Wet one in ‘Bama
EverStart Central contest takes off beneath leaky skies
FLORENCE, Ala. – While EverStart Series anglers practiced in mostly ideal weather conditions all week prior to Wednesday, the first day of Central Division competition at Pickwick Lake urged competitors into a familiar routine: It was time once again to put on the rain suits.
“Wouldn’t you know it, it’s raining,” co-angler Larry Regina of South Bend, Ind., said as he made a cast Wednesday morning.
Central Division anglers, who were feeling a little rain-washed after thunderstorms knocked them around at Texas’ Sam Rayburn Reservoir last month, were looking forward to a little fun in the springtime sun here in the Shoals area this week. But Mother Nature was reluctant to oblige, at least early on the first day of competition.
Don’t expect the rain to hamper the fishing too much, however. Temperatures are going to reach 70 degrees throughout the competition, precipitation or not, and the bass will be biting.
While competitors took off onto Pickwick Lake near Florence, they have access to two other lakes on this end of the Tennessee River: Wheeler and Wilson. This tournament theater is one of the unique areas of the country where anglers can catch all three types of competition-legal bass: largemouth, smallmouth and spotted. So look for a variety of fish to cross the scale this week.
Tournament logistics
The four-day tournament lasts through Saturday. The full field of 200 pros and 200 co-anglers will compete for two days to determine the 20 anglers who will advance to Friday’s semifinal round based on their two-day accumulated weight. Anglers will start at zero Friday and compete for one of 10 slots in Saturday’s final round. Weights are again cleared for Saturday’s competition, and anglers compete for position and prize money.
The winning pro will take home a guaranteed award of $10,000 cash and a new Ranger boat plus a $10,000 cash bonus if he is the original owner of a Ranger boat. Additionally, Ranger will award $3,000 cash 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 $5,000 cash, and Ranger will award a new Ranger 519VS Comanche to the winning co-angler if he is a registered Ranger owner.
Wednesday’s weigh-in begins at 3 p.m. at McFarland Park on James M. Spain Drive in Florence.
Today’s conditions
Sunrise: 5:47 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 55 degrees
Expected high temperature: 66 degrees
Wind: from the west-southwest at 5 mph
Relative humidity: 100 percent
Day’s outlook: light rain
Day-one links: