Duplicates day-three performance to grab the top prize of $6,000
JASPER, Texas – Coming into Sam Rayburn, Bo Standley knew that he was only registered to fish in one EverStart Central Division tournament in 2001. So, he decided to make the best of it. And make the best of it he did. Using a catch of 12 pounds, 4 ounces, Standley used rock-solid performance to power his way to first place and capture his first-ever EverStart victory.
“I had a really good week. It feels great,” said Standley, a native of Silsbee, Texas. “I knew that I had a chance to win the tournament today, but you just never know. I’m so happy right now.”
Standley, who fished a Wacky Worm all week, said the expertise of his pro partners was one of the main reasons he was able to walk away with the championship.
“I had great partners all week,” said Standley. “And today my partner (pro champion Mark Goines) really helped me out. At one point, I caught a pretty big fish, but it got caught in the brush and got off. Mark turned the boat right around and told me to give it another try. And I caught it. I can’t thank him enough.”
Standley, who finished in 14th place in an EverStart tournament on Sam Rayburn last year, said he will go home with plenty of fond memories.
“It was just a great experience,” he said. “It’s my first EverStart win and I couldn’t be more happy.”
Jack Thomas of Highland Village, Texas, finished in second place with a catch of 11 pounds, 1 ounce.
“It was a great week for me,” said Thomas, who took home a check for $4,000. “I had a lot of great partners and I’ve had a lot of fun.”
Thomas said the key to his performance was his decision to change his retrieval speed midway through the tournament.
“At first, I was fishing really fast. And I wasn’t catching a whole lot,” he said. “But when I decided to slow it down, the fish started biting. Throughout the week, I just kept fishing slower and slower. Although it’s not the way I like to fish, it seemed to work out just fine.”
Chris Darby of Mount Ida, Texas, took home third place and a check for $3,500.
“The fish were biting pretty good today,” said Darby, who recorded a catch of 10 pounds, 5 ounces. “I’ve had a lot of fun.”
Lyall Grant of Sam Rayburn, Texas, finished in fourth place with a catch of 9 pounds, 14 ounces.
“For the most part, I executed flawlessly today,” said Grant, who caught his last two fish with less than 30 minutes remaining in the tournament. “We’ve got so many good fish in this lake that you just have to adjust to the conditions to catch them.”
Grant won a $3,000 check for his efforts.
Douglass Bailey of Jasper, Texas, won a check for $2,500 after finishing in fifth place with a catch of 8 pounds, 3 ounces.
Rounding out the top-10 finalists were: Justin Hale (sixth) of Nacogdoches, Texas, with a catch of 8 pounds; Robert Bogan (seventh) of Farmington, Ark., with a catch of 4 pounds, 3 ounces; Brandon Delaney (eighth) of Nacogdoches, Texas, with a catch of 3 pounds, 15 ounces; Chad Brooks (ninth) of Houston, Texas, with a catch of 2 pounds, 14 ounces; and Kay Barton (tenth) of Tuskahoma, Okla., with a catch of 0 pounds, 0 ounces.
The next EverStart Series Central Division event is scheduled to take place May 2-5 on Kentucky Lake near Gilbertsville, Ky.
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