FLW Outdoors announced that a full field of 200 boaters are registered to fish the Stren Series (formerly the EverStart Series) Western division opener Feb. 1-4 at Lake Havasu (Ariz.). The field is the largest for a Western event since the division's inception in 2003 and, according to an FLW Outdoors press release, it's the biggest ever for a professional bass tournament in the Western U.S.
There's a waiting list for boaters at the Havasu event, but there are openings for non-boaters. Openings also remain for both boaters and non-boaters in Western division tournaments scheduled at Clear Lake (March 1-4), Lake Shasta (March 29-April 1) and the California Delta (May 3-6).
Final boater counts for Western EverStart events in 2005 were 165 at Havasu, 172 at Clear Lake, 139 at Lake Mead and 159 at the California Delta.
BASS had difficulty filling the fields at past events in the West and will not conduct tournaments in the region during 2006. The final 2005 Bassmaster Western Open, held Nov. 17-19 at Shasta, drew 99 boaters.
