Texas angler and Strike King pro staff member Debra Hengst will be fishing the Central Opens this year. Hengst said "I signed up this past fall and was going to fish the WBT and the Opens on 2010. It was part of my plan as I felt I needed to move on in my career. I had fished the Bass'nGals, the Womens Bass Fishing Association and the WBT and felt to get better I needed to step it up. I was losing my enthusiasm and felt fishing this was a way to get it back."

 

"I think there is a need for a womens trail for ladies who are starting out in the sport and are looking at it as a career but I want to move on and see if I can compete" added Hengst. "Bass fishing is not a gender specific sport. Its not a physical sport like football and basketball. It more mental and  I think it may be one that men and women can compete equally." 

 

Pam Martin-Wells, Judy Wong and Diana Clark also have signed up to fish on the pro side on the Central Opens.