EUFAULA, Ala. – Pat Fisher, 31, of Stone Mountain, Ga., landed more than $50,000 in cash and prizes including an Evinrude-powered Ranger boat Saturday on Lake Eufaula with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 14 ounces in the second Eastern Division tournament of the $2.8 million EverStart Series season.
Fisher, a Wal-Mart FLW Tour pro who opted to also fish the EverStart Series this season, topped 165 Pro Division anglers after four days of competition and two elimination rounds. He made the top-20 cut Thursday in 12th place with a two-day, opening-round total of 10 bass weighing 28 pounds, 11 ounces. Then he caught five more bass weighing 14 pounds, 13 ounces Friday to make the top-10 cut in first place. Catch weights were cleared for all competitors following each cut.
Faced with sunny skies and unseasonably cold temperatures Saturday, Fisher used a black and red Zoom tube bait outfitted with a rattle and ¼-ounce worm weight to flip his way to victory over pro anglers from across the nation. Despite fishing the same productive spawning flats all week and landing more than 14 pounds each day, Fisher’s victory was far from certain.
“I went to that spot first thing and didn’t get a bite, so I started running around and got real nervous,” said Fisher, who also landed a $1,000 bonus from GARMIN for using a fixed-mount GARMIN GPS/Sounder. “I passed another competitor and his co-angler was all smiles. He gave me the thumbs up like they were catching fish, and I didn’t have a thing. Finally I decided to go back to my previous spot and stick with what got me here. I caught my first fish at 11 a.m.”
Billy Bowen Jr. of Ocala, Fla. (five bass, 16 pounds, 7 ounces, $10,000); Roger Crafton of Boca Grande, Fla. (five bass, 14 pounds, 7 ounces, $9,000); Team Castrol pro David Dudley of Manteo, N.C. (five bass, 14 pounds, 6 ounces, $8,000); and Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., (five bass, 11 pounds, 13 ounces, $7,500) rounded out the top five pros.
In the 165-competitor Co-angler Division, Scott Griffin of Sherrills Ford, N.C., claimed first place and $6,000 with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 2 ounces. He was the No. 8 seed in the final round after landing two bass weighing 4 pounds, 4 ounces in the semifinal round and eight bass weighing 17 pounds, 12 ounces in the two-day opening round. Catch weights were cleared at the start of each round.
“This feels great,” said Griffin, who landed his limit on a firetiger colored crankbait while fishing rocky banks. “I’ve come close to making the cuts before. It’s nice to finally get through all of them and win one.”
This is Griffin’s third year fishing the EverStart Series.
Co-anglers Jim Jenkins of Winamac, Ind. (five bass, 9 pounds, $4,000) and Eddie Evans of Berea, Ky., (two bass, 5 pounds, 3 ounces, $3,500) finished second and third respectively.
The tournament, hosted by the city of Eufaula, Eufaula/Barbour Chamber of Commerce and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, began Wednesday with 330 anglers taking off from Lake Point State Park to claim a piece of the event’s $210,000 purse. The Santee Cooper Lakes near Manning, S.C., will be the next Eastern Division EverStart Series stop April 10-13.
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 presented by Conseco. The top 50 pros and co-anglers from each division will be invited to the no-entry-fee 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 earn priority entry into the 2003 Wal-Mart FLW Tour – bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament series – 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.
Sponsors of the 2002 EverStart Series are Wal-Mart, ALPO Pet Foods, BFGoodrich Tires, Castrol, Chevy Trucks, Coleman, Conseco, Energizer, EverStart Batteries, Evinrude, Faded Glory, Frito-Lay, Fujifilm, GARMIN, Kellogg’s, Land O’Lakes, Maxwell House, Minn Kota, Pepsi, Poulan, Ranger Boats, Shop-Vac, Snickers, Stanley Works, US Bank, Weed Eater and Yamaha Outboards. Associate sponsors are Abu Garcia, Berkley, Eagle Claw, Laker, Plano and Solar Bat.
FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing tournaments, manages the EverStart Series. The organization operates 170 tournaments through the EverStart Series, Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit and Ranger M1. FLW Outdoors will award anglers up to $22 million in 2002.