McMullen wins EverStart Series Southeast Division event on Lake Guntersville
Palmer wins co-angler title
GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – James McMullen of Quakertown, Pa., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 29 pounds, 6 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Southeast Division event presented by Mercury on Lake Guntersville with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 86 pounds, 7 ounces. For his victory, McMullen earned $40,000.
“This lake is insane,” said McMullen. “I saw Guntersville on the schedule in February and I figured that I had to do it. It (the win) feels amazing but I haven’t really even processed it yet. I’m from Pennsylvania, so it’s kind of one and done for me down here. This is only my third EverStart tournament, and it’s my first win with FLW.
“I was fishing a Yellow Hammer Umbrella rig tipped with Keitech swimbaits,” McMullen continued. “The spot that I was fishing was near the Mill Creek area of Guntersville, and I would describe it as a staging spot. It was in the back of a creek and there was a little gulley with wood and shell beds. The fish were just loaded up there.
“The best part of the spot was that it kept replenishing every day,” McMullen went on to say. “Almost every fish came out of less than 10 feet of water. Once I had 5 each day for the first two days, I left the spot alone. I think that was the key to my victory.”
The top 10 pros on Lake Guntersville were:
1st: James McMullen, Quakertown, Pa., 15 bass, 86-7, $40,000
2nd: Alex Davis, Albertville, Ala., 15 bass, 84-5, $15,000
3rd: Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 81-0, $10,000
4th: Robert Boyd, Russellville, Ala., 15 bass, 76-5, $9,000
5th: Sean Skey, Sumter, S.C., 14 bass, 69-15, $8,000
6th: Kent Ware, Wadmalaw Island, S.C., 14 bass, 66-2, $7,000
7th Chad Aaron, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 12 bass, 65-6, $6,000
8th: Tony Davis, Williston, Fla., 13 bass, 60-4, $5,000
9th: Rick Williams, Decatur, Ala., 13 bass, 59-12, $4,000
10th: Aaron Hastings, Middletown, Md., 10 bass, 46-15, $3,000
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Clent Davis caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Friday – a 10-pound, 7-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $300.
Paul Palmer of Madisonville, Tenn., won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117 with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 10 bass weighing 38 pound, 10 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers on Lake Guntersville were:
1st: Paul Palmer, Madisonville, Tenn., 10 bass, 38-10, Ranger Z117 with 90 HP outboard
2nd: Scott Ostmann, Cincinnati, Ohio, nine bass, 38-7, $5,000
3rd: Jim Austin, Lithonia, Ga., nine bass, 36-6, $4,000
4th: Matthew Clay, Madisonville, Tenn., nine bass, 35-12, $3,500
5th: Wayne Boyd, Rome, Ga., 11 bass, 34-0, $3,000
6th: Darren Jeter, Marshall, N.C., nine bass, 32-13, $2,500
7th: Scott Towry, Lawrenceburg, Tenn., 10 bass, 31-9, $2,000
8th: Nick Cupps, Decatur, Ala., six bass, 28-12, $1,500
9th: Ethan Cox, West End, N.C., eight bass, 26-11, $1,000
10th: Austin Spurlin, Hogansville, Ga., seven bass, 26-8, $800
Rodney Treadaway caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Thursday – a 9-pound, 7-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $200.
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, which allows them to fish the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup.
The next EverStart Series Southeast Division tournament will be April 4-6 at Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Ga., and is hosted by the Bainbridge Convention and Visitors Bureau.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWOutdoors.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow FLW on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWOutdoors.
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FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2013 over the course of 220 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 559 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.