TOWER, Minn. – Pro Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla., caught five bass weighing 15 pounds, 9 ounces Friday to take the lead at the four-day, $249,825 EverStart Series Northern Division event on Minnesota’s Lake Vermilion. Kreiger finished the two-day opening round in third place and leads the 10 pros who advanced to Saturday’s final round by a 1-pound, 6-ounce margin. Final-round pros are in the hunt for a top pro award of $61,900 in cash and prizes, including a fully-rigged Ranger 519VS Comanche.
After two days of calm, sunny conditions that were conducive to the shallow-water patterns utilized by most competitors, Lake Vermilion weather turned gloomier Friday, but even with the change in conditions, the 20 pros and 20 co-anglers still in contention hauled in 191 bass, including 36 five-bass limits. Kreiger caught his limit Friday on a Zara Super Spook Jr. and a Zoom Tab Tail worm in shallow water.
“This lake sort of suits my style of fishing,” said Kreiger, who is the reigning EverStart Series Champion. “I’d rather be in second place, though, because I feel that it’s bad luck to be leading on the third day. It seems like I always peak too early, but unless something weird happens, I should be able to catch 13 pounds (Saturday). If I’m lucky I can catch more than that.”
Rounding out the top five pros were David Dudley of Manteo, N.C. (five bass, 14 pounds, 3 ounces); Art Ferguson III of St. Clair Shores, Mich. (five bass, 13 pounds, 7 ounces); Mark Zona of Sturgis, Mich. (five bass, 13 pounds, 2 ounces); and Dion Hibdon of Stover, Mo. (five bass, 12 pounds, 13 ounces).
Jess Caraballo of Danbury, Conn., leads the list of 10 final-round co-anglers thanks to a five-bass catch Friday that weighed 11 pounds, 12 ounces. He caught his bass on a Senko in 8 to 10 feet of water.
“I did something different (Friday) than I’ve done the whole tournament,” said Caraballo, who is fishing his first EverStart Series event. “Today I actually got to fish. I was using a Senko in the weeds, catching largemouths. My partner (Edward Rogers Jr.) did some good moves for me; I actually caught more weight than he did!”
Caraballo expects good things Saturday when he joins Kreiger in the boat. “I’ve been staying in a cabin right next to him,” Carabello said. “Actually, the area where we’re staying has the most `fish-catchingest’ people around! This feels great.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Richard Wyrick of Franklin, Ill. (five bass, 11 pounds, 10 ounces); Todd Truax of Canton, Ohio (five bass, 11 pounds, 7 ounces); Chris Wade of Preston, Conn. (five bass, 11 pounds, 1 ounce); and Trevor Jancasz of White Pigeon, Mich. (five bass, 9 pounds, 10 ounces).
Fortune Bay Resort and Casino will host the event’s final takeoff and weigh-in. Anglers will take off from Fortune Bay at 6 a.m. followed by the weigh-in at 3 p.m. The community is encouraged to attend the final takeoff and weigh-in.
One hundred and eighty-nine pros and 189 co-anglers descended upon Lake Vermilion Wednesday and fished for two days for one of 20 spots in Friday’s semifinal round. Weights were cleared for Friday’s competition, and the field was cut again to the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers based on Friday’s catch weight. Weights will be cleared again for Saturday’s competition, and anglers will compete for position and prize money.
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.
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 peruse FLWOutdoors.com.
FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.