Quick Bites: EverStart Championship, Day 1
2004 EverStart Series Championship
Lake Cumberland, Somerset, Ky.
Wednesday, opening round
He’s from around here … Four-and-a-half years ago, H.C. Sumpter finished second at the EverStart Eastern tournament held right here at Lake Cumberland. Before that, he also finished second in two BFL Mountain events here and, after that, he won two BFLs here. Hailing from nearby Nancy, Ky., Sumpter has what might be the definition of a “local advantage” at Cumberland. The fishing’s tough, the weather’s sketchy, and minimum catch-size requirements are making it hard to catch keeper fish, especially smallmouths. It’s also a recipe for local success. Sumpter, who came off the waiting list to fish this event, readily admitted his home-lake advantage Wednesday. However, he admitted nothing about what he’s actually catching them on. “That’s hard to answer,” he said. “You know what I’m saying?”
Limited success … With just 21 pros and two co-anglers catching limits Wednesday, the five-bass sack count was relatively low, but not unusually so for this venue under these conditions. However, sixth-place pro Mark Holloway, who weighed in a limit, had a little different experience on Lake Cumberland than most of the competitors. “Between my partner and me, we must have caught over 40 fish,” he said. “I caught a fish on the first cast and then caught 15 more on my first 15 casts. It was just one of those days.”
Ouch, Art … It hurts to write this again, but the sympathy vote of the day goes to Western Division standout pro Art Berry. He caught a lot of fish – around 9 1/2 pounds – but had his weight disqualified because he returned to weigh-in about nine minutes too late. He didn’t have motor problems or lose track of time, he said, but he did get a little lost on the river today. Berry, with a good early limit in the livewell, made a concerted effort to return to General Burnside Park two hours before check-in, but “I must have just blown by it,” he said. “There weren’t any boats in here yet.” After realizing his mistake, it was too late and he missed his cut time by too much. Berry is probably one of the best upcoming pros without an FLW Outdoors win. He’s absorbed a lot of near-miss disappointments in the last two years, having finished runner-up three times in the West and losing out on the Western points title at the last minute this year. “I’ve been tested over and over and over again,” he said, obviously disappointed. “I just want it so bad.”
More time travails … Pro Ramie Colson also had trouble beating the clock Wednesday, but he came out on the other end of the spectrum from Berry. Colson was leisurely fishing away this afternoon when his co-angler partner, Steve Amata, asked him if they should start heading back. Colson, believing that he was in the Central Time Zone, thought he had an extra hour to fish. But this part of Kentucky is in the Eastern Time Zone. (The time line splits the state in half.) At Amata’s urging and a quick check of the actual time on his cell phone, Colson made the long run back with just 40 minutes to go and made it under the wire. “I’ve got to thank my co-angler,” said Colson, who placed second with almost 12 1/2 pounds of bass. “We avoided a near-disaster.”