LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. – Local pro Mike Goodwin of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., caught five bass Wednesday weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces to lead the $214,525 EverStart Series Western Division event on Lake Havasu near Lake Havasu City. A full field of 150 boats are competing in the tournament, which will award the winning pro as much as $60,400 in cash and prizes.
Anglers experienced sunny skies and near record high temperatures in the 80s Wednesday and similar conditions are expected all week. With water temperatures in the low 70s, bass are cruising the shallows of the crystal-clear lake. Most anglers have polarized sunglasses on looking for hefty keepers.
“My partner and I had a phenomenal day,” Goodwin said. “We caught over 32 pounds between the two of us. I’m leading the pro side and he is leading the Co-angler Division. This is my home lake, and I’ve been doing well over the past couple months. I’ve got 30 spots where I feel I can catch solid fish.
“I’m sight-fishing a little and using a few other techniques. All my fish were caught in less than 15 feet of water. We caught some really good largemouths today, but I also had two smallmouths that were over about 3 pounds each. A good afternoon bite is really helping me out.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Jason Cordiale of Orinda, Calif. (five bass, 15 pounds, 5 ounces); Todd Woods of Murrieta, Calif. (five bass, 14 pounds, 13 ounces); Mike Bush of West Hills, Calif. (five bass, 14 pounds, 4 ounces); and Jason Bryan of Henderson, Nev. (five bass, 13 pounds, 13 ounces).
George Diller of Surprise, leads the Co-angler Division thanks to a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 13 ounces – the largest weight of the day among either division. Diller also caught the co-angler big bass of the day with a 5-pound, 1-ounce bass worth $200.
Tony Sarkis of Phoenix, who finished second at the Western Division’s first tournament of the year on Lake Pleasant, stands in second place with the day’s second largest weight, five bass weighing 15 pound, 13 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Ralph Wells of Castaic, Calif. (five bass, 12 pounds, 3 ounces); Mark Meddock of Woodland, Calif. (five bass, 11 pounds, 10 ounces); and James Gross of Kingman (five bass, 11 pounds, 7 ounces).
Cindy Collins of Moorpark, Calif., earned $500 as the big-bass award winner in the Pro Division thanks to an 5-pound, 2-ounce bass. Collins dedicated the achievement to her supportive mother-in-law, Helen Clay, who unfortunately passed away yesterday.
Anglers caught 924 bass Wednesday, including 115 five-bass limits. More than 99 percent of the bass were released alive.
Anglers will take off each morning at 7 from Windsor Park in Lake Havasu City. Thursday’s weigh-in will also be held there beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 1795 Kiowa Blvd. in Lake Havasu City beginning at 4 p.m. The community is encouraged to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins.
The full field will compete for two days to determine the top 20 pros and 20 co-anglers who will advance to Friday’s semifinal round based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for the semifinal round, and anglers compete for one day to determine who will advance to Saturday’s final round. Only the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers compete Saturday, and the winner is determined by the heaviest two-day weight.
The winning pro is guaranteed $8,500 cash plus an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 519 VS equipped with Garmin electronics, a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart Batteries, based on a 150-boat field. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat, he will receive a $10,000 bonus from Ranger for a top pro award worth $60,400. If he is a qualifying participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, Ranger will award another $3,000 cash (or $1,500 to the highest-finishing Ranger Cup participant if not the winner), and Yamaha will match 50 percent of Ranger Cup winnings if the angler’s boat is powered by a Yamaha outboard. Garmin will award the winning pro $1,000 if he uses only Garmin electronics and at least one unit is a qualifying unit.
The winning co-angler is guaranteed $4,500 cash based on a 150-boat field, and if he is a Ranger boat owner, Ranger will award him a new Ranger 519 VS for a total prize package worth $34,500. Co-anglers who make the final round of each regular-season EverStart Series event and wear an EverStart/Evinrude shirt and cap on stage are awarded points toward the EverStart Batteries and Evinrude Outboard Engines Co-angler Award. The co-angler receiving the most points by the end of the season receives a 2004 Evinrude 225HO Direct Injection outboard engine rigged on a Ranger boat equipped with a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries.
The EverStart Series features a pro/co-angler format with pros supplying the boats, fishing from the front deck against other pros and controlling boat movement. Co-anglers fish from the back deck and compete against other co-anglers. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points that determine angler standings. Two hundred points are awarded to the winner, 199 points for second, 198 points for third, and so on.
Designed as a pathway to the $6.8 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the world’s most lucrative bass-tournament series, the $3.88 million EverStart Series features four divisions – Eastern, Central, Northern and Western – with four regular-season events each. The season culminates with the $335,975 EverStart Series Championship presented by Energizer, which will be held Nov. 3-6 on Lake Cumberland near Somerset, Ky. The event will be broadcast to 65 million subscribers of the Outdoor Life Network on the “FLW Outdoors” television series. Western Division anglers who finish in the top 30 in the final points standings are eligible to compete in the championship.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors is the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing. FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament trails are the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour and Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League. EverStart Batteries, the best-selling batteries in the world, are marketed exclusively by Wal-Mart stores.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997.