SHREVEPORT, La. – Larry Peacher of Bentley, La., landed more than $50,000 in cash and prizes including an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger boat Saturday with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 13 ounces in the final regular-season EverStart Series Central Division tournament on the Red River.

Peacher, fishing in his first pro season, topped 137 Pro Division anglers after four days of competition and two elimination rounds. He made the top-20 cut Thursday in 18th place with a two-day, opening-round total of eight bass weighing 19 pounds, 4 ounces. He then caught five more bass weighing 9 pounds, 13 ounces Friday to make the top-10 cut in fourth place. Catch weights were cleared for all competitors following each cut.

After hot and cloudy weather conditions on Wednesday and Thursday, the temperature cooled and the sun started to shine over the weekend. Peacher used this self-described “perfect weather” to catch a five-bass limit in Pool 5 with an Eakins jig.

“This is my first year to fish as a boater, and this is my first win,” Peacher said. “It hasn’t quite sunk in yet that I won an EverStart tournament.”

Ricky Scott of Van Buren, Ark. (five bass, 13 pounds, $10,000); Mark Goines of Shady Point, Okla. (five bass, 11 pounds, 6 ounces, $9,000); Jeff Pate of Heflin, La. (four bass, 11 pounds, $8,000); and Marvin Ettredge of Shreveport, La. (five bass, 9 pounds, 5 ounces, $7,500), rounded out the top five pros.

In the 137-competitor Co-angler Division, Jason Reyes of Humble, Texas, claimed first place and $6,000 in his first-ever EverStart tournament with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 8 ounces. He was the No. 3 seed in the final round after landing three bass weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces in the semifinal round and six bass weighing 11 pounds, 8 ounces in the two-day opening round.

“I have a brand-new baby girl named Megan who’ll be looking for some new clothes when I get home,” said Reyes, who caught his bass in shallow laydowns flipping a Gene Larew Hoo-Daddy. “My wife tried to talk me out of coming, but I told her I felt pretty good about it. I came up here trying to get in on the pro side and couldn’t get in, and they needed some co-anglers, so I signed on.”

Co-anglers Bobby McMullin of Pevely, Mo. (five bass, 10 pounds, 4 ounces, $4,000) and Bert Keller of Bryan, Texas (two bass, 5 pounds, 3 ounces, $3,500) finished second and third, respectively.

More than 97 percent of the 63 bass caught Saturday were released alive.

The tournament began Wednesday with 274 anglers taking off from Clark’s Red River Marina in Elm Grove, La., to claim a piece of the event’s $210,000 purse.

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. Lake Martin in Alexander City, Ala., will host the EverStart Series Championship Nov. 6-9. 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.