Lake Guntersville next up for EverStart Series Southeast Division
Alabama water primed for ‘fishing at its best’
GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – The EverStart Series is headed to Lake Guntersville Feb. 24-26 for the second of four stops in the Southeast Division. As many as 300 pros and co-anglers will compete for top awards of up to $35,000 plus a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard for the pro and a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard plus $5,000 for the co-angler.
“It’s going to be full-blown prespawn conditions with guys throwing crankbaits, lipless crankbaits and jerkbaits,” said National Guard pro Justin Lucas of Guntersville, Ala. “It’s going to be Guntersville fishing at its best. It should be a really good tournament.”
It took more than 25 pounds to win the Walmart BFL Choo Choo Division event held Feb. 12 on Lake Guntersville, and Lucas said he expected to see that trend continue.
“The weather so far is looking really good for the tournament,” Lucas said. “I’m guessing it’s probably going to take about 70 pounds over the three days to win it. And it could take more than that.”
Lucas said the cold winter killed a good amount of Lake Guntersville’s grass, so finding the grass that’s left will be the key to the tournament.
“It could fish pretty small with only a few real good stretches of grass,” Lucas said.
Anglers will take off from Lake Guntersville State Park in Guntersville, Ala., at 7 each morning. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at Lake Guntersville State Park beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart located at 11697 U.S. 431 in Guntersville at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Pros will fish for a top award of $35,000 plus a 198VX Ranger boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award consisting of a Ranger 177TR with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines are met.
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Strike King Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship that will be held on Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tenn., Oct. 27-30.
The EverStart Series tournament on Lake Guntersville is being hosted by the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
About FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors is the largest tournament-fishing organization in the world, offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with the world’s richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing at FantasyFishing.com, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player’s Advantage to gain an edge.