Greenville, Miss. – Harmon Davis, 28, of Marlow, Okla., landed $50,000 in cash and prizes Saturday for winning his first EverStart Series Central Division tournament on Lake Ferguson with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 9 ounces.
Davis claimed victory over 165 competitors in the Pro Division after four days of competition in which he successfully caught bass after bass from a single point and three small willow trees in particular. Davis, who was flipping a June bug-colored Brush Hawg throughout the tournament, made the semifinal round cut to the top 30 pros Thursday in 10th place with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 19 pounds, 6 ounces. He then made the final round cut to the top 10 Friday in first place with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 11 ounces. Catch weights were cleared for all competitors at the start of the semifinal and final rounds.
“I just can’t believe that I actually sat and did what I needed to do to win,” Davis explained after winning $15,000 and a new Mercury- or Yamaha-powered Ranger boat with GARMIN electronics. “I’m the world’s worst about running off to look for better spots.”
Second through fifth place in the Pro Division went to Chris McCall of Jasper, Texas, with five bass weighing 10 pounds, 13 ounces worth $10,000; Adam Wright of Benton, Ark., with four bass weighing 10 pounds, 1 ounce worth $9,000; Bill Smith of Prestonsburg, Ky., with four bass weighing 8 pounds, 14 ounces worth $8,000; and Sam Newby of Pocola, Okla., with three bass weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces worth $7,500.
Jimmy Brown of Littlerock, Ark., claimed first place in the 165-person Co-Angler Division and collected $6,000 with four bass weighing 9 pounds, 4 ounces that he landed on a blue pig and jig. John Ballard of Parkville, Mo., finished second in the Co-Angler Division and collected $4,000 with four bass weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and Charles Carlile of Tulsa, Okla., finished third with four bass weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces worth $3,500.
“I didn’t catch a fish until 10 a.m., but then it just turned on,” said Brown, who successfully worked a variety of lures, including spinnerbaits, tubebaits and plastic worms, to slip into the final round by 4 ounces. “When I put my fourth fish in the boat, I said `I’ve got it won.'”
A total of 54 bass were caught Saturday including five five-bass limits. More than 96 percent of the bass were released alive.
The tournament began Wednesday with 330 anglers taking off from the Washington Street Ramp in Greenville to claim a piece of the event’s $185,000 purse. Fort Gibson Lake near Wagoner, Okla., will be the next Central Division EverStart Series stop Sept. 19-22.
The 4-year-old EverStart Series now includes three divisions-Eastern, Central and Northern-with four events each plus a year-end championship. Tournament winners and the top 50 pros and top 50 co-anglers from each division will earn a spot in the championship presented by Conseco Nov. 7-10 on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala. There, the winning pro will receive a Mercury- or Yamaha-powered Ranger boat with GARMIN electronics and $25,000. The winning co-angler will receive a Mercury- or Yamaha-powered Ranger boat with GARMIN electronics and $10,000. More than $2.5 million will be awarded during the 2001 EverStart Series season. The series also provides a pathway to the $4.45 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour-bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament series.