SOMERSET, Ky. – After weighing in five bass that registered 12 pounds, 3 ounces, H.C. Sumpter, 38, of Nancy, Ky., will lead 10 of the nation’s top professional anglers into Saturday’s final round of the EverStart Batteries Series tournament on Lake Cumberland.
Sumpter, an EverStart Series rookie, caught 25 bass throughout the day casting a Berkley jig and slow rolling a spinnerbait. His keepers, which included four largemouth bass and one spotted bass, were caught upriver around rocky banks.
“This is by far the biggest tournament I’ve ever led,” Sumpter said. “I’ve won a few Red Man events but never anything this big. It feels great.”
Finishing the round in second through fifth position in the Pro Division were Ricky Shumpert of Lexington, S.C., with four bass weighing 11-9; Ron McClure of Mount Vernon, Ky., with five bass weighing 11-2; David Dudley of Manteo, N.C., with five bass weighing 10-10; and Rusty Smith, with five bass weighing 8-4.
In the Co-Angler Division, Jason Hutchins, a 21-year-old EverStart rookie from Lebanon, Ky., led the field with four bass weighing 9-14. Ronnie Fields of Somerset, Ky., finished the round in second with three bass weighing 8-7 followed by Lester Moore of Clintwood, Va., with four bass weighing 7-10; Stephen Coulter of Newark, Ohio, with three bass weighing 7-2; and Tony Hill of Chatsworth, Ga., with three bass weighing 7-0.
Hutchins qualified for Friday’s semi-final round in 27th place, just 8 ounces over the cut.
On Saturday, anglers will start over and fish for one day to determine the victor. The winning pro will receive $10,000 and an Evinrude- or Johnson-powered Ranger bass boat. The winning co-angler will collect $6,000.
Saturday’s action begins at 7 a.m. at Burnside Island State Park on Lakeshore Drive in Burnside, Ky. The weigh-in begins at 4 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Somerset, Ky.
The three-year-old 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 EverStart 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 priority entry in the 2001 FLW Tour.
The series’ title sponsor, EverStart Batteries, is the No. 1 retail selling automotive and marine battery brand in the world.