MANNING, S.C. – Lindwood Thornhill of Pineville led the semifinal round of the four-day, $256,825 EverStart Series Eastern Division event on South Carolina’s Santee Cooper lakes Friday thanks to a five-bass catch weighing 20 pounds, 5 ounces. The original field of 200 pros and 200 co-anglers was narrowed to 20 for Friday’s competition, with the top 10 semifinal-round competitors advancing to Saturday’s final round.
Thornhill used a plastic lizard in the grass to net his limit Friday, and he leads second-place angler Edward Nixon of Mint Hill, N.C., by 3 pounds, 7 ounces. Thornhill has been primarily fishing Lake Moultrie, the lower lake, throughout the tournament.
“The wind made for a rough ride (Friday),” said Thornhill, who has two top-10 finishes in Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League events on the Santee Cooper lakes. “This is my first time to lead an EverStart, and I hope to do this well Saturday.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Nixon (five bass, 16 pounds, 12 ounces); Wayne Clifton of Goose Creek (five bass, 15 pounds, 6 ounces); David Givens of Hernando, Fla. (five bass, 14 pounds, 15 ounces); and Glenn Browne of Ocala, Fla. (five bass, 14 pounds, 3 ounces).
Steve Poland of West Palm Beach, Fla., leads the 10 final-round Co-angler Division competitors thanks to his catch Friday of five bass weighing 13 pounds, 2 ounces.
“This is my first year to fish the EverStart Series,” said Poland, who caught his bass on a plastic worm around trees and stumps. “With any luck, I hope to come out on top Saturday.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ron Klys of Gainesville, Fla. (three bass, 7 pounds, 7 ounces); John Deak of Phillipsburg, Ohio (one bass, 5 pounds, 6 ounces); Tee Watkins of East Point, Ky. (three bass, 5 pounds, 3 ounces); and Jeff Haywood of Troy, N.C. (two bass, 4 pounds, 12 ounces).
A total of 96 bass were caught Friday, including 11 five-bass limits. One hundred percent were released alive.
Anglers take off for final-round competition Saturday at safe light from the John C. Land III Boating and Sportfishing Facility in Manning, followed by the final-weigh in at 4 p.m. at the Wal-Mart store located at 481 W. Boyce St. in Manning. The community is encouraged to attend the final takeoff and weigh-in.
A full field of 200 pros and 200 co-anglers descended upon the Santee Cooper lakes Wednesday and fished for two days for one of 20 spots in Friday’s semifinal round. Weights were cleared for Friday’s competition, and the field was cut again to the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers based on Friday’s catch weight. Weights are cleared again for Saturday’s competition, and anglers will compete for position and prize money.
The winning pro will take home a guaranteed cash award of $10,000 plus a new Ranger 519VS Comanche equipped with Garmin electronics and powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat, he will receive an additional $10,000 cash bonus from Ranger for a total of $61,900 in cash and prizes. Ranger will also award an additional $3,000 to the winner if he is a Ranger Cup participant, and Garmin will award $1,000 to the winner if his boat is equipped with a fixed-mount Garmin Fishfinder or combination GPS/Sounder.
The winning co-angler is guaranteed $5,000 cash. If the winning co-angler is a registered Ranger owner, he will also receive a new Ranger 519VS Comanche for a total of $27,800 in cash and prizes.
Four divisions – Eastern, Central, Northern and Western – comprise the 2003 EverStart Series. Each division stages four regular-season tournaments leading up to the no-entry-fee $335,975 EverStart Series Championship, which will be held on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin, Tenn., Oct. 29-Nov. 1.
In EverStart Series competition, pros supply the boats, control boat movement and fish from the front of each boat against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back of each boat and compete against other co-anglers.