EUFAULA, Ala. – Straight Talk pro Scott Canterbury of Springville, Ala., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 14 pounds, 5 ounces Saturday to lead wire-to-wire and win the EverStart Series Southeast Division event on Lake Eufaula with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 55 pounds, 15 ounces. For his victory, Canterbury earned $34,090 and a 198VX Ranger boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor.
“Today I was still debating about where I was going to fish and where I was going to run,” said Canterbury, who locked through to Lake Seminole to fish hydrilla the first two days of competition. “I ran down the lake about 15 minutes and pulled over at a place where the shad were spawning and I caught a limit in about 20 minutes. It just settled me down from there. A little while later I was able to catch two pretty good fish off of the bed sight fishing and then I caught a big one a little bit later casting a worm out deep.”
Canterbury said he used a square-billed crankbait while fishing the shad spawn and a Jackall Sasuteki Craw while sight fishing. He said he also employed a 10-inch Berkley Power Worm during the course of the tournament. Canterbury credited Typhoon polarized optics for helping him see the bedding fish.
“I didn’t (lock) today because I had a 10-pound lead going into it, and the biggest bags that had been weighed in were about 17 pounds,” Canterbury said. “I figured I could catch 10 (pounds) and they’d have to catch 20 (pounds), and I ended up catching a little over 14. So I thought somebody would have to have 25 to win. At 11 o’clock I sort of knew it. I didn’t know for sure, but I had a feeling it was over.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Ryan Ingram, Phenix City, Ala., 15 bass, 44-6, $11,688
3rd: Clent Davis, Montevallo, Ala., 15 bass, 37-8, $9,740
4th: Straight Talk pro J.T. Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 15 bass, 36-5, $8,766
5th: Clayton Batts, Macon, Ga., 12 bass, 33-7, $7,792
6th: Monte Knight, Quitman, Miss., 15 bass, 31-13, $6,818
7th: Joseph Kremer, Osteen, Fla., 13 bass, 31-8, $5,844
8th: Troy Gibson, Eufaula, Ala., 14 bass, 31-4, $4,870
9th: Jason Lambert, Pickwick Dam, Tenn., 12 bass, 29-5, $3,896
10th: Curt McGuire, Paris, Tenn., 13 bass, 28-3, $2,922
Drew Benton of Panama City, Fla.,caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Friday – a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $288.
Aaron Richardsonof Destin, Fla., won the Co-angler Division and a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 11 bass weighing 20 pound, 3 ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Richard Peek, Centre, Ala., 10 bass, 20-2, $4,409
3rd: Trathen Dollar, West Jefferson, N.C., nine bass, 20-0, $3,919
4th: James Richardson Sr., Harrison, Ohio, eight bass, 17-11, $3,429
5th: Blaine Bucy, Follansbee, W.V., nine bass, 16-10, $2,939
6th: Hale White, Thompsons Station, Tenn., six bass, 15-12, $2,449
7th: Joey Aderhold, Birmingham, Ala., seven bass, 15-12, $1,959
8th: Charles Stevenson, Albany, Ga., 10 bass, 15-12, $1,470
9th: Jeffrey Hankins, Dothan, Ala., nine bass, 14-15, $980
10th: Thomas Helton, Charleston, Tenn., six bass, 12-10, $784
Trathen caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday – a 6-pound, 10-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $192.
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 June 9-11 at Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala., and is hosted by Florence/Lauderdale Tourism.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW Outdoors on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.
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