Burnett blows away field en route to co-angler championship in 2000 EverStart Series Invitational Challenge
CYPRESS GARDENS, Fla. – Co-angler Wesley Burnett made himself one heck of a promise heading into the start of the $300,000 EverStart Challenge. And, true to his word, he kept it.
“While I was driving out here, I told myself that if I won the tournament, I was going to turn pro next year,” said Burnett, a native of Hot Springs, Ark. “Well, I really like fishing on the non-boater side, but I guess it looks like I’m turning pro after all.”
After finishing in third place after the second day of competition, Burnett cranked it up during the finals, recording an eye-popping catch of 16 pounds. Burnett, who outdistanced the rest of the field by almost 41/2 pounds, won $10,000, a new Ranger boat and a total package of cash and prizes worth $45,000 for his efforts. He even caught the biggest fish of his life.
Not bad for a day’s work.
“All I can say is that God loves me and he blessed my socks off today,” he said. “It’s hard to explain. Today was just my day. I couldn’t do anything wrong. Every fish I hooked seemed to get into my boat.”
Burnett also credited his pro partners for his success throughout the tournament.
“I’ve just had tremendous partners throughout the tournament,” he said. “They put me on fish, they gave me fishing poles and they really helped me a lot. This has been just a great experience.”
Chris Abney of Mount Sterling, Ky., finished second with a catch of 11 pounds, 10 ounces. But while he walked away with a check for $9,000, it was clear that he thought he had enough weight to win the championship outright.
“I really thought I had enough to win,” said Abney, who jokingly told Operation Bass host Charlie Evans earlier in the weigh-in that he was going to “pass out” because he was so nervous. “But these co-anglers are real tough.”
Abney said that despite the second-place finish, he had a great experience and some wonderful pro partners to work with.
“I’ve been real fortunate,” said Abney, who acknowledged that this was the first year he had ever fished competitively. “I’ve had really good partners and they put me on fish the whole week. You can’t ask for more than that.”
Kendall Martin of Tremont, Ill., finished in third place with a catch of 5 pounds, 8 ounces. Tremont, who won a check for $8,000, said he would walk away with a smile on his face.
“I’m just happy to be here,” he said. “We kept grinding away all day. The fish were there, but they were tough to catch. Overall, I’ve had a blast.”
Asa Godsey of Mechanicsville, Va., finished in fourth place with a catch of 3 pounds, 14 ounces. Godsey received a check for $7,000. Day-two leader George Anders of Pineville, La., took home fifth place and a check for $6,000.
Rounding out the top 10 were Russ Lauffer (sixth) of Littleton, Mass., with a catch of 2 pounds, 3 ounces; Clay West (seventh) of Griffin, Ga., with a catch of 1 pound; Kay Barton (eighth) of Tuskahoma, Okla., the only female finalist in the entire tournament, with a catch of 12 ounces; Lonnie Fuller (ninth) of Hemphill, Texas, with a catch of 0 pounds; and Scott Sanders (10th) of Cataula, Ga., with a catch of 0 pounds.
Although Fuller and Sanders didn’t catch a fish, Fuller finished in ninth place by virtue of a tournament tiebreaker.
Good ol’ country entertainment
Guests who attend tomorrow’s 2 p.m. championship weigh-in at Cypress Gardens will be rewarded with some great fish stories as well as some fantastic country music. The Charlie Daniels Band is scheduled to play two sets at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Morning takeoff, which will be covered by ESPN, will take place at the Cypress Gardens launch site at 7 a.m.
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