Rachal tops Co-angler Division on Sam Rayburn

Monroe, La., angler wins his first EverStart Series event

JASPER, Texas – Co-angler Brett Rachal fished his first-ever FLW Outdoors event this week in the EverStart Series Texas Division event on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. If he had any doubts about entering the tournament, they were surely erased Saturday when he won the event to collect a Ranger boat, motor and trailer valued at over $40,000.

“I can’t say enough about my pros … (they) made if fun to fish,” he said.

The opening day of the tournament was canceled Thursday due to unsafe conditions, but Rachal fished with pro Joe Elkouri to put together a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 6 ounces Friday and then finished the tournament with a 13-7 limit Saturday in second-place pro Stephen Johnston’s boat. Rachal’s tournament-winning total weight was 29-13.

“It was a tough bite,” he said of the fishing today. “I had seven bites the whole day.

“We hit spots that Stephen knew … most of our bites came from ripping traps through the grass.”

The pair fished a half-dozen locations from the south end of Rayburn all the way up to the 147 Bridge, and Rachal targeted bass in 5 to 7 feet of water. He used an XCalibur Knocker in Toledo-gold color and a Strike King Red Eye Shad in fire-tiger, both rattling lipless crankbaits.

When Rachal isn’t fishing tournaments, he works in a physical-therapy clinic.

Francis runner-up

Stephen Francis of nearby Brookeland, Texas, placed second in the Co-angler Division with a two-day total of 27-10 worth $3,933. On day one he fished with pro George Jeane Jr. to collect four bass weighing 9-13, and today he fished with fifth-place pro Ronnie Eschete Jr. to collect an impressive five-bass limit weighing 17-13, the heaviest co-angler bag of the tournament.

“We had a great day; we didn’t get many bites, but we had better weather” he said of his final day. “We fished shallow, we fished real slow. I threw a Carolina rig in 4 to 10 feet of water.”

Francis outfitted the Carolina rig with a Zoom fluke or a Zoom finesse worm, a variety of watermelon-based colors for both, and targeted scattered grass, working the rig on the bottom.

Davis ends up third

Hubert Davis of Kirbyville, Texas, led the Co-angler Division on day one with a 17-4 limit he caught from the back of pro Gary Riffle. Fishing with pro Buzz Craft, he scraped together two bass today for a two-day total of 21-10, third place and $3,496.

Barnett, Wilson round out top five

Co-angler Kerry Barnett of Waldron, Ark., placed fourth with a two-day total of 20-9 worth $3,059. He caught his bass twitching a Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogue.

Dan Wilson of Pilot Point, Texas, is off to a great start in 2011. Last month he won the Co-angler Division of the EverStart Texas event at Choke Canyon, and today he placed fifth with a two-day total of 20-2 worth $2,622. He is currently in first place in the race for the Texas Division’s Strike King Co-angler of the Year award.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers on the final day of the EverStart Texas event on Sam Rayburn:

6th: Keith Honeycutt of Temple, Texas, eight bass, 19-8, $2,185

7th: Danny Cherry, Kountze, Texas, five bass, 18-6, $1,748

8th: Eric Richey, Paradise, Texas, seven bass, 18-1, $1,311

9th: Rusty Harvey, Nederland, Texas, seven bass, 18-0, $874

10th: Ronald Milton, Maurepas, La., five bass, 17-15, $699

Big Bass

The Big Bass award in the Co-angler Division went to Ronald Milton of Maurepas, La., for a 6-11 kicker worth $153.

Coming up

The next EverStart Series Texas Division event will take place March 17-19 on Toledo Bend at Hemphill, Texas.