EUFAULA, Ala. – Pat Fisher, 31, of Stone Mountain, Ga., claimed the No. 1 qualifying spot Friday going into the final round of the $210,000 EverStart Series tournament on Lake Eufaula with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 13 ounces.
Fisher, who has been averaging 14 pounds per day since the tournament started Wednesday morning, will compete Saturday against nine other finalists in the Pro Division for a top award of $15,000 cash and a Ranger boat powered by Evinrude or Yamaha. If his boat is equipped with a fixed-mount GARMIN Fishfinder or combination GPS/Sounder, he will also receive a $1,000 bonus from GARMIN.
Finalists start on equal footing as weights from previous rounds are erased, and the winner is determined by the weight of Saturday’s catch. The original field of 165 pros was whittled to the top 20 Thursday and cut to the top 10 Friday.
“The fishing here is wide open,” Fisher said. “The fish have come up to spawn and they are committed. They aren’t going anywhere, even with the cold weather. I think it will take 14 or 15 pounds to win it.”
Despite near freezing temperatures Friday morning, Fisher caught his five-bass limit early using a spinner bait then switched to a tube bait to pick up a few larger fish. He hit spawning pockets off the main river and was done fishing by noon. In the opening round, he caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 28 pounds, 11 ounces to make the opening-round cut in 12th place.
Team Castrol pro David Dudley of Manteo, N.C., who earlier this month won $700,000 in the historic Ranger M1 on the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, jumped into the No. 2 spot after slipping into the semifinal round in 20th place. He caught five bass weighing 13 pounds, 15 ounces Friday. Roger Crafton of Boca Grande, Fla. (five bass, 12 pounds, 13 ounces); Billy Bowen Jr. of Ocala, Fla., (five bass, 12 pounds, 8 ounces); and Koby Kreiger of Osceola, Ind., (five bass, 12 pounds, 1 ounce) rounded out the top five pros.
Gary Fint, 48, of Frankfort, Ky., claimed the top co-angler spot Friday with three bass weighing 8 pounds, 9 ounces. He survived the semifinal round cut from 165 to 20 co-anglers Thursday in ninth place with a two-day total of nine bass weighing 18 pounds, 12 ounces.
“We didn’t really know what to do (Friday) morning,” said Fint, who was paired with Kreiger for the semifinal round. “We stopped and fished some rip rap and my partner caught his limit in less than an hour. I didn’t catch my last fish until just before we checked in.”
Jeff Wheeley of Lafayette, Tenn., qualified in second with two bass weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces followed by Jim Jenkins of Winamac, Ind., with two bass weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces.
Like their pro counterparts, co-anglers start from zero Saturday with the winner determined by the day’s heaviest catch. The winning co-angler receives $6,000 cash.
A total of 87 bass were caught Friday including eight five-bass limits.
Saturday’s action begins at 6 a.m. at Lake Point State Park, which is part of the Alabama Bass Trail. The final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 1218 Eufaula Ave. in Eufaula starting at 4 p.m.
Now in its fifth season, the EverStart Series features three divisions – Eastern, Central and Northern – with four events each plus the $325,000 EverStart Series Championship presented by Conseco. The top 50 pros and co-anglers from each division will be invited to the no-entry-fee Championship for a shot at top pro awards of more than $60,000 in cash and prizes and top co-angler awards of more than $40,000 in cash and prizes. The top 10 pros and co-anglers from each division also earn priority entry into the 2003 Wal-Mart FLW Tour – bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament series – where they could win up to $260,000 and $40,000 in cash respectively.
More than $2.8 million will be awarded to bass anglers through the 2002 EverStart Series.
Sponsors of the 2002 EverStart Series are Wal-Mart, ALPO Pet Foods, BFGoodrich Tires, Castrol, Chevy Trucks, Coleman, Conseco, Energizer, EverStart Batteries, Evinrude, Faded Glory, Frito-Lay, Fujifilm, GARMIN, Kellogg’s, Land O’Lakes, Maxwell House, Minn Kota, Pepsi, Poulan, Ranger Boats, Shop-Vac, Snickers, Stanley Works, US Bank, Weed Eater and Yamaha Outboards. Associate sponsors are Abu Garcia, Berkley, Eagle Claw, Laker, Plano and Solar Bat.
FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing tournaments, manages the EverStart Series. The organization operates 170 tournaments through the EverStart Series, Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit and Ranger M1. FLW Outdoors will award anglers up to $22 million in 2002.