EverStart Series to visit Fort Gibson Lake
Tournament purse set at $185,000
WAGONER, Okla. – The $2.5 million EverStart Series will make its stop on Fort Gibson Lake near Wagoner, Okla., Sept. 19-22 after being rescheduled due to unusually high water in March. At stake in the prestigious tournament featuring up to 330 anglers from 19 states is a top award of $50,000 cash and prizes.
Some of the circuit’s top pros including last season’s Central Division points champion and winner of the richest bass tournament in history, Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla., will be among the competitors. Robertson won $600,000 in November 1999 for his victory in the Ranger M1 Millennium.
“Fort Gibson Lake is a tremendous fishery,” said Jerry Stakely, EverStart Series tournament director. “These guys are some of the best bass fishermen in the world, and they know how to find quality fish. It would be an excellent event.”
Finding big bass, of course, is the name of the game, and anglers may be working more diligently than ever with nearly $20,000 more in cash and prizes on the line during each tournament this season.
“We increased the rewards in all of our 2001 qualifiers and introduced a no-entry-fee championship with a $325,000 purse,” Stakely said. “We also added a new Northern Division to accommodate growing demand in that region. Tournament fishing is one of the fastest growing sports in the country, and our goal is to give as many bass anglers as possible the opportunity to be successful in the sport they love.”
The 4-year-old EverStart Series now includes three divisions-Eastern, Central and Northern-with four events each plus a year-end championship. More than $2.5 million will be awarded this year alone. The EverStart Series also provides a pathway to the $4.45 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour-bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament series.
The top 10 anglers from each division will qualify to compete in the 2002 FLW Tour series where they could win up to $250,000 in a single event. Rankings are based on a points system that awards 200 points for a win, 199 points for second, 198 points for third and so on. Points are awarded following each qualifying event.
Anglers will compete on Fort Gibson Lake for four days. The full field of 165 pro anglers and 165 co-anglers will compete for two days in the opening round. After the opening round, the field will be cut to the top 30 pros and top 30 co-anglers. These competitors will start from zero and compete for one day in the semifinal round to determine the top 10 anglers in each division who will advance to the final round. Catch weights are cleared again for the final day of competition. The winning pro will receive $15,000 and a Yamaha- or Mercury-powered Ranger boat with GARMIN Electronics plus a $1,000 bonus if a GARMIN fixed-mount sonar product was used during competition. The winning co-angler will receive $6,000.
EverStart Series tournament winners and the top 50 pros and top 50 co-anglers from the Eastern, Northern and Central divisions will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship presented by Conseco Nov. 7-10 on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala. There, the winning pro will receive a Yamaha- or Mercury-powered Ranger boat with GARMIN electronics and $25,000. The top co-angler will win a Yamaha- or Mercury-powered Ranger boat with GARMIN electronics and $10,000.
Sequoyah State Park located eight miles east of Wagoner on Highway 51 is the site of each day’s 6 a.m. take-off on Fort Gibson Lake Sept. 19-22. Weigh-ins for the first three days of competition will also be held at the park starting at approximately 3 p.m. each day. The final weigh-in on Saturday, Sept. 22 will be held at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 410 South Dewey in Wagoner at 4 p.m.