PORT CLINTON, Ohio – Rob Webber of Elyria caught five bass weighing 21 pounds, 3 ounces to lead the first day of EverStart Series Northern Division competition on Lake Erie. A field of 179 pros and 179 co-anglers will battle it out for four days in search of their share of a $239,325 total purse.
Lake Erie greeted anglers on the first day of tournament action with relatively calm waters and adequate weather conditions. Cooler water temperatures on the massive lake have caused some anglers to run long distances to catch solid limits of smallmouth bass, which will be necessary to contend for this EverStart Series title.
“I had my limit today by 10 a.m.,” said Webber, who caught his limit dragging a tube in Ruggles Reef. “I believe landing 15 pounds tomorrow should be enough to make the cut.”
In second place was David McCrone of Minnetonka, Minn., with a five-bass catch weighing 20 pounds, 12 ounces. Third place was Vic Vatalaro of Kent with a five-bass catch weighing 20 pounds, 9 ounces. Fourth place was Bill Chapman of Salt Rock, W.Va., with a five-bass catch weighing 20 pounds, 5 ounces. Tied for fifth place were Stephen May of Deerfield, N.H., and Mike Trombly of Perrysburg each with a five-bass catch weighing 19 pounds, 9 ounces.
Robert Saros of Mishawaka, Ind., leads the Co-angler Division thanks to a five-bass catch weighing 18 pounds, 10 ounces.
“We had a 40-mile long boat ride today to our spot,” said Saros, who caught his fish using a tube bait in 15-20 feet of water. “I plan to fish conservatively tomorrow to make the cut.”
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Trevor Jancasz of White Pigeon, Mich. (five bass, 18 pounds, 5 ounces); Charlie Compton of Kendallville, Ind. (five bass, 17 pounds, 4 ounces); Brad Baldwin of Dayton (five bass, 17 pounds, 5 ounces); and Gary Nelson of Louisa, Ky. (five bass, 16 pounds, 14 ounces).
Edward Rogers Jr. of Grand Rapids, Mich., took pro big-bass honors and $750 Wednesday thanks to his 5-pound bass. Saros caught a 5-pound, 5 ounce bass to claim $250 as the co-angler big-bass winner.
Nine hundred and seventy bass were caught Wednesday, including 101 five-bass limits.
Anglers will take off each morning from Dempsey State Access ramp in Marblehead beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday’s weigh-in will also be held at location beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 4070 East Harbor Road in Port Clinton beginning at 4 p.m. The community is encouraged to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins.
Following Thursday’s conclusion of the opening round, the top 20 pros and 20 co-anglers based on their two-day accumulated weight advance to Friday’s semifinal round. Weights are cleared for Friday’s competition, and the top 10 pros and 10 co-anglers advance to Saturday’s final round based on Friday’s total weight. Weights are again cleared for Saturday’s competition, and anglers compete for the heaviest one-day weight.
The winning pro will take home a guaranteed cash award of $10,000 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 $61,900 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 $5,000 cash. If the winning co-angler is a registered Ranger owner, he will also receive a new Ranger 519VS Comanche for a total of $27,800 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. For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please explore FLWOutdoors.com.
FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.