$1 million EverStart Series Championship set to kickoff on Pickwick Lake
Season finale to take place Nov. 2-5
FLORENCE, Ala. – The $6.24 million EverStart Series is headed to Pickwick Lake near Florence Nov. 2-5 for the $1 million EverStart Series Championship, where the winning pro will take home as much as $140,000 in cash and prizes and the winning co-angler will earn as much as $70,000 in cash and prizes.
“A lot of what the fish do at Pickwick will depend on how much current is being generated,” said pro Matt Herren of Trussville, who qualified for the championship through the Southeast Division. “The current is going to position those fish, and current is what powers up those smallmouths. Around Florence, the smallmouth bite is usually the best.”
With current, Herren predicted that bass would be schooling up and feeding on shad, and anglers would catch them in 5 to 8 feet of water on topwater offerings, crankbaits and spinnerbaits.
“Without current, guys are going to have to scramble around to catch largemouths here and there,” Herren said.
Anglers will take off from McFarland Park at 7 each morning. Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held at McFarland Park, which is located on James M. Spain Drive in Florence, beginning at 3 p.m. As part of the festivities, Chevy Pro Night will be held Thursday evening beginning at 6 at Nelda Stephenson Chevrolet Cadillac, located at 1950 Florence Blvd. in Florence.
Friday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 3100 Hough Road in Florence beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will also be held at Wal-Mart beginning at 3 p.m.
Two hundred pros and 200 co-anglers (the top 40 based on points standings from each of the EverStart Series’ five divisions) will compete for two days to determine the top 10 pros and top 10 co-anglers who advance to the final round based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for the final round and co-angler competition concludes on day three with the winner determined by the day’s heaviest catch. Pro competition concludes on day four, with winners being determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from days three and four.
The winning pro earns an Evinrude- or Yamaha-powered Ranger 519VX equipped with Garmin electronics, a Minn Kota trolling motor and EverStart batteries plus $50,000 cash. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard that is used during the tournament, he will also receive a $25,000 bonus from Ranger and an additional $25,000 Evinrude/Yamaha bonus for a total of $140,000. The winning co-angler receives a fully rigged Ranger 519VX plus $15,000 cash.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the EverStart Series as well as 10 national tournament circuits offering more than a combined $35 million in awards through 235 events in 2006, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.