NATCHITOCHES, LA - Pro Ricky Fuqua of Effie, La., caught four bass weighing 9 pounds, 09 ounces Saturday to win the Stren Series Texas Division tournament on the Red River with a four-day total of 16 bass weighing 44-15. For his victory, Fuqua earned $25,000 cash.

“This event was great … super, even,” said Fuqua, who won the first and only Stren Series event he has fished. “I just couldn’t catch any fish. And then yesterday I had one of those awesome days and it worked out real good.”

Fuqua’s “awesome” day was a five-bass limit that weighed 19-14. In a tournament that didn’t see many 14-pound stringers, Fuqua’s third-day weight gave him a little breathing room on the final day of competition.

“I went into the final day almost three pounds in the lead, so that was like already having a kicker fish in the boat,” Fuqua said. “Even though I only had four fish, it was like having five.”
Fuqua said he used a swimming jig in 1 ½ to 2 feet of water near wood structure to catch his fish all four days of competition.

Fuqua opened the tournament in 31st place Wednesday with four bass weighing 8-02. On Thursday he added another three bass weighing 7-06 to move to 27th place. He then caught the monster five-bass limit weighing 19-14 on Friday to make the crucial top 10 cut in first place.

Rounding out the top five pros are Ricky Scott of Van Buren, Ark. (19 bass, 42-01, $5,473 plus $5,000 Ranger bonus); Kevin Lasyone of Dry Prong, La. (20 bass, 41-06, $4,925 plus $5,000 Ranger bonus); David Curtis of Trinity, Texas (18 bass, 38-01, $4,378); and Stephen Johnston of Hemphill, Texas (17 bass, 36-11, $3,831).

Fuqua caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Friday – a 5-pound, 14-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Snickers Big Bass award of $165.
Overall there were 37 bass weighing 64 pounds, 9 ounces caught by pros Saturday. The catch included three five-bass limits.

Alan Hults of Gautier, Miss., won the Co-angler Division and $35,000, including a 198VX Ranger boat, with a four-day total of 15 bass weighing 28-11.“We fished the backwater area that had a lot of structure in it,” said Hults, who has won more than $138,000 fishing as a co-angler in FLW Outdoors events. “I really struggled. I ended up catching them on a few different baits than what I had thrown all week.”