Carroll claims day-one pro lead at Sam Rayburn
1999 Central Division points winner Hoot Gibson grabs yet another co-angler lead
JASPER, Texas – It was cold. It was windy. It was overcast. But day one of the $210,000 EverStart Series Central Division opener at Sam Rayburn Reservoir was anything but discouraging for a few anglers already familiar with success on the competitive fishing circuit.
Tim Carroll of Owasso, Okla., led the charge in the Pro Division with a five-bass weight of 21 pounds, 11 ounces. Carroll, who qualified for the 2002 BFL All-American by winning the Red River Regional at Shreveport, La., last year, used a crankbait in the mid-lake region of Sam Rayburn to capture the bulk of his leading quarry.
Many bass, however, were caught using the ubiquitous Rat-L-Trap today. Such was the case for pro David Curtis of Trinity, Texas, who placed second with five bass weighing 20 pounds, 7 ounces. Curtis, who won an EverStart Central Division event at nearby Toledo Bend in 1999 and placed sixth here at Sam Rayburn in 2000, caught just five fish all day using his Rat-L-Trap in 4 to 6 feet of water. But they were all good-sized bass.
“I had a terrible practice,” Curtis said. “And I had boat problems yesterday and today. I basically just scrapped everything I’d done in practice and fished all new water.”
Faced with boat trouble and the nasty cold front that blew through the area early this week, Curtis’ last-second shift in strategy appears to have paid off.
“All of my fish came off of different spots,” he said. “I was totally surprised. After (I landed) my first big one, I told my partner that I’d start getting excited after a few more. Then after the third big one, I got excited.”
Svebek battles conditions for four big bass
A week ago, anglers were licking their chops for what apparently was going to be a heavyweight EverStart event on Rayburn, but the weather put a damper on the fishing – at least today. With air temperatures barely breaking 40 degrees Wednesday, some competitors reported as much as a 5-degree drop in water temperatures.
“(The bass) were up and ready to bite last week, but this cold front shut them all down,” said co-angler Heath Hardwick of Aledo, Texas, who caught only one bass on day one.
Pro Carl Svebek of Sam Rayburn, who is fishing his home waters and who won the EverStart tournament here in 1998 and the Texas Tournament Trail event here in 2001, was less daunted by the cold weather this morning – that is, until he didn’t get a bite until 11:30.
“With this cold front, typically it’s good here when it’s cloudy and windy,” he said. “I figured this morning that 10 to 12 bites would be a good day.”
Instead, Svebek only had four bass bites, but they were all huge and he had a relatively great day. His four bass weighed a collective 20 pounds, 3 ounces and put him into the third-place slot.
“I’m pretty excited about it because I really struggled today,” he said. “Sometimes being on your home lake isn’t such an advantage. That’s when you start going ballistic when you don’t catch them. Today, I just tried to be patient and it worked out. It was a shock because everything came so slowly, then my bites started coming really fast.”
While Svebek bagged a nice string of solid 5-pounders, the biggest bass of the day went to pro Greg Ingram, also of Owasso, Okla., who caught a nice 8-pound, 7-ounce largemouth and won $750.
Rounding out the top five pros were Larry Frasier (4th place) of Sebree, Ky., who caught five bass weighing 15 pounds, 11 ounces; and Alfred Wilson of Millington, Tenn., who caught five bass weighing 15 pounds, 6 ounces.
Co-angler Gibson assumes his customary position: first place
While co-angler W.D. “Hoot” Gibson mostly gives credit to his pros when he does well in tournaments, don’t be fooled. It doesn’t matter whom he fishes with; he always seems to finish near the top.
Today Gibson took over the Co-angler Division once again with a five-bass weight of 15 pounds, 10 ounces. He was followed by Charles Carlile of Tulsa, Okla., who took second place with four bass weighing 13-9.
The modest Gibson had little to say following his effort on day one. And really, there’s no need to say much. His record as a co-angler speaks for itself: He has one EverStart victory and two second-place finishes plus one FLW Tour victory and two top-10 finishes. In 1999 he won the EverStart Central Division points championship. In 2000 he finished the season ranked second. Since 1998, Gibson has never finished the season ranked lower than ninth place in the standings.
In short, Gibson is a Central Division force to be reckoned with, and he’s off to another great start.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Lonnie Fuller (3rd place) of Hemphill, Texas, with four bass weighing 13 pounds, 8 ounces; Eric Ambort (4th) of Mabelvale, Ark., with four bass weighing 13 pounds, 6 ounces; and Gary Clark (5th) of Sheridan, Ark., with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 12 ounces.
Sharon Stone takes a stab, nabs Big Bass
Co-angler Sharon Stone of nearby Coldspring, Texas, didn’t catch a keeper all day until she caught the biggest bass of her tournament career, a 7-pound, 2-ounce largemouth, at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
“I hadn’t had any luck all day until I caught that one right before we came in,” she said.
The Central Division veteran caught the co-angler Big Bass, worth $250, in grass at a depth of 2 to 4 feet.
Opening-round competition resumes Thursday with takeoff proceeding at 7 a.m. at Twin Dikes Marina in Brookeland. Weigh-in begins at 3 p.m. at the same location.
For a shot at victory, anglers in both divisions must secure one of 20 slots in Friday’s semifinal round with their two-day opening-round total. Anglers then start from zero and compete for one day to determine the top 10 pros and co-anglers who will fish in Saturday’s finale. Catch weights are cleared for the final day, and the winners are determined by that day’s catch.
Day-one links: