McGuire Wins EverStart Series Central Division Event On Kentucky Lake
Ralls wins co-angler title
HARDIN, Ky. – Curt McGuire of Paris, Tenn., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Central Division event on Kentucky Lake presented by Evinrude after leading wire-to-wire with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 70 pounds, 3 ounces. For his victory, McGuire earned $40,000 and a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor.
“This one was a little bit more special than my first win,” said McGuire, who had a previous EverStart victory on Kentucky Lake in 2010. “I feel like the competition here on Kentucky Lake is much stiffer now than it used to be. There are no better local fisherman than here at Kentucky Lake.”
McGuire said that he made a long run each day from north of Paris down to New Johnsonville, hitting 50 to 60 different schools of fish along the way.
“I really had a fantastic week,” McGuire said. “I must have caught at least 40 to 50 4-pound fish. Some of my schools that I had located, I never even touched. I really just tried to concentrate on the schools that I knew held bigger fish.”
McGuire said that he caught fish this week throwing a variety of baits, including a Bomber Fat Free Shad crankbait, a BOOYAH football-head jig and a YUM Money Minnow swimbait. He also caught a few keepers fishing a spoon and a Carolina rig. He said that he varied his colors based on his location. McGuire said that when he fished in the north he would throw more natural looking colors and switch to brighter colors as he moved south.
“I was really embarrassed after the previous EverStart event on Lake Pickwick,” McGuire went on to say. “I did not catch them nearly as good as I thought I could. The key for me in this event was putting my time in. I worked on finding areas that other guys might not be looking for and figuring out how to catch them differently on the more popular ledges. I saved one hole just for today, and it feels good knowing that my hard work paid off for me.”
The top 10 pros on Kentucky Lake were:
1st: Curt McGuire, Paris, Tenn., 15 bass, 70-3, $40,000 + Ranger Z518 with 200-horsepower outboard
2nd: David Gnewikow, Mount Juliet, Tenn., 15 bass, 62-13, $15,000
3rd: Walmart pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 15 bass, 62-7, $10,000
4th: Kevin Snider, Elizabethtown, Ky., 15 bass, 60-1, $9,000
5th: Sam Morrow, Smyrna, Tenn., 15 bass, 59-13, $8,000
6th: Clent Davis, Montevallo, Ala., 15 bass, 59-3, $7,000
7th: Randy Haynes, Counce, Tenn., 15 bass, 58-1, $6,000
8th: Jason Lambert, Pickwick Dam, Tenn., 15 bass, 56-6, $5,000
9th: Ray Barga, Benton, Ky., 15 bass, 47-8, $4,000
10th: Mickey Beck, Lebanon, Tenn., 15 bass, 43-10, $3,000
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
McGuire caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division on Thursday, a 6-pound, 14-ounce bass that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $300.
Steve Ralls of Buncombe, Ill., won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 54 pounds, 10 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers on Kentucky Lake were:
1st: Steve Ralls, Buncombe, Ill., 15 bass, 54-10, Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower outboard
2nd: Michael Brown, Mayfield, Ky., 15 bass, 46-13, $5,000
3rd: Donald Sibley, Strasburg, Ohio, 15 bass, 46-10, $4,000
4th: Jeff Tennell, Franklin, Ind., 15 bass, 46-10, $3,500
5th: Ben Jackson, Paducah, Ky., 15 bass, 45-2, $3,000
6th: Arnold Payne Jr., Noblesville, Ind., 15 bass, 44-15, $2,500
7th: David Carroll, Manitou, Ky., 15 bass, 43-10, $2,000
8th: Marvin Maxwell, Tunnel Hill, Ill., 14 bass, 42-3, $1,500
9th: Randy Terrell, St. Louis, Mo., 12 bass, 33-15, $1,000
10th: Frank Divis Sr., Fayetteville, Ark., 11 bass, 32-3, $800
Chuck Sabia of Ottawa, Ill., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Friday – a 6-pound, 7-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $200.
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Strike King Angler of the Year title, which allows them to fish the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup.
The final EverStart Series Central Division tournament will be July 25-27 on the Detroit River in Trenton, Mich., and will be presented by Mercury.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the EverStart Series on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.