EverStart Northeast debuts in the South
Anglers set for cranking and reeling at Kerr
HENDERSON, N.C. – It’s been four years since FLW Outdoors held a pro-level bass tournament at Kerr Lake, but with the debut of a new EverStart Series circuit, the Northeast Division, the bass-heavy waters of this impoundment on the North Carolina-Virginia border are once again open for business.
This division could prove to be one of the more diverse circuits this season in terms of fishing strategy. All four of the tournament sites have distinct bass fisheries and need to be approached very differently. Lake Erie is of course a big-lake, deepwater, smallmouth Mecca. The Potomac River is a tidal fishery. Lake Champlain is Lake Champlain: largemouth or smallmouth, you name it, you can catch it in its cool, clear water.
Then there’s the opener this week at big Kerr Lake. More of a traditional Southern impoundment, at the EverStart Series event here in 2001, the winning pattern proved to be crankbaits on deeper ledges. That tournament occurred on roughly the same week of the year as this one, so expect more crankbaits, spinnerbaits and other action baits to be the order of the day. The fish are in postspawn mode and should be holding on cover, both shallow and deep. The water level is holding at close to normal summer pool.
The weather should cooperate Wednesday, with highs in the mid-70s and little chance of rain until later in the afternoon. Scattered storms are in the forecast for the next two days, however.
The stakes
Two hundred pros and 200 co-anglers will compete for two days to determine the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers to advance to the final round based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for the final round, and anglers compete for two more days to determine the winner. Winners are determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
The winning pro earns an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 519VX equipped with Garmin electronics, a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries plus $10,000 cash. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat that is used during the tournament, the winner also receives a $10,000 bonus from Ranger for a top pro award of $60,000. If the winning pro is a Ranger Cup participant, Ranger will award another $3,000 cash (or $1,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant if not the winner), and Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup winnings if the angler’s boat is powered by a Yamaha outboard. Garmin will award the winning pro $1,000 if he uses only Garmin electronics and at least one unit is a qualifying unit, thus boosting potential winnings for the top pro to $65,500.
The winning co-angler receives $5,000 cash, and if the winner is a Ranger boat owner, Ranger will award a new Ranger 519VX for a total prize package worth $35,000. Co-anglers who make the final round of each regular-season EverStart Series event and wear an EverStart/Evinrude shirt and cap on stage are also awarded points toward the EverStart Batteries and Evinrude Outboard Engines Co-angler Award. The co-angler receiving the most points by the end of the season receives an Evinrude 225HO Direct Injection outboard engine rigged on a Ranger boat equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries.
Anglers take off at 6 a.m. Eastern time each morning from Satterwhite Point Marina, which is located at 6470 Satterwhite Point Road in Henderson. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 200 North Cooper Road in Henderson beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Wednesday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 5:57 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 56 degrees
Expected high temperature: 73 degrees
Wind: E at 9 mph
Maximum humidity: 60 percent
Day’s outlook: mostly cloudy