanks to a final-round total of 10 bass weighing 24 pounds, 2 ounces. Myers earned a 519VX Ranger plus $5,000 cash for a total award of $35,000.
"I struggled in the morning," said Myers, who won the Co-angler Division at the FLW Tour stop on Lake Champlain in June. "My second fish was about a 4-pounder and it calmed me down. I knew all I needed was three decent keepers to do well."
Myers, who was paired with Morehead, said today's competition had a little added twist to it.
"We were in sight of Stacey (King) all day to day," he said. "I could see every time his co-angler caught a fish. There was definitely a psychological twist to it."
Myers made the cut fishing nine different styles of baits, refusing to commit to just one. Faced with tougher conditions today, he downsized to a 5-inch green pumpkin lizard on 8-pound test line.
"The was the most critical adjustment I made all week," he said. "The rest of the week I used a frog and eight other baits, but the lizard seem to trigger the bigger fish."
Myers made the top-20 cut Thursday with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing, 25 pounds, 14 ounces. He then caught five bass weighing 12 pounds Friday to make the top-10 cut in third place. On Saturday, he caught five bass weighing 12 pounds, 2 ounces to earn his second Stren Series victory.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jeramiah Sifers of Sellersberg, Ind., (10 bass, 24 pounds, $4,000); James Richardson Sr., of Harrison, Ohio (nine bass, 22 pounds, 6 ounces, $3,500); Jeff Taylor of Olmstead, Ky. (nine bass, 21 pounds, 2 ounces, $2,500); and Eric Boberg of Arcadia, Wis. (nine bass, 19 pounds, 9 ounces, $2,000).
Stren Series tournaments are four-day events consisting of two rounds. The entire field competes Wednesday and Thursday, and the top 20 pros and co-anglers - based on two-day accumulated weights - advance to Friday. Anglers start at zero Friday and compete for 10 spots in each division Saturday. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from Friday and Saturday.