Fisher fishes way into first place, finals

Pat Fisher of Stone Mountain, Ga., grabbed the overall lead in the Pro Division after registering a 14-pound, 13-ounce catch. Photo by Gary Mortenson. Angler: Patrick Fisher.

March 22, 2002 • Gary Mortenson • Archives

Fint finesses co-angler lead heading into tomorrow’s final day of EverStart competition

EUFAULA, Ala. – Coming into the EverStart Eastern Division tournament on Lake Eufaula, Pat Fisher never felt better about his chances of winning a tournament. He had a great practice, discovered some good fishing holes and was excited to find his pattern was working to perfection. As it turns out, Fisher may have been on to something. Bolstered by a 14-pound, 13-ounce catch, Fisher not only made the top-10 cut, but also managed to grab hold of first place in the highly competitive Pro Division heading into the finals.

“Ever since I got here I’ve been catching big fish,” said Fisher, a resident of Stone Mountain, Ga. “I had one of the best practices I’ve ever had and I’ve been averaging about 14 pounds a fish every day. It’s just been dynamite. I’m fishing hard and everything seems to be going my way. I’m excited about my chances in this tournament.”

Unlike many anglers who relied on risky sight-fishing techniques all week, Fisher said he has been targeting bushes in shallow, stained water with a combination of Zoom tube baits and Blademaster spinner baits.

“Most of the good sight-fishermen got knocked out today because of the conditions, so I’m feeling pretty good right now,” said Fisher. “I have about four or five good areas that have been working for me all week. I’ve got a bunch of big fish and I’m capable of catching about a 20-pound bag. Plus, I’m due for a win.”

Dudley does it again

David Dudley is on fire. There’s no other way to describe it. After finishing in first place and walking away with $700,000 in the 2002 Ranger M1 tournament last March, Dudley stormed back to make the top-20 cut at the FLW tourney on Lake Ouachita a few weeks later. Now, the resident of Manteo, N.C., finds himself heading into the finals of the EverStart tourney on Lake Eufaula in second place.

But is it difficult to get up for a tournament where the prize money is not nearly as great as some of the bigger FLW Tour events?

“As far as I’m concerned, this is a competition. So I’m going all out to win,” said Dudley, who turned in a 13-pound, 15-ounce stringer. “I don’t look at the money. I’m looking to win. My girlfriend always tells me, `Do you have to be competitive about everything?’ The answer to that question is, `yes.'”

Ironically, Dudley said that a rookie mistake on Wednesday almost cost him a chance to fish for the top prize of $15,000 and a new Ranger boat in tomorrow’s competition.

“I almost didn’t make it to the finals because of a very stupid decision I made on the first day,” said Dudley. “I could have caught 20 pounds that day, but I decided to save my fish for later on in the tournament. I wound up catching only about 11 pounds the next day and it almost cost me. But I managed to qualify in 20th place. I was lucky.”

Dudley, who had planned to sight-fish throughout the tournament, said he was forced to make some strategy changes once the heavy rains came and muddied the water on Wednesday evening.

“My original plan was to sight-fish all week,” he said. “But because of the muddy water and all of the tree pollen, I switched to shallow-water fishing with spinnerbaits and crankbaits. It really paid off because as you can see, all of the sight-fishing boys fell today.”

Dudley said he thought it would take 16 pounds to win the tournament outright tomorrow.

Roger Crafton of Boca Grande, Fla., finished in third place after netting a 12-pound, 13-ounce catch. In fourth place was Billy Bowen, Jr., of Ocala, Fla., who caught a 12-pound, 8-ounce stringer. Finishing in fifth place was Koby Kreiger of Osceola, Ind., with a 12-pound, 1-ounce catch.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top 10 finalists were: Ronnie Ray (sixth) of Phenix City, Ala., with a catch of 11 pounds, 15 ounces; Vince Ingle (seventh) of Maryville, Tenn., with a catch of 11 pounds; Craig Powers (eighth) of Rockwood, Tenn., with a catch of 10 pounds, 9 ounces; Christopher Lane (ninth) of Lakeland, Fla., with a catch of 9 pounds, 8 ounces; and Craig Daniel (tenth) of Cullman, Ala., with a catch of 7 pounds, 9 ounces.

Fint captures overall lead in Co-angler Division

Gary Fint of Frankfort, Ky., used an 8-pound, 9-ounce catch to grab the top qualifying position in the Co-angler Division heading into tomorrow’s finals.

“It feels great. It’s really hard to believe,” said Fint, of his first-place performance. “It’s been an exciting week. I caught over 10 pounds the first day, caught 8 pounds, 7 ounces on the second day and caught over 8 pounds today. And if tomorrow turns out like the rest of the week, I’ll be tickled to death.”

Fint has been targeting largemouth bass with tube baits and crankbaits near rip-rap in 3 to 4 feet of water.

Wheeley takes second

Fishing in only his second season on the EverStart tournament trail, Jeff Wheeley of Lafayette, Tenn., grabbed the runner-up qualifying position heading into the finals after landing a 6-pound, 15-ounce catch.

“It’s just awesome,” said Wheeley of the accomplishment. “I’ve had great partners and that’s made it really easy to catch fish. And I’ve got a great draw tomorrow. I’m fishing with (pro partner) David Dudley. So, I’m feeling pretty good right now.”

Because he has already experienced a variety of fishing styles after fishing with three different pros, Wheeley said he should have no trouble adapting to any situation come tomorrow.

“I went fishing for bedding fish on the first day, I used top-water baits and spinner baits on the second day and I fished spinner baits exclusively today,” he said. “So, I should be ready for anything tomorrow.”

Finishing in third place was Jim Jenkins of Winamac, Ind., with a catch of 6 pounds, 9 ounces. Brad May of Regina, Ky., and Ken Karoll of Lake Placid, Fla., finished in a tie for fourth place with an identical catch of 5 pounds, 15 ounces.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers were: Michael Strange (sixth) of High Point, N.C., with a catch of 5 pounds, 5 ounces; Eddie Evans (seventh) of Berea, Ky., with a catch of 4 pounds, 13 ounces; Scott Griffin (eighth) of Sherrills Ford, N.C., with a catch of 4 pounds, 4 ounces; Tom Burks (ninth) of Okeechobee, Fla., with a catch of 3 pounds, 4 ounces; and Roger Brown (tenth) of Tallassee, Ala., with a catch of 2 pounds, 6 ounces.

Tomorrow’s takeoff is scheduled to take place at 5:30 a.m. at Lake Point State Park, located at 104 Lake Point Drive in Eufaula, Ala.