MANNING, S.C. – Jacob Powroznik of Prince George, Va., hauled in a typically fat Santee Cooper limit Wednesday, catching five bass that weighed a whopping 26 pounds, 9 ounces. A full field of 200 pros and 200 co-anglers netted 25 five-bass limits on South Carolina’s Santee Cooper lakes on the opening day of the four-day, $256,825 EverStart Series Eastern Division event.
“This is the first time I have ever led an EverStart tournament,” said Powroznik, who has been fishing the EverStart Series for three years. “I feel lucky to have fished so well the first day.”
Despite pristine conditions, only two other competitors topped the 20-pound mark along with Powroznik. Sandy Melvin of Boca Grande, Fla., landed five bass weighing 25 pounds, 7 ounces to place second, and Scott Dameron of Ghent, W.Va., caught five bass weighing 24 pounds, 4 ounces to claim third.
Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn. (four bass, 19 pounds, 3 ounces) and Glenn
Browne of Ocala, Fla. (five bass, 16 pounds, 9 ounces) rounded out the top five pros.
Clifford Dye Jr. of Goose Creek, S.C., earned $750 as the Pro Division big-bass winner Wednesday thanks to a 7-pound, 14-ounce bass.
James Hill Jr. of Ozark, Ala., leads the Co-angler Division with a three-bass catch weighing 12 pounds, 15 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are John Deak of Phillipsburg, Ohio (four bass, 12 pounds, 12 ounces); Sean Stepp of Dumfries, Va. (three bass, 11 pounds, 7 ounces); Tee Watkins of East Point, Ky. (three bass, 9 pounds, 11 ounces); and Carl Dillard of Columbia, S.C. (four bass, 9 pounds).
John Presnell of Shelby, N.C., caught an 8-pound, 3-ounce bass to win $250 as the co-angler big-bass winner.
A total of 479 bass were caught Wednesday, and 100 percent were released alive.
Anglers take off each morning at safe light from the John C. Land III Boating and Sportfishing Facility in Manning. Thursday’s weigh-in will also be held there beginning at 3 p.m., and Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 481 W. Boyce St. in Manning beginning at 4 p.m.
Following Thursday’s conclusion of the opening round, the top 20 pros and 20 co-anglers based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Friday’s semifinal round. Weights are cleared for Friday’s competition, and the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers advance to Saturday’s final round based on Friday’s total weight. Weights are again cleared for Saturday’s competition, and anglers compete for the heaviest one-day weight.
The winning pro will take home a guaranteed cash award of $10,000 plus a new Ranger 519VS Comanche equipped with Garmin electronics and powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat, he will receive an additional $10,000 cash bonus from Ranger for a total of $61,900 in cash and prizes. Ranger will also award an additional $3,000 to the winner if he is a Ranger Cup participant, and Garmin will award $1,000 to the winner if his boat is equipped with a fixed-mount Garmin Fishfinder or combination GPS/Sounder.
The winning co-angler is guaranteed $5,000 cash. If the winning co-angler is a registered Ranger owner, he will also receive a new Ranger 519VS Comanche for a total of $27,800 in cash and prizes.
Four divisions – Eastern, Central, Northern and Western – comprise the 2003 EverStart Series. Each division stages four regular-season tournaments leading up to the no-entry-fee $335,975 EverStart Series Championship, which will be held on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin, Tenn., Oct. 29-Nov. 1.
In EverStart Series competition, pros supply the boats, control boat movement and fish from the front of each boat against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back of each boat and compete against other co-anglers.