Griffin wins Co-angler Division title on Lake Eufaula
North Carolina native wins $6,000, valuable year-end standings points
EUFAULA, Ala. – Overcoming the ghosts of last’s year EverStart tournament performance on Lake Eufaula, Scott Griffin of Sherrills Ford, N.C., turned in a stellar, 11-pound, 2-ounce catch on the final day of competition to capture first place in the Co-angler Division – beating out his nearest rival by more than 2 pounds.
“It feels great,” said Griffin, who is in his third season of EverStart competition. “It’s kind of a redemption for me. Last year on this lake I had a two-day total of 20 pounds and I barely missed the top-20 cut. I also lost a 10-pound largemouth. So, I’m really happy to come back and win first place this year.”
Griffin, who fished both a Bomber crankbait and a Bandit crankbait in 1 to 5 feet of water near rip-rap to land his catch, said he had very few expectations coming into this tournament.
“I caught zero fish in last year’s EverStart championship and I zeroed again at Lake Okeecchobee (the first EverStart Eastern Division tournament of the season),” said Griffin. “So I wasn’t very confident coming into Lake Eufaula. But every day, just when I thought I was in real trouble, I’d be lucky enough to catch that one fish to get me to the next round.”
Griffin, whose previous best EverStart finish was a seventh-place result at Santee Cooper in 2001, said he was more than happy with his performance.
“This is the biggest tournament win for me ever,” he said. “But hopefully, it’s not my last.”
Jenkins lands in second place
Jim Jenkins of Winamac, Ind., used a 9-pound stringer to grab second place and a check for $4,000.
“The fishing was great,” he said. “I caught my first limit all week today. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
Jenkins, who used a 300 series Poe crankbait to land the majority of his catch, said he thought he might have had a shot at the title earlier in the day. But slowly, over the course of the afternoon, his bite tailed off.
“By 9 a.m., I already had my limit,” said Jenkins. “Then, I spent the rest of the day trying to catch some bigger fish. I just couldn’t find them.”
Overall, however, Jenkins said he was happy with his performance.
“It’s really hard to explain the feeling,” said Jenkins, who was fishing in only the second EverStart tournament of his career. “To get 17th place at Lake Okeechobee and come back here the very next tournament and finish second, I feel very fortunate.”
Top-five performers
Eddie Evans of Berea, Ky., finished in third place after weighing in a catch of 5 pounds, 3 ounces.
“I’ve had a good week,” said Evans, who used a shad-colored, Zoom super fluke to land his catch. “I’ve drawn some great partners and I really love this lake. I’ve been fishing it for 15 to 20 years now.”
Evans won $3,500 for his efforts.
Coming in fourth place was Michael Strange of High Point, N.C., with a total catch of 4 pounds, 7 ounces.
“I really learned this week how versatile you need to be in these type of tournaments,” said Strange, who won $3,000. “I’ll be back next year.”
Right behind Strange, finishing in fifth place, was Roger Brown of Tallassee, Ala., with a catch of 4 pounds, 6 ounce. Brown won a check for $2,500.
Best of the rest
Rounding out the top-10 co-angler finalists were: Tom Burks (sixth) of Okeechobee, Fla., with a catch of 2 pounds; Brad May (seventh) of Regina, Ky., with a catch of 0 pounds; Gary Flint (eighth) of Frankfort, Ky., with a catch of 0 pounds; Jeff Wheeley (ninth) of Lafayette, Tenn., with a catch of 0 pounds; and Ken Karoll (tenth) of Lake Placid, Fla., with a catch of 0 pounds.
Tie-breakers were determined by the best combined stringers over the first two days of competition.
EverStart Eastern Division action resumes April 10-13 at Lake Santee Cooper in Manning, S.C.
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