CLEWISTON, Fla., (Jan., 5, 2000) – James Cox, 22, of Lexington, Ky., is leading the pro field with an opening day catch of five bass weighing 18 pounds, 1 ounce at the $164,000 EverStart Batteries Series tournament on Lake Okeechobee, the first Eastern Division event of the 2000 season.
Cox, who is taking a semester off from his marketing studies at the University of Kentucky to pursue professional bass fishing, caught eight fish using a Woodchopper topwater bait, 10-inch plastic worm and three-eighth ounce Strike King spinnerbait. Two of the fish he caught out of the eel grass on the north end of Lake Okeechobee tipped the scales at over 5 pounds.
“I felt confident going into the tournament, but it’s still kind of shocking,” says Cox about leading the field in his first professional tournament. “I’m just going to get out tomorrow and try to do it all over again. I feel like if I catch 10 pounds, I’ll be fine.”
The lucrative bass competition attracted 350 of North America’s top bass anglers – 175 pros and 175 co-anglers – to Clewiston, Fla., including Gary Gaussiran of Canada who made the trip in hopes of winning $10,000 cash and an Evinrude powered Ranger bass boat. Last year’s winner, Larry Pinder of Port Charlotte, Fla., and defending EverStart Challenge champion, Robert Walser of Lexington, N.C., also are among the pro competitors.
In the co-angler division, Jim Browning of Dawsonville, Ga., is leading the field in a bid for the top prize of $6,000 with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 2 ounces.
Big bass for the day in the pro division went to Jon Jezierski of Troy, Mich., for a 7-pound, 6-ounce largemouth. Big bass in the co-angler division was a 6-pound, 12-ounce largemouth caught by John Allen of Columbus, Ga. Jezierski won $500 for his trophy bass and Allen collected $300.
For a shot at victory, anglers in both divisions must secure one of 30 slots available in Friday’s second round by catching the heaviest two-day total of bass in round one. During the second round, anglers start over, competing for one day to determine the top 10 pros and co-anglers who will compete in Saturday’s final round.
Competition begins at 7 a.m. each morning at Roland Martin’s Marina located at 920 East Del Monte Ave. in Clewiston. Thursday’s and Friday’s weigh-ins begin at 3 p.m. at Roland Martin’s Marina. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located on Highway 27 North in Clewiston at 3:30 p.m.
The three-year-old, nine-event EverStart Series is comprised of two divisions, Eastern and Central, with four multi-day events per division. The top 75 pros and co-anglers from each division will advance to the year-end EverStart Invitational Challenge at Cypress Gardens, Fla., which features a purse of $360,000.
Over the course of the season, the series awards anglers up to $1.7 million in cash and prizes. It also provides a pathway to the prestigious Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the richest tournament series in history. Winning anglers in the Pro and Co-Angler Divisions of each EverStart tournament, as well as the overall top 10 anglers, based on a system of points and pounds, receive automatic berths in the 2001 FLW Tour.