Quick Bites: EverStart Championship, Day 2
2003 EverStart Series Championship
Old Hickory Lake, Gallatin, Tenn.
Thursday, opening round
Caught him on a Spook … Jeff Evans of Benton, Ky., didn’t catch enough bass on day two to advance to the semifinal round of the 2003 EverStart Series Championship. However, he caught acting tournament director Chris Jones unawares with a little something from his tackle store back home. It wasn’t a Zara Spook, the lure of choice among some bass anglers, but a spooky-looking mouse befitting the Halloween season. Evans brought the lifelike rodent onstage during Thursday’s weigh-in for a reprise of the scare he gave Jones earlier in the day. Evans later explained that he had called his store manager to have him send some lures through overnight mail to the Tennessee tournament, and the employee threw in a “good-luck mouse” for kicks. Not one to pass up a chance for Halloween fun, Evans held the mouse in his hand Thursday when he offered it up to Jones for a gentlemanly shake. According to Evans, the handshake actually shook up Jones and gave him a bit of a fright. Jones’ comments at the weigh-in seemingly validated the story as he called the terrifying toy a “demon rat with fiery-red eyes” when he saw it sitting next to the scale. The good-luck charm was in good hands with Evans today out on the water. He said he told Jones that his GPS unit’s MOB button – or man overboard button – had served today as his “mouse overboard” button. The macabre mouse even brought Evans enough luck to land a $1,000 check for a 47th-place finish.
Louie, Louie … “Oh baby, we gotta go” – all the way to the semifinals. Pro Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala., may well be singing this tune as he prepares for Friday’s competition. His dog, Louie, has already barked along to the semifinal song. While Kennedy stood onstage during this afternoon’s weigh-in, Jones told the audience how Louie woofs it up for his master each time he’s announced onstage. As if on cue, Kennedy’s best friend immediately belted a series of canine congratulations. The praise was appropriate as Kennedy had just earned a slot in the championship’s semifinals by weighing in a sack heavy enough to garner a ninth-place finish in the opening round. But Kennedy won’t have the spotlight all to himself next year; he confirmed that Louie will be an integral part of his impending sponsorship deal with pet-food producer Pedigree.
Making good on a second chance … Bill Rogers, the current leader in the Co-angler Division, missed the semifinal round of competition at his last EverStart stop before this week’s championship. But he’s got a good excuse. Rogers, a native of Jasper, Texas, was sitting in third place going into the semifinal round of the June EverStart Central tournament on the Red River in Louisiana. However, the accomplished co-angler gave up his chance at a win to attend his son’s wedding. Though attending such a ceremony can hardly be considered a sacrifice, it had to leave Rogers with a bittersweet memory the regular season’s end. “Today just makes up for it,” he said. With the championship format foregoing a semifinal round for co-anglers, Rogers will compete Friday against 21 other anglers for a shot at the co-angler crown.
Quick number
4: Number of co-anglers making the top-20 cut in 19th place. The four-way tie, comprising four co-anglers with the same exact two-day weight of 4 pounds and 6 ounces, led to a little head scratching for FLW Outdoors tournament officials. Tie breakers are decided by the heaviest catch weight for a single day, but each of the 19th-place co-anglers had zeroed on either of the opening round’s two days of competition. Ultimately, it was decided that 22 co-anglers, and consequently 22 pros, would make the “top-20” cut and advance to Friday’s competition.
Quick links:
Day-two photos
Results
Friday’s pairings
Press release
‘Wendlandt’s world’