JASPER, Texas (March 25, 2006) - Pro Chris McCall of Jasper, Texas, caught a final-round total of 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 3 ounces to win the Stren Series Central Division bass fishing tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir Saturday. McCall won a 519VX Ranger plus $10,000 cash. He also earned a $10,000 contingency bonus from Ranger plus $3,000 for the Ranger Cup award for a total of $63,000.
McCall led the event for the first two days, then slipped to second place on day three. Throughout the event, McCall said he's been covering a lot of water, catching the majority of his bass over hydrilla beds with a variety of lures. On the final day, McCall revealed that his primary lure throughout the week has been a Rat-L-Trap, but a change was in order on day four.
"I only had two fish at 1:30 today," McCall said. "But I switched to a green-pumpkin and red flake Gambler Swebo Worm (rigged wacky style) and was culling by 1:45. I didn't realize my two largest fish were as big as they were because I was fishing so fast. One was probably 4 1/2 pounds and one was a little over 3 pounds."
Rather than catching his bass from the hydrilla beds, McCall found the final day's fish over a sandy area between a hydrilla bed and shoreline bushes. "I'd seen some beds in that area during the week, but I hadn't tried to fish it because of the wind," McCall said.
Though McCall already had an impressive list of top-10 finishes, including four on Sam Rayburn on the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament trail and Stren Series, tournament wins have eluded him until this event. "It's nice to finally have that monkey off my back," McCall said.
Rounding out the top five pros are David Cochran of Royal, Ark. (eight bass, 25 pounds, 5 ounces, $10,000); Randy Millender of Teague, Texas (10 bass, 24 pounds, 14 ounces, $8,950); Dicky Newberry of Houston, Texas (nine bass, 24 pounds, 7 ounces, $7,950); and Shawn Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas (10 bass, 22 pounds, 15 ounces, $7,450).
Bill Guillory of Jasper won the Co-angler Division thanks to a final-round total of six bass weighing 23 pounds, 5 ounces. Guillory caught the heaviest limit of bass on in both the co-angler and pro divisions on day three, which weighed 22 pounds, 5 ounces. Despite catching only a single bass on day four, Guillory was still able to secure the win, which included a 519VX Ranger plus $5,000 cash for a total award of $35,000.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Rodney Dotson of Silsbee, Texas (seven bass, 21 pounds, 7 ounces, $4,000); Bill Rogers of Jasper (eight bass, 19 pounds, 6 ounces, $3,480); Phillip Hudnall of Newkirk, Okla. (nine bass, 19 pounds, 4 ounces, $2,480); and Tom Medlock of Licking, Mo. (six bass, 17 pounds, 7 ounces, $1,980).
Stren Series tournaments are four-day events consisting of three rounds. The entire field competes Wednesday and Thursday, and the top 20 pros and co-anglers - based on two-day accumulated weights - advance to day three. Anglers start at zero Thursday and compete for 10 spots in each division in the final round. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.