OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – Wayne Clifton, Goose Creek, S.C., landed more than $50,000 cash and prizes including a Yamaha-powered Ranger boat Saturday with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 8 ounces in the EverStart Series Lake Okeechobee season opener.
Clifton, an EverStart Series rookie, survived four days of competition to claim victory over 165 Pro Division competitors. He made the semifinal-round, top-20 cut Thursday in sixth with a two-day total weighing 14 pounds, 11 ounces. He then made the final-round, top-10 cut Friday in third with four bass weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces. Catch weights were cleared for all competitors at the start of the semifinal and final rounds.
During the first three days of competition, Clifton flipped a 10-inch Gambler worm to reeds along the lake’s north shore. In the finals, however, he switched to a chrome and blue Rat-L-Trap and targeted eelgrass. This fateful decision produced his heaviest catch of the tournament and his first EverStart Series win.
“This is totally awesome,” said Clifton, who also landed a $1,000 bonus from GARMIN for using a fixed-mount GARMIN GPS/Sounder. “Never at one time did I think I had the tournament won. There are some terrific fishermen here. This is just incredible.”
Russ Bringer, Pompano Beach, Fla., (four bass, 12 pounds, 6 ounces, $10,000); Billy Bowen Jr., Ocala, Fla., (five bass, 11 pounds, 14 ounces, $9,000); Mark Lamb, West Palm Beach, Fla., (five bass, 8 pounds, 10 ounces, $8,000); and J. T. Kenney, Frostburg, Md., (five bass, 8 pounds, 9 ounces, $7,500) rounded out the top-five pros.
Bowen, who finished as the No. 3 Eastern Division angler last season, led the tournament during the first three days of competition but ultimately fell 10-ounces short of his first EverStart Series win.
Semifinal-round leader co-angler Robert Peifer, Lake Placid, Fla., claimed top honors in his division and collected $6,000 with five bass weighing 8 pounds, 15 ounces. He qualified for the semifinal round in sixth with a two-day total weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces and advanced to the finals in first with a spectacular one-day, two-bass catch weighing 12 pounds, 13 ounces.
“I feel like I’m dreaming,” said Peifer, an EverStart Series rookie who qualified through the 2001 Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League. “Somebody needs to wake me up. I was just hoping to finish in the top 30.”
Peifer’s dream would have ended in even more spectacular fashion if not for the one that got away. “My line got heavy, so I set the hook and what felt like an 8-pounder took off sideways through the reeds,” he said. “Then the line just snapped. One of the reeds cut right through it.”
Co-anglers Jamey Way, McLeansville, N.C., (five bass, 6 pounds, 12 ounces, $4,000) and Al Reed, Tequesta, Fla., (one bass, 3 pounds, 10 ounces, $3,500) finished second and third respectively.
The tournament began Wednesday with 330 anglers representing 19 states and Canada starting from Okee-Tantie marina in Okeechobee to claim a piece of the event’s $210,000 purse. Lake Eufaula, Eufaula, Ala., is the next Eastern Division EverStart Series stop March 20-23. The EverStart Series Central Division, however, kicks off Feb. 6-9 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Jasper, Texas.
Now in its fifth season, the EverStart Series features three divisions-Eastern, Central and Northern-with four events each plus the $325,000 EverStart Series Championship. The top 50 pros and co-anglers from each division will be invited to the Championship for a shot at top pro awards of more than $60,000 in cash and prizes and top co-angler awards of more than $40,000 in cash and prizes. The top 10 pros and co-anglers from each division also receive priority entry into the 2003 Wal-Mart FLW Tour where they could win up to $260,000 and $40,000 in cash respectively.
More than $2.8 million will be awarded to bass anglers through the 2002 EverStart Series. The series also provides a pathway to the $5.1 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour-bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament series.