ROGERS, Ark. – After weighing in five bass that registered 12 pounds, 9 ounces, Curt Lytle, 31, of Suffolk, Va., will lead 10 of the nation’s top professional anglers into Saturday’s final round of the EverStart Batteries Series tournament on Beaver Lake.
Lytle, who won the 1999 Central Division EverStart Challenge on Beaver Lake, jumped into the lead after qualifying for round two in 17th place.
“On opening day I sort of panicked because the fish were not where they were in practice,” he said. “But I feel fabulous now. My two biggest fish came before 9 a.m., and I’m confident that I could have caught more big ones if I hadn’t gone looking for spotted bass.”
Lytle’s limit included two largemouth bass, one of which weighed 5-15, and three spotted bass. “I consider any 5-pounder a gift on this lake,” said Lytle, who celebrated his anniversary Monday and his birthday Tuesday. “There just aren’t that many of them out there.”
Finishing the round in second through fifth position in the Pro Division were George Toalson of Claremore, Okla., with five bass weighing 9-13; Jerry Evans of Edmond, Okla., with five bass weighing 9-13; Greg Bohannan of Fayetteville, Ark., with five bass weighing 9-11; and Gary Yamamoto of Mineola, Texas, with five bass weighing 9-5.
In the Co-Angler Division, Larry Walker of Pea Ridge, Ark., led the field with four bass weighing 9-10. Jack Morse of Oglesby, Texas, finished the round in second with five bass weighing 9-4 followed by Myron Watts of Malvern, Ark., with five bass weighing 7-10; John Ogle of Rogers, Ark., with five bass weighing 7-5; and Frank Divis Sr. of Fayetteville, Ark., with four bass weighing 7-3.
In 1999, Divis won the Central Division EverStart Challenge on Beaver Lake as a co-angler.
On Saturday, anglers will start over and fish for one day to determine the victor. The winning pro will receive $10,000 and an Evinrude- or Johnson-powered Ranger bass boat. The winning co-angler will collect $6,000.
Saturday’s action begins at 7 a.m. at Prairie Creek Marina on Prairie Creek Drive in Rogers, Ark. The weigh-in begins at 4 p.m. at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 2110 West Walnut in Rogers at 4 p.m.
The three-year-old EverStart Series is comprised of two divisions, Eastern and Central, with four multi-day events per division. The top 75 pros and co-anglers from each division will advance to the year-end EverStart Invitational Challenge at Cypress Gardens, Fla., which features a purse of $360,000.
Over the course of the season, the EverStart Series awards anglers up to $1.7 million in cash and prizes. It also provides a pathway to the prestigious Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the richest tournament series in history. Winning anglers in the Pro and Co-Angler Divisions of each EverStart tournament, as well as the overall top 10 anglers, based on a system of points and pounds, receive automatic berths in the 2001 FLW Tour.
The series’ title sponsor, EverStart Batteries, is the No. 1 retail selling automotive and marine battery brand in the world.