Closing in at Kerr
Powers needs to top tight field to make history
HENDERSON, N.C. – The great warm-up is here, and Craig Powers is hoping to stay hot enough to become the first pro ever to win back-to-back EverStart Series tournaments.
Powers, who won the Southeast Division event at West Point Lake two weeks ago, is looking to repeat the feat in the Northeast Division opener here at Kerr Lake. As of this morning, he was carrying a 2 1/2-pound lead over the rest of the field.
But it won’t be automatic for Powers, by any means. Nine of the 10 pros caught limits Friday, so their weights are bunched up tight. In eighth place, Jack Gadlage is just under 5 pounds behind Powers – and that’s just one good Kerr keeper fish away. There are six more pros even closer.
“I’ve got to hand it to you, you’ve been pretty steady,” pro Pete Gluszek told Powers this morning. Gluszek – who caught the heaviest sack of the week, 22 pounds, on day one – is the leader’s closest challenger, in second place. “That’s impressive.”
“I’m not going to lie to you,” Powers responded. “I’ve been pretty lucky with this topwater bite.”
Not only that, the weather has changed for Saturday. Gone are the cool winds and rain, replaced by dead calm, warm and humid conditions. It’s still cloudy, however, so that should keep finalists on the same topwater patterns that brought them here.
And it looks like the postspawn bass are hungry again today. Just around the dock at Satterwhite Point at takeoff, fish were busting on shad like crazy, breaking the gray calm of the morning.
Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at 4 p.m. Eastern time at the Wal-Mart store located at 200 North Cooper Road in Henderson. Friday’s weights carry over to Saturday, and each division’s winner will be determined by two-day combined weight.
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.
Saturday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 5:56 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 65 degrees
Expected high temperature: 85 degrees
Wind: calm
Maximum humidity: 100 percent
Day’s outlook: partly cloudy