HENDERSON, N.C. – Arlie Napier of Middlesboro, Ky., landed $50,000 in cash and prizes Saturday for winning the final EverStart Series Eastern Division tournament of 2001 on Kerr Lake with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 7 ounces.
Napier survived four days of competition by changing tactics as the situation demanded. During the first two days of competition, he caught his limits under clear skies using a deep running crankbait and advanced to the semifinal round of 30 pros in first place with a total of 10 bass weighing 33 pounds, 7 ounces. When a cold front moved through on day three and brought strong winds and storms to the area, he successfully switched tactics to flipping a jig to small bushes on the tips of shallow-water points. This change in tactics allowed him to retain his No. 1 ranking going into the final round of 10 pros with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 3 ounces. Catch weights were cleared for all competitors at the start of the semifinal and final rounds.
“I started out (Saturday) cranking and caught about 20 bass, then the bite stopped and I went flipping for about two hours and never got a bite,” Napier said after winning $15,000 and a new Mercury-powered Ranger boat. “At that point I thought I had cost myself the tournament, but I went back cranking and the bite was back on.”
Second through fifth place in the Pro Division went to Joel Richardson of Kernersville, N.C., with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 10 ounces worth $10,000; Robert Walser of Lexington, N.C., with five bass weighing 12 pounds, 2 ounces worth $9,000; William Smith of Moncks Corner, S.C., with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 3 ounces worth $8,000; and David Wright of Lexington, N.C., with five bass weighing 11 pounds, 3 ounces worth $7,500. Smith topped Wright based on the opening round standings, which are used as a tiebreaker.
Douglas Sauls of Debary, Fla., claimed first place in the 162-person Co-Angler Division and collected $6,000 with two bass weighing 6 pounds, 1 ounce. Bob Scott of Lexington, N.C., finished second in the Co-Angler Division and collected $4,000 with two bass weighing 5 pounds, 11 ounces while Jimmy Hale Sr. of Rocky Mount, Va., landed in third with two bass weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces worth $3,500.
“The bite was tough (today),” said Sauls, who caught his bass by flipping a 1/2-ounce blue and black jig with a chunk trailer. “The flipping bite that predominantly everyone was on just got progressively worse. I was fishing for a big bite and fortunately I got it.”
A total of 52 bass weighing 118 pounds, 4 ounces were caught Saturday including six five-bass limits. More than 98 percent of the bass were released alive.
The tournament began Wednesday with 324 anglers taking off from Satterwhite Point in Henderson to claim a piece of the event’s $185,000 purse.
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 EverStart Series Championship presented by Conseco 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.