Martinez starts off right
Ohio co-angler nets title at EverStart Northern Division opener on Kerr Lake
HENDERSON, N.C. – David Martinez of Brooklyn Heights, Ohio, managed to land his first victory as a co-angler in the EverStart Series. In fact, this was his first top 10 – not a bad way to start the year.
Martinez brought in 7 pounds, 11 ounces on day one. The next day he scrounged up 6-2 to put him in the top 10. He sat in eighth place at the start of today and had about a 6-pound deficit to make up. It all came together when Martinez caught his only five-bass limit of the week and weighed 9 pounds, 7 ounces to take the title by a slim two ounces.
“I love to drop-shot, that is what I do a lot of back home on Lake Erie,” said Martinez. “So when I came down here and found out I could catch them on a drop-shot it really boosted my confidence.
“When I practiced here I found that my best bites came deeper and the fish really seemed to like worms with curly tails. When I drew my boater for the first day and found out he was fishing shallow I got worried. I managed to do ok on day one, then on day two my boater also was fishing shallow. This had me worried. He ended up fishing deep later in the day and I caught the fish I needed to in order to make the cut.
“I was just so thankful that today I got to fish with Tom Wilkinson who had the plan to fish deep. I caught my limit today in the last 30 minutes of the tournament. I was absolutely thrilled.”
Martinez used a 7-foot Kistler drop-shot rod with 8-pound Vanish fluorocarbon.
“Words cannot describe how I feel right now,” he said. “This victory gives me the tempo I need for the rest of the season.”
Boyce falls to second
George Boyce of Fuquay Varina, N.C., had a three-day total weight of 23 pounds, 2 ounces. His bag was put together by a 10-1 sack on the first day. Day two he nearly matched that with 9 pounds, 10 ounces. Going into the final day he had over a 2-pound lead. Today, Boyce brought only three fish to the scales for 3 pounds, 7 ounces.
For his efforts, Boyce took home a check for over$3,600 in prize money.
Girouard takes third
Epsom, N.H., native Chris Girouard took third place at the first stop of the EverStart Northern Division event on Kerr Lake. His day one catch went for 4 pounds, 1 ounce. He then came back strong with a 9 pound, 12 ounce limit to put him in seventh place on the second day. Today he brought four fish – only two alive – to the scales that weighed 8-2 to put his three-day total at 21 pounds, 15 ounces.
Girouard had 15 to 20 bites total all week. He threw a drop-shot some, but a shaky head in deep water was his primary tactic of choice. A Zoom Trick Worm was the perfect combination on that shaky head.
As far as line goes, Girouard was throwing braided line and had a 10-pound fluorocarbon leader attached to it.
Girouard took home just over $3,200 in prize money for his efforts.
Ball lands in fourth
David Ball, who led the event after day one, just couldn’t quite put it together today and ended up with a three-day total of 17 pounds, 6 ounce. That’s not bad considering that total is comprised of just his first two days of fishing. His day-one total of 11 pounds, 6 ounces and day-two weight of 6-pounds even gave him the boost to stay in the top five.
“My biggest bites this week came on a Storm Chug Bug topwater,” said Ball. “All of the fish I caught were shallow, like six feet or less. Otherwise I threw a shaky head some and a crankbait too. Overall I’m happy with how the tournament went.”
Ball had enough weight to take home a check for over $2,800.
Williams holds down fifth
Local Lee Williams of Durham, N.C., rounds out the top five with a three-day total weight of 17 pounds, 1 ounce. He started off strong on day one with a total of 11 pounds, 5 ounces. With tough fishing conditions, Williams managed to bring in 3-5 on day two and 2-7 today.
“I fished crankbaits around points with stumps a lot this week,” said Williams. “The Rapala DT-6 was a bait that really helped me this week. I did throw a Dave’s Tournament Tackle shaky head and a Heddon Zara Spook as well.”
Williams brought home a check worth over $2,400 for his efforts.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top-10 co-angler finalists:
6th: Thomas Shafer of Pine City, N.Y., 16-15
7th: Dean Majors of Durham, N.C., 16-3
8th: William Tager of Gunpowder, Md., 15-9
9th: Billy Carroll of Fayetteville, N.C., 14-15
10th: Joe Wilkerson of Falls Church, Va., 14-4
Complete co-angler results can be found here
The next EverStart Series Northern Division tournament will be July 19-21 at Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, N.Y., the City of Plattsburgh will host the event.