GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – Pro angler Koby Kreiger of Osceola, Ind., jumped to an early lead in the $164,000 EverStart Batteries Series tournament being contested on Kentucky Lake this week with an opening day total of five bass weighing 19 pounds.
Kreiger, who twice had top-10 finishes in the Eastern Division last year, is fishing his first Central Division tournament. Seemingly unaffected by the day’s passing thunderstorms and dropping water level, he caught his limit out of shallow water using an 8-inch Zoom lizard in smaller pockets off of main creek channels.
“I had my limit early this morning, but tomorrow I won’t come in with a big stringer,” Kreiger said. “I’m just going to bring in enough to make the top 30 so I can go fish again on Friday. Then I’ll do my best to bring in another heavy limit.”
The lucrative bass competition attracted 340 of North America’s top bass anglers – 170 pros and 170 co-anglers – to Kentucky Lake in hopes of winning $10,000 cash and an Evinrude- or Johnson-powered Ranger bass boat in the Pro Division and $6,000 in the Co-Angler Division. Defending EverStart Challenge champion, Curt Lytle of Suffolk, Va., and Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla., who in 1999 won $600,000 in the Ranger M1 Millennium are among the pro competitors.
Teddy Wynn of Benton, Ky., finished the day in second place with five bass weighing 17-15. Keith Smith of Crystal Springs, Miss., followed him with five bass weighing 16-14. Larry Sisk of Evansville, Ind., placed fourth with five bass weighing 16-0 and Keith Monson of Burgin, Ky., placed fifth with five bass weighing 15-8.
In the Co-Angler Division, Chris Douglas of Belleville, Ill., leads with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 6 ounces followed by Fred Hill of Gibsonville, N.C., with five bass weighing 12-5 and Wayne Sherbet of Pell City, Ala., with four bass weighing 12-1.
Big bass for the day in the Pro Division went to Bunky Long of Walnut Grove, Mo., for a 7-pound bass. Big bass in the Co-Angler Division was a 5-pound, 12-ounce bass caught by Mike Pleticha Sr. of Glendale Heights, Ill., Long won $500 for his trophy bass and Pleticha 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 finale.
Competition begins at 7 a.m. each morning at Moors Resort in Gilbertsville. Weigh-ins Thursday and Friday begin at 3 p.m. at Moors. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Benton, Ky., Wal-Mart at 4 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 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.