EverStart Central begins Feb. 25 at Rayburn
New season to visit familiar lakes
The eldest of the EverStart Series divisions kicks off Feb. 25 when the 2004 Central Division begins competition at Texas’ Sam Rayburn Reservoir. In its seventh year, the Central Division is a key proving ground for some the best veteran anglers and future stars in tournament fishing.
The 2004 Central Division will look familiar to its anglers and fans from last year since it is returning to the same four tournament lakes: Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Pickwick Lake, the Red River and Kentucky Lake. With that in mind, a look back at last season’s highlights might provide a little insight into the coming season.
2003 Central in review
In early February, tournament veteran Alfred Williams of Jackson, Miss., won his first EverStart tournament by posting a 19-pound, 13-ounce limit in the finals at Sam Rayburn Reservoir. With the anglers catching countless Texas-sized largemouths all week – mainly by using the most trusted bait at Sam Rayburn, the red Rat-L-Trap – Williams soundly defeated runner-up Trey Morgan of Goldonna, La., by more than 6 pounds.
The biggest news from Rayburn, however, was co-angler Jeary Wheeler’s enormous, 12-pound, 11-ounce largemouth on day two. It set the record for the largest single bass ever caught in EverStart competition.
In late March, local pro Jonathon Newton of Rogersville, Ala., went “junk-fishing” on the Tennessee River and won his first EverStart title at Pickwick Lake with a final-round limit weighing 12 pounds, 2 ounces. Newton had to fend off a late charge by some highly ranked FLW Tour pros – particularly one named Clark Wendlandt of Cedar Park, Texas – to cinch victory on his home lake. Wendlandt, a two-time FLW Angler of the Year, placed second at Pickwick with a final weight of 9-15. Fellow FLW pros Eric Holt, Craig Powers and Greg Hackney also finished in the top six.
Storms and rainy weather greeted Central Division anglers at Kentucky Lake the first week in May, but that couldn’t stop David Young of Mayfield, Ky., from besting yet another big-time top-10 field in a big-bass finale at FLW Outdoors’ home lake. Fishing deeper water with a crankbait, Young won with a limit weighing 20 pounds, 15 ounces and sent former FLW winner Wesley Strader of Spring City, Tenn., (17-11) home with his third EverStart runner-up trophy. Two other former FLW champions, Craig Powers and John Sappington, also finished in the top 10 – Powers for the second tournament in a row.
In the blazing Louisiana heat in late June, Sean Hoernke, a fishing guide from Lake Fork, Texas, edged out John Sappington in the tightest Central Division finish of the season. Sappington of Willard, Mo. – also in his second top-10 finish in a row – was on good fish all week at the Red River but ultimately fell 4 ounces short of Hoernke’s winning weight of 12 pounds, 10 ounces. Hoernke’s edge came when he used a flat-bottom aluminum boat all week to penetrate deep into the river’s backwaters. Notably, Craig Powers also finished in the top 10 – for his third tournament in a row – at the Red River.
While Powers was strong for three straight tournaments in the 2003 Central Division, the Angler of the Year title ended up in the hands of Jackie Davis of Willard, Mo. Davis finished no worse than 13th place at all four tournaments and narrowly edged out Powers in points at the end of the Red River tournament.
2004: Second verse same as the first?
While the final two events – Kentucky Lake and the Red River – will be flip-flopped, the 2004 Central Division venues will be exactly the same as 2003: The EverStart Series heads to Texas’ Sam Rayburn Reservoir in February, Alabama’s Pickwick Lake in March, Louisiana’s Red River in April and Kentucky’s Kentucky Lake in June.
The familiar schedule would appear to set up nicely for some of last year’s standouts – like Davis, Powers, Troy Eakins and Trey Morgan – to make another run, but watch out for the new guys, too. The places are the same, but the game always changes – especially the conditions.