Champlain campaign commences

EverStart Northern Division anglers set to battle it out during final regular-season tourney of year

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – With calm winds, brisk temperatures and a bright sunrise setting the table for Wednesday’s kickoff of the final EverStart Northern Division tournament of 2003, the full field of approximately 200 pros and 200 co-anglers departed Mooney Bay Marina shortly after 6:30 a.m. with one goal in mind: to lay the foundation for a tournament title on Lake Champlain.

With a total purse of $250,000 up for grabs this week, anglers will have to battle stiff competition as well as successfully navigate one of the largest bodies of water in the country if they are to have any shot at qualifying for Friday’s top-20 cut. However, one thing anglers probably won’t have to worry about this week is catching fish – as Lake Champlain boasts perhaps the largest population of both smallmouth and largemouth bass of any lake Northern Division anglers have fished all year.

While anglers undoubtedly will focus on a lucrative payday, a tournament title is not the only prize at stake during this week’s competition on Lake Champlain. Anglers will also attempt to vault atop the final year-end standings in an effort to claim the crown of EverStart Northern Division Angler of the Year. Currently, Dan Mansky of Youngstown, Ohio, leads all pros in the standings with 566 total points. In the Co-angler Division, Trevor Jancasz of White Pigeon, Mich., holds the top spot with 587 points.

Pros and co-anglers who finish in the top 40 in the regular-season standings will also receive an automatic invite to the 2003 EverStart Championship, slated to take place Oct. 29-Nov. 1 on Old Hickory Lake in Gallatin, Tenn.

EverStart action continues at today’s weigh-in, scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. at Mooney Bay Marina, located at 15 Mooney Bay in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Vital statistics:

Sunrise: 6:43 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 45 degrees
Expected high temperature: 70 degrees
Water temperature: 65-68 degrees
Wind: from the southwest at 10 mph
Relative humidity: 61 percent
Day’s outlook: partly cloudy

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