GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. (Feb. 26, 2011) – Robert Boyd of Russellville, Ala., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 11 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Southeast Division event presented by Evinrude on Lake Guntersville with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 66 pounds, 3 ounces. For his victory, Boyd earned $35,000 and a 198VX Ranger boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor.
“I pretty much committed to one spot,” said Boyd. “It’s a big community hole that’s obviously got some good fish on it right now migrating up and getting ready to spawn.”
Boyd said he targeted fish on a rock pile in 14 to 17 feet of water with a large crankbait and a plastic swimbait.
“Sometimes they would come in schools and sometimes it would be two and three and sometimes it would be five and six,” Boyd said. “They had to be pulling or pushing water – one way or the other – for the big fish to get up on that rock.”
Boyd said he caught 10 keepers throughout the course of the day and chose to sit in one spot and focus on the rock pile because of a tender wrist and shoulder.
“I had to find something I could do,” Boyd said. “I couldn’t go out there and rip a jerkbait or a Rat-L-Trap through that grass because my shoulder just wouldn’t allow me to. So I found me a deep hole that had some (fish) living on it.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but right now this feels pretty awesome,” Boyd added.
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Clent Davis, Montevallo, Ala., 15 bass, 63-12, $12,000
3rd: Casey Martin, Huntsville, Ala., 15 bass, 63-4, $10,000
4th: Clark Smith Jr., Pell City, Ala., 15 bass, 57-4, $9,000
5th: Marty Giddens, Alpine, Ala., 15 bass, 56-5, $8,000
6th: Yancy Windham, Reform, Ala., 14 bass, 53-9, $7,000
7th: Chad Prough, Chipley, Fla., 15 bass, 53-5, $6,000
8th: Brandon McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., 15 bass, 50-12, $5,000
9th: Arnie Lane, Lakeland, Fla., 15 bass, 49-11, $4,000
10th: Rick Williams, Decatur, Ala., 12 bass, 46-12, $3,000
Joey Thigpen of St. Johns, Fla.,caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Friday – an 11-pound, 8-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $300.
Jason Atkins of Section, Ala., won the Co-angler Division and a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 46 pound, 1 ounce.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Alex Posey, Roswell, Ga., 13 bass, 44-9, $4,500
3rd: Mark Sullivan, Collinsville, Miss., 14 bass, 43-8, $4,000
4th: Bob Slaton, Marietta, Ga., 15 bass, 42-7, $3,500
5th: Charles Stevenson, Albany, Ga., 14 bass, 39-7, $3,000
6th: Keith Whipple, Iuka, Miss., 12 bass, 38-4, $2,500
7th: Mitch Reynolds, Petal, Miss., 11 bass, 35-15, $2,000
8th: Mike Gipson, Niceville, Fla., 10 bass, 34-14, $1,500
9th: Stephen Kocell, Waxhaw, N.C., 10 bass, 31-5, $1,000
10th: Justin Jones, Apex, N.C., 10 bass, 29-9, $800
Steve Keller Jr. of Bethel, Ohio,caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday – a 10-pound, 3-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $200.
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Strike King Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship that will be held on Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tenn., Oct. 27-30.
The next EverStart Series Southeast Division tournament will be April 28-30 at Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Ala., and is hosted by the Eufaula Barbour County Chamber of Commerce.
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