Coots jigs for co-angler win

Local co-angler nets EverStart Series Eastern Division win

Since Greg Coots is a registered owner of a Ranger Boat, he took home a Ranger 519VS in addition to the $5,000 cash prize for his tremendous win.

The Fyffe, Ala., co-angler cast a 3/8-ounce Strike King jig behind his partners the last two days to amass his winning weight of 38 pounds.

“I had some great partners this week and they were fishing deep where I could drag that jig around behind the boat,” he said. “That’s my style of fishing and it suited me perfect.”

Michi Oba of Tokyo, Japan, only caught one bass today, but it was a whopper: a 7-pound, 14-ounce bass that held him in second place with a two-day total of 23 pounds, 11 ounces.

“That’s the biggest fish of my life,” exclaimed Oba on stage. “I caught him Carolina-rigging a Zoom Brush Hog.”

Joe Hawkins of Stafford, Va., finished third with a two-day total of 21 pounds, 12 ounces.

Stephen Semelsberger of Mt. Airy, Md., finished fourth with a two-day total of 20 pounds, 15 ounces.

Blaine Shelton of Moulton, Ala., finished fifth with a two-day total of 18 pounds, 9 ounces.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were Tony Haymon of West Palm Beach, Fla., sixth place with a two-day total of 18 pounds, 9 ounces; James Cheshire of Kernersville, N.C., seventh place with a two-day total of 18 pounds, 7 ounces; Tommy Carpenter of Senoia, Ga., eighth place with a two-day total of 18 pounds, 6 ounces; Robert Kerber of Taberg, N.Y., ninth place with a two-day total of 16 pounds, 12 ounces; and Kelly Alexander of Jacksonville, Fla., tenth place with a two-day total of 12 pounds, 7 ounces.

2004 EverStart Eastern Division co-angler points leader

In the Co-angler Division of the EverStart Series Eastern Division, special recognition goes out to Ed Clark of Wayne, W. Va., who won the points title with 686 points.