HENDERSON, Nev. – Pro Sean Minderman of Post Falls, Idaho, hauled in four bass weighing 10 pounds, 4 ounces Friday to lead the final 10 pros who advanced to the final round of the four-day, $185,200 EverStart Series event on Nevada’s Lake Mead. The original field of 119 pros and 119 co-anglers was narrowed to 20 in each division following Thursday’s competition and was narrowed again to 10 for Saturday’s final round.
Minderman finished the two-day opening round in fourth place with seven bass weighing 13 pounds, 8 ounces, but with weights cleared for Friday’s competition, the tournament was anybody’s game. Anglers who made the top-10 cut, however, had to prevail over another day of tough fishing on the desert reservoir. Minderman found his bass on a spinnerbait that he fished in five to eight feet of water on the edge of a large flat.
“Lake Mead has been a tough lake to fish,” said Minder, who failed to make the cut-off at Lake Pleasant. “Each day I learn a little more about the area I am fishing and I hope it works in my favor.”
Rounding out the top five pros are Mike Folkestad of Yorba Linda, Calif. (four bass, 8 pounds, 13 ounces); Scott Nielsen of Salt Lake City (three bass, 5 pounds); Harry Jioras of Oak View, Calif. (three bass, 4 pounds, 3 ounces); and Clint Johanson of Benton City, Wash. (three bass, 4 pounds, 1 ounce).
Adam Hodge of Gilbert, Ariz., leads the 10 co-anglers heading into the final round thanks to his three-bass catch weighing 4 pounds, 14 ounces. Hodge caught his bass on a Roboworm in less than 10 feet of water.
“I had a lot of fun out on the water,” said Hodge, who was in fifteenth place after the second round. “The fishing for the finals is wide open, anyone could win.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Tim Barrett of Cucamonga, Calif. (one bass, 3 pounds, 1 ounce); Nick Welton of Galt, Calif. (one bass, 2 pounds, 5 ounces); Ray Coleman of Henderson, Nev. (one bass, 1 pounds, 14 ounces); and Robert Brondyke of Las Vegas (one bass, 1 pounds, 12 ounces).
A total of 38 bass were caught Friday. One hundred percent were released alive.
Callville Bay Resort in Las Vegas will host the final takeoff and weigh-in at 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively. Weights are cleared for the final day of competition, and anglers compete for position and prize money.
The winning pro will take home a guaranteed cash award of $7,000 plus a new Ranger 519VS Comanche equipped with Garmin electronics and powered by an Evinrude or Yamaha outboard. If the winner is the original owner of a Ranger boat, he will receive an additional $10,000 cash bonus from Ranger for a total of $58,900 in cash and prizes. Ranger will also award an additional $3,000 to the winner if he is a Ranger Cup participant, and Garmin will award $1,000 to the winner if his boat is equipped with a fixed-mount Garmin Fishfinder or combination GPS/Sounder.
The winning co-angler is guaranteed $3,600 cash. If the winning co-angler is a registered Ranger owner, he will also receive a new Ranger 519VS Comanche for a total of $26,400 in cash and prizes.
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.
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. FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.