GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – The EverStart Batteries Series will bring 350 of the nation’s top bass anglers to Lake Martin in Alexander City, Ala., Feb. 2 for the second $164,000 tournament of the nine-event 2000 tournament season.
Vying for $10,000 first place cash and an Evinrude-powered Ranger bass boat in the pro division are defending EverStart Challenge champion, Robert Walser of Lexington, N.C., and Robert Beatty of Orlando, Fla., who won the season opener Jan. 8 on Lake Okeechobee, Fla.
“The EverStart Series is a favorite among serious bass anglers,” says Brian Sayner, vice president of communications for Operation Bass, the world’s largest bass tournament organization. “It offers them the opportunity to fish for large purses and to advance to the prestigious Wal-Mart FLW Tour, which features the sports top prize money.”
But anglers are not the only winners at EverStart tournaments. Communities hosting the events benefit from nearly $315,000 in direct expenditures by anglers, spectators and sponsors based on a study of multi-day fishing tournaments by Dr. Hobson Bryan of the University of Alabama, Department of Geography, Urban and Regional Planning. The estimate of economic impact, however, doesn’t account for the considerable value of subsequent tourism revenue generated by EverStart Series events.
Each regular season EverStart Series tournament includes four days of competition, Wednesday through Saturday. A full field of 175 anglers from the professional division and 175 from the co-angler division compete for two days, after which the fields are reduced to the top 30. The top 30 anglers from each division start over on day three and fish for one day to determine the top 10 anglers in both divisions who will advance to the final round on Saturday. Anglers start over on the final day, with the winner of each division determined by the weight of that day’s catch.
Wind Creek State Park located at 4325 Alabama Highway 128 in Alexander City, Ala., is the site of each day’s 7 a.m. take-off on Lake Martin. Weigh-ins for the first three days of competition will also be held at Wind Creek State Park at 3 p.m. The final weigh-in on Saturday, Feb. 5, will be held at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Highway 280 West in Alexander City at 4 p.m.
Other stops on the 2000 EverStart Series schedule: Eastern Division – Lake Santee Cooper, Manning, S.C., March 1-4; Lake Cumberland, Somerset, Ky., April 5-8. Central Division – Lake Sam Rayburn, Jasper, Texas, March 8-11; Beaver Lake, Rogers, Ark., March 29-April 1; Kentucky Lake, Gilbertsville, Ky., May 3-6; Ft. Gibson Lake, Wagoner, Okla., June 7-10. EverStart Challenge – Cypress Gardens, Winter Haven, Fla., Nov. 8-11.