Kreiger holds onto lead at Everstart Championship on Ouachita River
Leue wins Co-Angler Division, Ranger boat and motor
MONROE, La. – Koby Kreiger of Okeechobee, Fla., held onto his lead by the narrowest of margins Saturday at the EverStart Championship presented by Castrol on the Ouachita River. Kreiger brought in a five-bass limit that weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces giving him a three-day total of 29-0, and an 8-ounce lead over second place Brandon Medlock of Lake Placid, Fla., who has a three-day total of 28-8.
“I have a lot of work ahead of me,” said Kreiger. “Obviously Brandon Medlock is the angler to beat. He is sitting on a good school of fish, the kind that it’s going to take to win and I am not sure my fish will produce a double digit bag, but I’m going to do everything I can.
“I had a lot of bites today,” Kreiger went on to say. “But for some reason they were all short strikes, I don’t know, I think I am going to have to try a different bait presentation to get the bigger ones to bite. I’ve been doing pretty much the same thing all week, starting in the bayous, hitting the river mid-day and then finishing in the bayous. I have been using home-made crankbaits, CP Lures and today I got a couple of keepers on the Alabama Rig.
“I have my work cut out for me tomorrow that is for sure.”
Medlock had a breakdown on day one and only brought in one bass that weighed 1-4. Since then he has been on a tear bringing in the heaviest sack of the tournament yesterday, 14-7, and today his 12-13 sack tied day one leader Stricklin Jr., for the next heaviest sack of the tournament. In what is turning into a game of ounces, it is still anybody’s tournament to win.
Top 10 pros that will fish Sunday on the Ouachita River are:
1st: Koby Kreiger, Okeechobee, Fla., 15 bass, 29-0
2nd: Brandon Medlock, Lake Placid, Fla., 11 bass, 28-8
3rd: Joseph Kremer, Osteen, Fla., 15 bass, 25-4
4th: Kent Ware, Wadmalaw Island, S.C., 15 bass, 25-4
5th: Larry Jones, Acworth, Ga., 15 bass, 25-3
6th: Kettle Brand Chips pro Dan Morehead, Paducah, Ky., 15 bass, 24-12
7th: Bill Chapman, Salt Rock, W. Va., 14 bass, 24-12
8th: James Stricklin Jr., Texarkana, Texas, 11 bass, 24-3
9th: Robbie Dodson, Harrison, Ark., 15 bass, 24-3
10th: Casey Martin, New Market, Ala., 15 bass, 23-0
Daniel Leue of Colusa, Calif., won the co-angler division by 1 pound over Audie Brantley of North Augusta, S.C. Leue had a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 20 pounds, 3 ounces to win a Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard. Brantley took second place with 13 bass weighing 19-3 to win $4,100.
Remaining top-10 co-anglers are:
3rd: Tony Spinks, Springfield, Mo., 10 bass, 18-9, $2,850
4th: Tony Prince, Pulaski, Tenn., 13 bass, 18-8, $2,000
5th: Justin Sward, Birmingham, Ala., 14 bass, 18-8, $1,800
6th: Calvin Hemphill, Rison, Ark., 13 bass, 17-13, $1,600
7th: Chad McClendon, North Richland Hills, Texas, 14 bass, 17-9, $1,400
8th: Ben Dziwulski, Woodbine, Md., 15 bass, 17-8, $1,200
9th: Mike Hardin Sr., Robertsdale, Ala., 14 bass, 17-5, $1,000
10th: Kevin Carter, Spring, Texas, 14 bass, 17-3 , $820
Anglers will take off for the final day from Forsythe Park located at 2401 Sycamore St. in Monroe, La., at 7:30 a.m. Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart located at 2701 Louisville Ave. in Monroe beginning at 4 p.m.
Fans will be treated to the FLW Expo at Walmart on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. prior to the final weigh-ins. The Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors, and fans can learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments where competitors earn valuable points to help them qualify for the EverStart Championship. The top 40 pro and co-anglers from each respective division qualified for this event. Pros are competing for a top award of $50,000 plus a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers were fishing for a top award consisting of a Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines were met. The EverStart Pro and Co-Champion will also receive a berth in the 2013 Forrest Wood Cup being held on the Red River in Shreveport-Bossier City, La., Aug. 15-18.
Coverage of the EverStart Championship will be broadcast in high-definition (HD) on NBC Sports Network when “FLW” airs Jan. 6, 2013, from 1 to 2 p.m. ET. “FLW” is hosted by Jason Harper and is broadcast to more than 559 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.