GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – Fort Gibson Lake near Wagoner, Okla., will host up to 350 of the nation’s top bass anglers June 7-10 as they compete in the final $164,000 Central Division EverStart Batteries Series event of the nine-event 2000 tournament season.
Among competitors vying for $10,000 first place cash and a Johnson- or Evinrude-powered Ranger bass boat in the Pro Division is Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla., who in 1999 won the Wal-Mart FLW Tour championship on Ft. Gibson Lake then went on to win $600,000 in the Ranger M1 Millennium at Cypress Garden, Fla.
“The EverStart Series is a favorite among serious bass anglers,” says Brian Sayner, vice president of communications for Operation Bass, the world’s largest bass tournament organization. “It offers them the opportunity to fish for large purses and to advance to the prestigious Wal-Mart FLW Tour, which features the sport’s top prize money.”
But anglers are not the only winners at EverStart tournaments. Communities hosting the events benefit from nearly $315,000 in direct expenditures by anglers, spectators and sponsors based on a study of multi-day fishing tournaments by Dr. Hobson Bryan of the University of Alabama, Department of Geography, Urban and Regional Planning. The estimate of economic impact, however, doesn’t account for the considerable value of subsequent tourism revenue generated by EverStart Series events.
Each regular season EverStart Series tournament includes four days of competition, Wednesday through Saturday. A full field of 175 anglers from the Pro Division and 175 from the Co-Angler Division compete for two days, after which the fields are reduced to the top 30. The top 30 anglers from each division start over on day three and fish for one day to determine the top 10 anglers in both divisions who will advance to the final round on Saturday. Anglers start over on the final day, with the winner of each division determined by the weight of that day’s catch.
Taylors Ferry North, located about 8 miles southeast of Wagoner, is the site of each day’s 6 a.m. take-off. Weigh-ins for the first three days of competition will be held at the same location at 3 p.m. The final weigh-in on Saturday, June 10 will be held at the Wagoner Wal-Mart located at 410 South Dewey at 4 p.m.
The next stop on the 2000 EverStart Series schedule is the $360,000 EverStart Invitational Challenge to be held Nov. 8-11 at Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Fla.