Gray grabs Amistad win

Louisiana co-angler triumphs in EverStart debut

DEL RIO, Texas – Making his first appearance in an EverStart Series tournament, co-angler Travis Gray of Princeton, La., made a big day-two move and ended up topping the Texas Division field on Lake Amistad.

After posting 8 pounds, 15 ounces on day one, Gray finished in 39th place. The following day, he sacked up 22-12 and sailed to the top of the standings. Day three saw him bag another limit catch, this one weighing 15-15, and cementing his victory with a three-day total of 47-10 and a dominant 4-pound winning margin.

Gray credits part of his success to consideration from his pro partners.

“I was very fortunate to draw three good pros,” he said. “They didn’t front-end me; they gave me plenty of room to fish. I drew people who fished similar to the way I would fish if I was here (on my own). I was thankful I got to do what I feel comfortable doing, which is fishing shallow water with grass.

“I caught all of my fish on a spinnerbait the first day and four out of five that I weighed in each of the next two days. I managed to catch a couple on the crankbait during the day, but a 1/2-ounce shad-colored Booyah spinnerbait was the main thing I used all three days.”

Broussard improves to second

Brent Broussard of Richmond, Texas, saved the best for last and his big finish lifted him five spots from seventh to second. Broussard took sixth place on day one with 14-5. He dropped a notch on day two when his productivity slipped to 12-4. In the final round, Broussard redeemed himself by bagging his heaviest weight of the tournament – 17-1 and moving his tournament total to 43-10.

On day one, he caught his fish on a Combat swim jig over grass. Day two saw him switching to a Texas-rigged 10-inch ribbontail worm. On day three, he threw a Strike Pro crankbait.

Propst slips to third

Day-one co-angler leader Jerry Propst of Jasper, Texas, caught a day-three bag weighing 15-15 and ended up third with 43-5. In the closest finish of the Co-angler Division, Propst placed just 5 ounces behind Broussard.

Donny Davis of Livingston, La., caught a limit weighing 12-14 and fell two spots to fourth with a total weight of 42-4. Rick Parker of Kaufman, Texas, gained one spot from fourth to fifth with 40-12. He caught 13-4 in the final round.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers at the EverStart Series Lake Amistad event:

6th: Kerry Barnett of Waldron, Ariz., 37-0

7th: David Wharton of Del Rio, Texas, 35-13

8th: Chad McClendon of North Richland Hills, Texas, 34-12

9th: Kyle Mayfield of Abilene, Texas, 31-15

10th: David Underwood of Waco, Texas, 26-1