SHREVEPORT, La. – Danny Gulledge of Hamburg, Ark., claimed the No. 1 qualifying spot Friday going into the final round of the $210,000 EverStart Series tournament on the Red River with five bass weighing 15 pounds.
Gulledge, who caught mostly suspended fish on crankbaits and tubes, will compete Saturday against nine other finalists in the Pro Division for a top award of more than $50,000 in cash and prizes, including an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger boat. 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 137 pros was whittled to the top 20 Thursday and cut to the top 10 Friday.
Gulledge said he felt optimistic about Saturday’s final round.
“I think if I can get the right weather conditions, the fishing will continue to be good,” he said. “I don’t think I will have problems with other fishermen in the water. If I get good weather, I think everything will come into play.”
In the opening round, Gulledge caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 28 pounds, 8 ounces using crankbaits and tubes to make the opening-round cut in first place. He said he plans to stick with the same lures he has used over the course of the tournament.
“I’m not planning on running and gunning,” Gulledge said. “I’m going to stay with what’s got me this far.”
Newton Ford of Brandon, Miss. (five bass, 13 pounds, 4 ounces); James Davis Jr. of Ferriday, La. (five bass, 11 pounds, 6 ounces); Larry Peacher of Bentley, La. (five bass, 9 pounds, 13 ounces); and Ricky Scott of Van Buren, Ark. (five bass, 9 pounds, 5 ounces), rounded out the top five pros.
Murphy Downing of Hernando, Miss., claimed the top co-angler spot Friday with four bass weighing 12 pounds, 6 ounces. He survived the semifinal round cut from 137 to 20 co-anglers Thursday in ninth place with a two-day total of five bass weighing 12 pounds, 5 ounces.
Downing said he was excited about making the final round.
“I hope my partner likes to have fun like I do,” said Downing, who caught his bass in flooded timber by flipping and pitching. “As a co-angler, you never know what you’re going to do until you get there. It just totally depends on what my partner suggests, and I’m sure I’ll be doing the same basic thing on Saturday, because that’s the only way to catch this type of fish.”
Thomas Boschert of New Athens, Ill., qualified in second with three bass weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces followed by Jason Reyes of Humble, Texas, with three bass weighing 7 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 112 bass were caught Friday including nine five-bass limits in the Pro Division. More than 99 percent of the bass were released alive.
Saturday’s action begins at 6 a.m. at Clark’s Red River Marina in Elm Grove, La. The final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart located at 6235 Westport in Shreveport 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 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 as much as $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, 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 as much as $22 million in 2002.