GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – Edward Gettys of Stevenson, Ala., landed more than $50,000 in cash and prizes including a Ranger boat powered by Evinrude or Yamaha Saturday with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 6 ounces in the EverStart Series Eastern Division tournament on Guntersville Lake.
Gettys, who was fishing just his second EverStart Series tournament, topped 165 Pro Division anglers after four days of competition and two elimination rounds. He made the top-20 cut Thursday in fourth place with a two-day, opening-round total of 10 bass weighing 34 pounds. He then caught five more bass weighing 13 pounds, 1 ounce Friday to make the top-10 cut in fourth place. Catch weights were cleared for all competitors following each cut.
Gettys caught his winning stringer of bass using a Fat Free Shad crankbait, Zara Spook and 11-inch worm.
“This is by far the biggest win I’ve ever had,” said Gettys, who also landed a $1,000 bonus from Garmin for using a fixed-mount Garmin GPS/Sounder. “I feel fortunate to be here. I only had three small fish in the boat with five minutes to go Friday. Then I caught two more that put me into the finals.”
Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., with five bass weigbhing 17 pounds, 5 ounces and a $10,000 prize; Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 9 ounces and a $9,000 prize; Craig Powers of Rockwood, Tenn., with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 11 ounces and a $8,000; and Koby Kreiger of Osceola, Ind., with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 8 ounces and a $7,500 prize rounded out the top five pros.
In the 165-competitor Co-angler Division, Alan Paczkowski of Henrico, N.C., claimed first place and $6,000 with four bass weighing 15 pounds, 4 ounces. He was the No. 2 seed in the final round after landing three bass weighing 10 pounds, 1 ounce in the semifinal round and 10 bass weighing 22 pounds, 15 ounces in the two-day opening round. Catch weights were cleared at the start of each round.
“With only four fish I was kind of concerned,” said Packowski, who is fishing his fourth EverStart season. “Guntersville is such a tremendous lake that it only takes one cast and it can be a huge fish. You just never know until it’s over.”
Co-anglers Jeff Taylor of Vernon, Ala., with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 8 ounces and a $4,000 prize; and Roy Altman Jr. of Augusta, Ga., with five bass weighing 10 pounds, 3 ounces and a $3,500 prize finished second and third, respectively.
Overall, 76 bass weighing 210 pounds, 10 ounces were caught Saturday, including 10 five-bass limits.
The tournament began Wednesday with 330 anglers taking off from Guntersville State Park to claim a piece of the event’s $210,000 purse. This was the season’s final Eastern Division tournament.
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 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 receive 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.
FLW Outdoors 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.