EverStart Series back on ‘Buggs’
Northern Division kicks off first event of 2012 season on North Carolina fishery
HENDERSON, N.C. – There hasn’t been an EverStart Series event on Kerr Lake (Buggs Island Lake) since 2008, but today the circuit finally returns, kicking off the first Northern Division event of the 2012 season.
Although Kerr Lake has been known for extreme water fluctuations in the past, Buggs currently sits around normal summer pool after dropping around 6 or 7 feet over the past few weeks.
The last time the EverStart Series visited this body of water, the tournament title was captured by Mike Iaconelli with a four-day total weight of 45 pounds, 6 ounces. All indications this week suggest that the lake could produce average weights similar to the 2008 event over the course of the next three days. Anywhere from 101/2 to 13 pounds should be close to average, with 14 to 15 pounds being what the top-10 leaderboard will likely need to produce daily in order to make a run at a title.
The fish on Kerr right now seem to be in a late post-spawn/summer pattern. They can be found in just about any water depth.
Pennsylvania pro Chris Foley agrees.
“I have had trouble figuring these fish out,” said Foley. “I have caught fish in 6 inches of water all the way out to 25 feet. Normally the topwater bite in the summer out here is amazing but the fish just aren’t quite there yet.”
The A-rig could also play a role in this event. With some guys finding fish around points or deeper structure, the umbrella rig could be the trigger to help land that kicker bite.
Like many anglers, Delaware pro Trevor Knight is focusing in on power-fishing.
“I have one shallow pattern, one deep pattern and one big-fish pattern,” says Knight. “There are still plenty of big fish in here, but you need to cover water to find them. If you cover water you can probably catch two or three big ones per day.”
Will grass play as large of a role as it did for Ike in 2008? While nothing is definitive, several anglers clearly planned to target the grass throughout the week.
Logistics
Anglers will take off from Nutbush Park North located at 115 Jack Wade Farm Road in Henderson, N.C., at 6 a.m. daily. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will be held at the marina beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart located at 200 North Cooper Road in Henderson starting at 3 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Pros will fish for a top award of $35,000 plus a 198VX Ranger boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award consisting of a Ranger 177TR with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines are met.
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Strike King Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship that will be held on the Ouachita River in Monroe, La., Nov. 1-4.
The EverStart Series tournament on Kerr Lake is being hosted by Vance County Tourism Department.
Today’s forecast
Sunrise: 5:55 a.m.
Wind: NNE 10-20 mph
Temperature at takeoff: 58 degrees
Forecasted high temperature: 78 degrees
Humidity: 78 percent
Day’s outlook: Partly cloudy, wind, warm