SANDUSKY, Ohio – Retired state trooper Paul Rambo of Brighton, Mich., landed five smallmouths weighing 17 pounds, 3 ounces Thursday to lead 30 of the nation’s top professional bass anglers into the semifinal round of the $185,000 EverStart Series tournament on Lake Erie’s Sandusky Bay.
Rambo caught five smallmouth bass weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces on opening day Wednesday to finish in a tie for third place before Thursday’s catch boosted his two-day total to 10 bass weighing 36 pounds, 13 ounces and put him in the Pro Division lead.
“We couldn’t make it to my primary location this morning,” said Rambo, who caught the majority of his bass on a 5-inch green tubebait in 18 to 25 feet of water. “When we started out I stuck the boat into a wave and decided to go to another spot that was more sheltered. It turns out that it was the right decision.”
Of 164 contenders in each division, only the top 30 pros and top 30 co-anglers will advance to Friday’s semifinal round where they will start from zero and fish for one day to determine the top 10 pros and co-anglers who will advance to the final round Saturday. The winning pro will receive $15,000 cash and a Yamaha- or Mercury-powered Ranger boat with GARMIN electronics plus a $1,000 bonus from GARMIN if one of the firm’s fixed-mount sonars was used during competition. The top co-angler will be awarded $6,000 cash.
Pro Ken Jones of Shelby, Ohio, caught 10 bass weighing 35 pounds, 5 ounces over two days to secure the No. 2 spot in Friday’s competition. Rounding out the top five pros were Don McCulla of New Baltimore, Mich., with 10 bass weighing 35 pounds, 2 ounces; James Vitaro of Wooster, Ohio, with 10 bass weighing 34 pounds, 7 ounces; and Larry Bailey of Vermillion, Ohio, with 10 bass weighing 34 pounds.
In the Co-Angler Division, Ted Will of Zeeland, Mich., held onto the top spot with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 41 pounds, 12 ounces-the best catch in either division. He caught all of his bass using a Carolina-rigged green tubebait with a 1/2- to ¾-ounce walleye sinker, No. 4 hook and braided line.
“By the time we made our third pass, it was really rocking out there,” Will said. “We were fishing in 5- to 6-foot waves.”
Finishing in second and third place in the Co-Angler Division were Dwight Ameling of Fremont, Ind., with nine bass weighing 35 pounds, 8 ounces and Don Amari of Fort Wayne, Ind., with 10 bass weighing 33 pounds, 6 ounces.
Big bass and $750 in the Pro Division went to Eric Gunter of North Benton, Ohio, for a 5-pound, 3-ounce smallmouth. Big bass and $250 in the Co-Angler Division went to James Swingle of Crooksville, Ohio, for a 5-pound, 5-ounce smallmouth.
Competition begins at 6 a.m. each day at Bickely’s Boat Dock located at 101 Shelby Street in Sandusky. Friday’s weigh-in begins at 3 p.m. at Bickely’s, and 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.