Gulledge grabs opening-round lead at Red River
EverStart field sliced to top 20 for semifinals
SHREVEPORT, La. – Hamburg, Arkansas’ Danny Gulledge stayed as hot as the weather at the Red River Thursday, landing another big five-bass catch to push his opening-round total to 10 bass weighing 28 pounds, 8 ounces. He moved up from his third-place position Wednesday to capture the Pro Division lead at the EverStart Series Central Division tournament after two days of competition.
Gulledge’s five bass on day two weighed in at 13 pounds, 7 ounces and were collectively the fifth-largest stringer of the day. Combined with his 15-pound, 1-ounce effort on day one, it was good enough to push him past Wednesday’s leader Newton Ford of Brandon, Miss., who weighed in another limit Thursday worth 10-6.
“It feels great (to take the lead),” Gulledge said. “I’ve been fishing Operation Bass (sic) since ’86, so I’ve known these guys for a long time.”
Gulledge, who is fishing his second season on the EverStart Series, is no stranger to tournament success. He twice qualified for the Red Man (now Wal-Mart BFL) All-American and made it to the EverStart Championship in 2001.
While he has yet to lead or even finish in the top 10 at an EverStart event, he’s looking forward to the ultimate task at hand this week and didn’t seem too concerned about taking over the lead after just two days.
“I’m focused on the end results,” he said. “Hopefully, this will continue.”
The prospect of continued success looks pretty good for Gulledge. He’s working an area on the river’s Pool 4 using a crankbait. Its supply of quality fish has yet to dry up, and Gulledge feels confident that he can mine it for even more leading bass.
“Both days I left my primary spot by 9:30,” he said. “I haven’t really hammered (the fish) yet, but tomorrow we’re going after them.”
He estimates he will feel comfortable if he catches around 12 pounds of bass Friday to make it past the one-day shootout in the semifinals.
“We’ll wait and see. Tomorrow’s crunch time,” he said.
As Gulledge goes, so does the opening-round runner-up. Ford slipped to second place after notching a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 12 ounces. But he’s fishing roughly the same quality-bass area that Gulledge is. If their fishing location holds up through Saturday, this tournament could be a two-horse race – granted they get some breathing room.
“Hopefully, nobody’s on my spots tomorrow,” Ford said. “But if they are, I’ve got a few other places.”
On the other hand, if third-place Mark Goines of Shady Point, Okla., can hook into the 10-pound largemouth that he landed in practice, the advantage could be his. Goines landed a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 4 ounces. He caught them all by focusing on one particular tree in an oxbow lake that seems to have an endless supply of quality bass. It is also the same place that he caught a 10-pounder while pre-fishing before the tournament.
“I’ve got one little spot with a tree,” said Goines, who won the EverStart tournament at Sam Rayburn, Texas, in 2001. “The fish are just kind of sitting there. When (the spot) cooled off, I would leave, come back later and it would replenish itself. I’m not going to leave it unless I have to.”
In the fourth spot after the opening round is local pro Marvin Ettredge of Shreveport. He caught 10 bass weighing 26 pounds, 6 ounces. Following him in fifth place was Patrick Hailstones of Cincinnati with 10 bass weighing 23-15.
Hailstones also captured the day-two pro big-bass award and $750 for a largemouth that weighed 4 pounds, 14 ounces.
Phillips, Boschert swap spots in Co-angler Division
Just as Gulledge and Ford are battling for supremacy in the Pro Division this week, Chris Phillips and Thomas Boschert are duking it out on the co-angler side. Phillips, in second place Wednesday, took the lead from Boschert Thursday with an opening round total of 18 pounds, 7 ounces.
“I had a pretty good weight,” said Phillips, who hails from Little Rock, Ark. “I caught three good fish early this morning between 8:30 and 10:30.”
His three bass weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces. He caught them using a jig-and-pig combination, which was a departure from the spinner-bait technique he used Wednesday to catch his 10-pound stringer.
“It didn’t seem like (the spinner bait) was going to work right off the bat,” he said. “I fished really shallow today. … I was fortunate to draw two good partners who put me on good fish both days.”
Phillips, an EverStart rookie, seemed pretty satisfied with his opening-round lead in his division.
“I’m awfully excited,” he said. “It’s my first EverStart tournament. I was second yesterday and now first today.”
Boschert, of New Athens, Ill., landed 17 pounds, 4 ounces to claim second place for the co-anglers in the opening round.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers were Kenny Moser (third place) of Alba, Texas, with a two-day total of 14 pounds, 15 ounces; Larry Stockwell (fourth) of Alexandria, La., with 14-3; and Myron Watts (fifth) of Malvern, Ark., with 13-1.
Murphy Downing of Hernando, Miss., landed co-angler big bass honors and $250 with a 5-pound, 5-ounce largemouth.
Coming up
Both the Pro and Co-angler divisions were cut down to the top 20 anglers apiece following today’s competition. The pro cut-weight settled at 18 pounds, 7 ounces, and for the co-anglers, it was 10-5.
Competition continues Friday when the semifinalists take off at 6 a.m. from Clark’s Red River Marina in Elm Grove, La. All competitors will restart the day with zero weight and fish in a one-day shootout to determine the 10 finalists for each division’s final round Saturday. The pro winner will receive $15,000 and a Ranger boat, and the co-angler winner will receive $6,000.
Day-two links: