EverStart Series rolls to Sam Rayburn
Final stop of Texas Division set for Oct. 3-5
JASPER, Texas – The EverStart Series is headed to Sam Rayburn Reservoir Oct. 3-5 for a tournament presented by Power-Pole when as many as 300 pros and co-anglers take to the water for the final stop of the 2013 season in the Texas Division.
“There was a lot going on at Rayburn when we were there last fall,” said Keystone Light pro Chad Grigsby, who earned a fifth-place finish when the FLW Tour visited Sam Rayburn in October of 2012. “Myself and a few others in the top 10 were fishing shallow, but Phil Marks went on to win it fishing deep. There were two or three guys in the top 10 that ended up fishing deep. It’s one of those lakes where you can basically fish to your strengths.”
Grigsby said that anglers fishing shallow would be targeting the matted hydrilla and grass lines. A strong flipping and punching pattern should be in play, and reaction baits are expected to produce as well. Anglers fishing the deep water will be throwing deep-diving crankbaits and Texas-rigged soft plastics.
“There is a lot of standing timber there, and at certain parts of the lake you can’t do a lot of running around,” Grigsby said. “It didn’t fish very big. I ran the same water as quite a few guys that made the top 10. I found a couple of good deep spots where I could catch a fish every cast for around an hour. But, they were only 13- or 14-inch spotted bass and I was never able to get on those big-fish schools.
“I hesitate to make a weight prediction, because the lakes go through cycles and the weights tend to go up and down year to year,” Grigsby went on to say. “But, I think it should take around 60 pounds to win. If the lake is hot, though, and a guy gets on the right school it could easily take 25 pounds a day to win it.”
Anglers will take off from The Umphrey Family Pavilion located at 5438 Recreation Road 255 W. in Jasper at 7 a.m. each day. Weigh-in will be held at the takeoff location on Thursday and Friday beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart located at 800 W. Gibson St. in Jasper beginning at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Pros will fish for a top award of $40,000 plus a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award consisting of a Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines are met.
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, which allows them to fish the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup.
The EverStart Series tournament on Sam Rayburn Reservoir is being hosted by the Jasper/Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the EverStart Series on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
About FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2013 over the course of 220 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.