PEORIA, Ariz. (Jan. 13, 2003) - The all-new Western Division of the $4.09 million EverStart Series will stage its first bass fishing tournament Jan. 29-Feb. 1 on Lake Pleasant near Peoria, Ariz. As many as 200 bass anglers - 100 pros and 100 co-anglers - are expected to participate in the tournament, which will pay out $168,850 in cash and prizes.
Bass in the 10,000-acre impoundment should be in prespawn mode with drop-shotting and vertical-jigging on main points a primary pattern early in the mornings and crankbaits the lure of choice as the water warms.
"I think you'll be able to catch fish shallow and deep, but the guy who gets on a few good groups of deep fish will probably be the one who wins it," said pro angler and former Arizona resident Dean Rojas, who has spent a considerable amount of time on the lake.
Designed as a pathway to the $5.76 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the world's most lucrative bass-tournament series, the EverStart Series features four divisions - Eastern, Central, Northern and now Western - with four regular-season events each. The season culminates in the $335,975 EverStart Series Championship, which will be held Oct. 29-Nov. 1 on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin, Tenn. The event will be broadcast to 55 million subscribers of the Outdoor Life Network on the "FLW Outdoors" television series. Western Division anglers who finish in the top 30 in the final points standings are eligible to compete in the championship. Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points awarded to the winner, 199 points for second, 198 points for third and so on. These points determine angler standings.
The EverStart Series features a pro/co-angler format in which the pro supplies the boat, fishes from the front deck against other pros and controls boat movement while the co-angler fishes from the back deck and competes against other co-anglers. The field competes for two days to determine the top 20 anglers who will advance to Friday's competition based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for Friday's semifinal round, and pros and co-anglers start fresh to vie for one of 10 slots in Saturday's final round where anglers again start at zero.
The winning pro will take home as much as $57,900 in cash and prizes, which includes a guaranteed award of $6,000 cash and a new Ranger 519VS Comanche equipped with Garmin electronics and powered by Evinrude or Yamaha plus a $10,000 cash bonus if he is the original owner of a Ranger boat. Additionally, Ranger will award $3,000 cash to the winner if he is a Ranger Cup participant, and Garmin will award $1,000 to the winner if his boat is equipped with a fixed-mount Garmin Fishfinder or combination GPS/Sounder. The winning co-angler is guaranteed $3,000 cash, and Ranger will award a new Ranger 519VS Comanche to the winning co-angler if he is a registered Ranger owner.
Anglers will take off from Pleasant Harbor Marina at 7 a.m. each morning and weigh-ins will be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. each day.