HENDERSON, N.C. – Arlie Napier of Middlesboro, Ky., will lead 30 of the nation’s top professional bass anglers into Friday’s semifinal round at the final $185,000 EverStart Series Eastern Division tournament on Kerr Lake with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 33 pounds, 7 ounces.
Napier caught five bass weighing 16 pounds, 2 ounces Wednesday to finish in fourth place then turned in five bass weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces Thursday to finish the opening round on top of the 162-angler Pro Division. Friday the top 30 pros and co-anglers will start from zero and fish for one day to determine the top 10 anglers who will advance to Saturday’s final round for a shot at top awards of $15,000 and a Mercury- or Yamaha-powered Ranger boat in the Pro Division and $6,000 cash in the Co-Angler Division.
“I feel that if I had to sit there and milk it all day, I could catch 20 pounds,” said Napier, who caught the majority of his bass from a single deep-water location using a crankbait. “But my strategy is to go in there and catch five 3-pounders and get out.”
Napier says the strategy has served him well so far. “I lost a 5-pounder (Thursday), but I made seven casts and put seven fish in the boat after that.”
Pro Terry Tucker of Gadsden, Ala, caught 10 bass weighing 29 pounds, 10 ounces over two days to secure the No. 2 spot in Friday’s competition. Rounding out the top five pros were Pat Fisher of Stone Mountain, Ga., with 10 bass weighing 29 pounds, 2 ounces; Jay Kendrick of Kingston, Ga., with 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 14 ounces; and Shaun Hunter of Pilot Mountain, N.C., with 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 11 ounces.
In the 162-person Co-Angler Division, Eastern Division points leader Greg Lineberry of Galax, Va., claimed the top spot with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 21 pounds, 1 ounce. He caught the majority of his by flipping a 4-inch green-pumpkin colored Gambler crawdad into bushes.
Finishing in second and third place in the Co-Angler Division were Asa Godsey of Mechanicsville, Va., with 10 bass weighing 20 pounds, 6 ounces and Arthur Partin of Petersburg, Va., with 10 bass weighing 19 pounds, 14 ounces.
Big bass and $750 in the Pro Division went to Sean Stickler of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for a 6-pound, 7-ounce bass. Big bass and $250 in the Co-Angler Division went to Paul Kaptis of Boynton Beach, Fla., for a 5-pound, 3-ounce bass.
A total of 773 bass were caught by 255 anglers Thursday including 66 five-bass limits. More than 98 percent of the bass were released alive.
Competition begins at 5:30 a.m. each day at Satterwhite Point in Henderson. Friday’s weigh-in begins at 2:30 p.m. at Satterwhite Point, and Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart Supercenter located at 200 North Cooper Road in Henderson at 3:30 p.m.
The 4-year-old EverStart Series now includes three divisions – Eastern, Central and Northern – with four events each plus a year-end championship. Tournament winners and the top 50 pros and top 50 co-anglers from each division will earn a spot in the championship, which will be held Nov. 7-10 on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala. There, the winning pro will receive a Mercury- or Yamaha-powered Ranger boat and $25,000. The winning co-angler will receive a Mercury- or Yamaha-powered Ranger boat and $10,000. More than $2.5 million will be awarded during the 2001 EverStart Series season. The series also provides a pathway to the $4.45 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour-bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament series.