MANNING, S.C. – William Smith of Moncks Corner, S.C., captured the No.1 qualifying spot heading into the EverStart Series’ semifinal round Friday on lakes Marion and Moultrie with a two-day, opening-round record of 10 bass weighing 48 pounds, 10 ounces.
Smith, the 2000 EverStart Series Santee Cooper lakes winner, caught five bass weighing 22 pounds, 6 ounces Wednesday to place second then upped the ante Thursday with five more bass weighing 26 pounds, 4 ounces to lead the Pro Division and smash the previous opening-round record of 43 pounds, 15 ounces set by Rick Gunter of Holly Hill, Fla., during the 2000 EverStart Series tournament on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee.
“I’ve lived on these lakes for 25 years, so its nothing new to me,” said Smith, who caught the majority of his bass off stumps near lily pads. “Every time I go out, I’m either going to zero or be a hero. So far things are just falling the way they should.”
Friday the top 20 pros and co-anglers will start from zero and fish for one day to determine the top 10 anglers advancing to Saturday’s final round for a shot at a top pro award of more than $50,000 in cash and prizes and top co-angler award of $6,000 cash.
Pro Steve Thornhill of Pineville, S.C., jumped from 59th place after Wednesday’s competition into the No. 2 spot thanks to a five-bass, 26-pound, 9-ounce limit Thursday that bumped his two-day total to 10 bass weighing 37 pounds, 5 ounces.
Brent Riley of Ridgeville, S.C. (nine bass, 36 pounds, 2 ounces); Ken Ellis of Bowman, S.C. (10 bass, 35 pounds, 15 ounces); and Steve Kennedy of Hoover, Ala., (nine bass, 35 pounds, 6 ounces) rounded out the top five pros.
Co-angler John Presnell of Shelby, N.C., retained the top spot in his division with a two-day total of five bass weighing 26 pounds, 1 ounce. “I didn’t fish hard at all [Thursday],” said Presnell, who caught four bass weighing 20 pounds, 9 ounces on opening day. “I just wanted one fish to weigh-in, and I got it.”
Finishing in second and third place were co-anglers Kindle Nelms of Lake City, Fla., (five bass, 23 pounds, 1 ounces) and Roger Brown of Tallassee, Ala., (five bass, 17 pounds).
A 9-pound, 1-ounce largemouth landed Tim Johnson of Dallas, Ga., big bass honors and $750 in the Pro Division. Joseph Webster of Brilliant, Ala., landed co-angler big bass honors and $250 with an 8-pound largemouth.
A total of 480 bass weighing 1,353 pounds, 3 ounces were caught Thursday including 24 five-bass limits. More than 98 percent of the bass were released alive.
Competition begins at 7 a.m. each morning at the John C. Land boat ramp. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 481 West Boyce Street starting at 4 p.m.
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 earn a berth in 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 where they could win up to $260,000 and $40,000 in cash respectively while fishing at the sport’s highest level.