SANDUSKY, Ohio – Despite unstable weather Wednesday that produced 5-foot waves at times, James Vitaro of Wooster, Ohio, landed five smallmouth bass weighing 20 pounds, 14 ounces to take the early lead in the Pro Division of the $185,000 EverStart Series tournament on Lake Erie’s Sandusky Bay.
Vitaro, a regular in the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League who is competing in his first EverStart Series tournament, caught the majority of his bass while fishing isolated humps with a green tubebait. His strikes came in water ranging from 9- to 32-feet deep, and they came quickly. Within an hour of arriving at his destination 20 miles from the takeoff ramp in Sandusky he had an 18-pound limit in the boat.
“Today was a perfect day for this spot,” Vitaro said. “The wind was blowing in on it, and the fish were there feeding.”
The tournament, which is part of the $2.5 million, 13-event EverStart Series, features 164 pros and 164 co-anglers casting for $15,000 cash and a Mercury- or Yamaha-powered Ranger boat with GARMIN Electronics in the Pro Division and $6,000 in the Co-Angler Division. The winning pro will also receive a $1,000 bonus from GARMIN if he was using one of the firm’s fixed-mount sonars.
Joe Balog of Independence, Ohio, finished opening day in second place with five bass weighing 20 pounds, 1 ounce. He was followed by Jack Bell of Kane, Pa., with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces; Paul Rambo of Brighton, Mich., with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces; and Larry Bailey of Vermillion, Ohio, with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 6 ounces.
In the Co-Angler Division, Ted Will of Zeeland, Mich., leads with the best catch in either division-five bass weighing 22 pounds, 7 ounces. Dwight Ameling of Fremont, Ind., followed in second with five bass weighing 19 pounds, and Bill Selawsky Jr. of Edison, N.J., took third with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 8 ounces.
Will credits his success to using 50-pound test braided line with a 30-pound test leader tipped with a 1/2- to ¾-ounce walleye sinker, No. 4 hook and green tube. “It’s the one thing that I do that is a little unorthodox,” he said, explaining how the virtually unbreakable rig allows him to feel every subtlety while fishing.
Big bass and $750 in the Pro Division went to Hal Graham of Toledo, Ohio, for a 5-pound, 6-ounce smallmouth. Big bass and $250 in the Co-Angler Division went to Lester Morgan of Beavercreek, Ohio, for a 5-pound, 6-ounce smallmouth.
For a shot at victory, anglers in both divisions must secure one of 30 slots available in Friday’s semifinal round by catching the heaviest two-day total of bass in round one. During the semifinal round, anglers start from zero and compete for one day to determine the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers who will compete in Saturday’s finale. Catch weights are cleared again for the final day of competition.
Competition begins at 6 a.m. each morning at Bickely’s Boat Dock located at 101 Shelby Street in Sandusky. Weigh-ins Thursday and Friday will also be held at Bickely’s starting at 3 p.m. each day. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 5500 Milan Road in Sandusky at 4 p.m.
The 4-year-old EverStart Series now includes three divisions-Eastern, Central and Northern-with four events each plus a year-end championship presented by Conseco. Tournament winners and the top 50 pros and top 50 co-anglers from each division will earn a spot in the championship, which will be held Nov. 7-10 on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala.
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. Top EverStart competitors may also qualify for the Ranger M1 tournament in Mobile, Ala., Feb. 27-March 2, 2002, where they can win up to $1 million in the world’s richest freshwater tournament.