PEORIA, Ariz. – Brett Hite of Phoenix, Ariz., earned $50,400 in cash and prizes Saturday – including a Ranger boat equipped with Garmin electronics and an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard – as the winner of the first-ever EverStart Series Western Division event. Hite caught five bass weighing 13 pounds, 12 ounces to edge past front-runner Art Berry of Ramona, Calif., by 7 ounces.
The four-day tournament was held on picturesque Lake Pleasant in Peoria, Ariz., and provided a pleasant beginning to the newly formed Western Division. According to Hite, the weather was slightly warmer than normal and affected the shallow-water fish, which led many anglers to reach for their top-waters. Hite, however, fished structure in 25 to 45 feet of water using a drop-shot rig, and the pattern paid off.
Hite overcame an opening-day crisis in which his boat broke down at takeoff to emerge as an EverStart Series winner. “This feels great,” Hite said. “It’s nice to finally have these EverStart tournaments out West. This is my home water.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Berry (five bass, 13 pounds, 5 ounces, $8,000); Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif. (five bass, 8 pounds, 14 ounces, $7,250); Phil Strader of Glide, Ore. (five bass, 7 pounds, 10 ounces, $6,500); and Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz. (five bass, 7 pounds, 9 ounces, $6,000).
Jason Billmaier of Las Vegas, Nev., earned $4,500 as the winner of the Co-angler Division, thanks to his catch Saturday of five bass weighing 9 pounds, 6 ounces.
“It is especially great to win on a lake that I’ve done extremely poor on every other time I’ve been here,” said Billmaier, who caught his bass drop-shotting 4-inch worms. “The bite turned on, the fish turned on, and everything worked out the way it’s supposed to work out.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Dallas Merrick of Oroville, Calif. (five bass, 7 pounds, 9 ounces, $3,500); Jim Wickam of Morristown, Ariz. (five bass, 7 pounds, 5 ounces, $3,000); Jon Griffith of Mesa, Ariz. (four bass, 6 pounds, 8 ounces, $2,000); and Dan Powers of Weaverville, Calif. (four bass, 6 pounds, 8 ounces, $1,700).
Sixty-eight bass were caught Friday, including nine five-bass limits. One hundred percent of the bass were released alive.
Over 300 anglers took off from Pleasant Harbor Marina in Peoria Wednesday to kick-start the brand-new Western Division of the EverStart Series. Thanks to the tournament series’ western expansion, anglers from the West can now compete alongside Central, Northern and Eastern division competitors for a share of a $3.88 million EverStart Series purse. The field was cut to the top 20 pros and 20 co-anglers following Thursday’s competition, and anglers started at zero Friday and competed for one of 10 slots in Saturday’s final round. Weights were cleared again for Saturday’s competition, and anglers competed for position and prize money.
Four divisions – Eastern, Central, Northern and Western – comprise the 2003 EverStart Series. Each division stages four regular-season tournaments leading up to the no-entry-fee $335,975 EverStart Series Championship, which will be held on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin, Tenn., Oct. 29-Nov. 1. The next Western Division tournament will be held March 5-8 on Lake Mead near Henderson, Nev.
In EverStart Series competition, pros supply the boats, control boat movement and fish from the front of each boat against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back of each boat and compete against other co-anglers.
FLW Outdoors, the world’s leading marketer of competitive fishing, administers the EverStart Series. Other FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament trails include the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour and the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League. FLW Outdoors will award as much as $20 million through 175 tournaments in 2003.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please visit FLWOutdoors.com.