JASPER, Texas – Pro Trey Morgan of Goldonna, La., caught a Texas-sized limit of five bass weighing 24 pounds, 5 ounces to lead the first day of EverStart Series Central Division competition on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. A full field of 200 pros and 200 co-anglers will battle it out for four days in search of their share of a $256,825 total purse.
Sam Rayburn temperatures hovered near the 50-degree mark Wednesday, and anglers fished beneath cloudy, overcast skies. Despite the cold temperatures – and sleet – the competitors were able to bring in some good stringers of fish.
“I plan on scouting [Thursday] and trying some Rat-L-Trap bites,” said Morgan, who says who caught his bass on a Rite Bite tube. “This is my second year to fish the EverStart Series, and I am excited to be leading.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Alfred Williams of Jackson, Miss. (five bass, 20 pounds, 8 ounces); George Jeane Jr. of Evans, La. (five bass, 20 pounds, 6 ounces); Carl Svebek of Siloam Springs, Ark. (five bass, 19 pounds, 14 ounces); and David Truax of Beaumont, Texas (five bass, 19 pounds, 5 ounces).
Randy Brewer of South Lake, Texas, leads the Co-angler Division thanks to a five-bass catch weighing 15 pounds, 9 ounces.
“I was confident I would catch a lot of fish,” said Brewer, who caught his fish on a wacky worm. “I never expected to do this well.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jerry McKnight of Wells, Texas (four bass, 15 pounds, 4 ounces); Joe Rasnick of Brookville, Ind. (five bass, 13 pounds, 12 ounces); Lonnie Fuller Jr. of Hemphill, Texas (five bass, 13 pounds, 11 ounces); and Robert Kirtley of Chouteau, Okla. (five bass, 13 pounds, 8 ounces).
Jonathan Newton of Rogerville, Ark., took pro big-bass honors and $750 Wednesday thanks to his 8-pound, 9-ounce bass. McKnight caught a 10-pound bass to claim $250 as the co-angler big-bass winner.
Nine hundred and ninety-eight bass were caught Wednesday, including 90 five-bass limits. One hundred percent were released alive.
Anglers will take off each morning from Twin Dikes Marina in Brookfield beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday’s weigh-in will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 800 W. Gibson in Jasper beginning at 4 p.m. The community is encouraged to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins.
Following Thursday’s conclusion of the opening round, the top 20 pros and 20 co-anglers based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Friday’s semifinal round. Weights are cleared for Friday’s competition, and the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers advance to Saturday’s final round based on Friday’s total weight. Weights are again cleared for Saturday’s competition, and anglers compete for the heaviest one-day weight.
The winning pro will take home a guaranteed cash award of $10,000 plus a new Ranger 519VS Comanche equipped with Garmin electronics and powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat, he will receive an additional $10,000 cash bonus from Ranger for a total of $61,900 in cash and prizes. Ranger will also award an additional $3,000 to the winner if he is a Ranger Cup participant, and Garmin will award $1,000 to the winner if his boat is equipped with a fixed-mount Garmin Fishfinder or combination GPS/Sounder.
The winning co-angler is guaranteed $5,000 cash. If the winning co-angler is a registered Ranger owner, he will also receive a new Ranger 519VS Comanche for a total of $27,800 in cash and prizes.
Four divisions – Eastern, Central, Northern and Western – comprise the 2003 EverStart Series. Each division stages four regular-season tournaments leading up to the no-entry-fee $335,975 EverStart Series Championship, which will be held on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin, Tenn., Oct. 29-Nov. 1.
To accommodate tremendous demand, EverStart Series Eastern, Northern and Central division fields have been expanded from 175 pros and 175 co-anglers to 200 pros and 200 co-anglers wherever facilities will allow. Payback in each of the expanded tournaments has also increased from $239,325 to $256,825. The extra cash is spread through the bottom three-quarters of the field, and 10 more places were added to the payout, giving 51st through 60th each $650 on the pro side and $250 on the co-angler side.
In EverStart Series competition, pros supply the boats, control boat movement and fish from the front of each boat against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back of each boat and compete against other co-anglers.
FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing, administers the EverStart Series. Other FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament trails include the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour and the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League. FLW Outdoors will award as much as $20 million through 175 tournaments in 2003.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please visit FLWOutdoors.com.