NATCHITOCHES, La. – Sean Hoernke of Euless, Texas, caught five bass weighing 11 pounds, 11 ounces Friday to lead the semifinal round of the EverStart Series Central Division tournament on the Red River in Natchitoches. Hoernke, who has never led an EverStart Series event, leads a pack of 10 Pro Division anglers who will compete Saturday for a top award of as much as $61,900 in cash and prizes.
High humidity and summertime temperatures may have affected anglers and spectators, but it was falling water levels on the Red River that held Friday’s bite steady despite lessened fishing pressure due to the opening round cut from 158 pros and 158 co-anglers to 20 pros and 20 co-anglers.
“I had my limit by 8:30 this morning,” said Hoernke, who entered the semifinal round in the No. 11 spot with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 11 pounds. “[Saturday] I am going to fish aggressively, and hopefully win.”
Hoernke landed his limit Friday flipping a spinner bait in shallow cover.
Rounding out the top five pros are Randall Osborne of Mount Sterling, Ky. (five bass, 11 pounds, 10 ounces); Jerry Hester of Coushatta (five bass, 11 pounds, 5 ounces); John Sappington of Wyandotte, Okla. (five bass, 11 pounds, 2 ounces); and Slade Dearman of Onalaska, Texas (five bass, 10 pounds, 3 ounces).
Co-angler Harry Barber of Madisonville, Ky., leads 10 co-anglers into the final round after catching five bass weighing 12 pounds, 1 ounce Friday flipping a spinner bait around timber.
“I am having a good time,” said Barber, who reaches the finals of an EverStart Series event for the first time. “I just hope to do well [Saturday].”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Mark Guin, Crossett, Ark. (five bass, 9 pounds, 7 ounces); Janice Arnold of Gentry, Ark. (five bass, 8 pounds); Ed Watson of Derby, Kan. (five bass, 7 pounds, 8 ounce); and Chris Darby of Mount Ida, Ark. (five bass, 6 pounds, 10 ounces).
A total of 125 bass were caught Friday, including 19 five-bass limits. More than 99 percent of the bass were released alive.
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 final round.
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.
Anglers will take off Saturday at 7 a.m. from Morgan’s Landing in Natchitoches followed by the final weigh-in at the Wal-Mart store located at 925 Keyser Ave. in Natchitoches beginning at 4 p.m. The community is encouraged to attend takeoff and weigh-in activities.
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 explore FLWOutdoors.com.