EUFAULA, Ala. - March 10, 2003 - The first half of the 2003 season on the Bassmaster Bass Fishing Tour has seen five different winners and three different leaders in the BASS Angler of the Year chase.
Edwin Evers of Mannsville, Okla. became the most recent to add his name to the winners list when he claimed victory on Lake Eufaula. Evers 73 pound 5 ounces over the four-days of competition was the heaviest weight thus far this season. The total was enough to give Evers $100,000 and his first ever win on the Bassmaster Tour.
Since the Tour's second event, Florida's Jim Bitter had been the angler everyone else was chasing when it came to the season's points race. Lake Eufuala saw that streak come to an end when Texan Bud Pruitt moved to the forefront in the Busch BASS Angler of the Year race. It is the first time the Texan has been in the lead for the award. Busch Beer presented Pruitt with a $1,000 bonus as well as a custom Stearns life vest designating him as the series' points leader.
Despite losing the lead in the BASS Angler of the Year race, Bitter still maintains his stronghold on the Horizon award which recognizes the angler with the best improvement from one season to the next. Bitter now leads Virginian Curt Lytle by a single point for the award.
Arizona's Mark Kile is in third place for the BASS Angler of the year award, 36 points behind the leader. In the Rookie of the Year race Kile is the leader, though with a 29 point lead over Oklahoma's Jeff Reynolds.
TELEVISION
The event from Eufaula will be telecast on ESPN2 on Saturday, March 15, at 10:30 a.m.
2003 BASS ANGLER OF THE YEAR STANDINGS (After five events)
1 Bud Pruitt Texas 725 2 Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Fla. 699 3 Mark Kile Ariz. 689 4 Jay Yelas Texas 688 5 Elton Luce Jr. Texas 687 6 Tom Mann, Jr. Ga. 665 7 John Murray Ariz. 661 8 Jeff Reynolds Ohio 660 9 Curt Lytle Va. 656 10 Mike Wurm Ark. 655
2003 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR STANDINGS (After five events)
1. Mark Kile Ariz. 689 2. Jeff Reynolds Okla. 660 3. Mike Reynolds Calif. 602 4. J.T. Kenney Md. 584 5. Terry Scroggins Fla. 562 5. Lance Vick Texas 562 7. Matt Reed Texas 548 8. Koby Kreiger Ind. 543 9. Chad Morgenthaler Ill. 541 10. Jay Kendrick Tenn. 525
2003 HORIZON AWARD STANDINGS (After five events)
1. Bitter, Jim Fla. 113 2. Lytle, Curt Va. 112 3. Wade, Jack Tenn. 105 4. Tyler, Mark Calif. 98 5. Omori, Takahiro Texas 95 6. Grigsby, Shaw Fla. 88 7. Boler, Roger La. 86 8. Bird, Cody Texas 82 9. Loper, Tim Miss. 73 10. King, Stacey D. Mo. 70
BASS SPONSOR EXPO
An added attraction for fans attending Bassmaster Tour events in 2003 is the BASS Sponsor Expo.
Thousands of fans have attended the sponsor expo, which is completely free and takes place from noon until 5 p.m. on Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at each Tour stop. The expo provides fans a chance to interact with top pro anglers, learn about product offerings, participate in interactive exhibits and also provides activities for children so the whole family can enjoy a trip to the weigh-in festivities.
COMPLETE BASS ANGLER OF THE YEAR STANDINGS
001 Bud Pruitt Texas 725 002 Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Fla. 699 003 Mark Kile Ariz. 689 004 Jay Yelas Texas 688 005 Elton Luce Jr. Texas 687 006 Tom Mann, Jr. Ga. 665 007 John Murray Ariz. 661 008 Jeff Reynolds Ohio 660 009 Curt Lytle Va. 656 010 Mike Wurm Ark. 655 011 Zell Rowland Texas 649 012 Alton Jones Texas 645 013 Jim Bitter Fla. 643 014 Brent Chapman Kan. 642 015 Gary Klein Texas 641 015 Roger Boler La. 641 017 Harold Allen Texas 638 018 Kevin VanDam Mich. 636 018 Mark Davis Ark. 636 020 Jack L. Wade Tenn. 631 021 Skeet Reese Calif. 619 022 Kelly Jordon Texas 611 023 Todd Faircloth Texas 600 024 Mike Reynolds Calif. 599 024 Tim Horton Ala. 599 026 Mark Menendez Ky. 597 027 Stacey D. King Mo. 584 027 J. T. Kenney Md. 584 029 Jeff Kriet Okla. 571 030 Dustin Wilks N.C. 566 031 Edwin Evers Okla. 563 032 Terry Scroggins Fla. 562 032 Lance Vick Texas 562 034 Mark Tyler Calif. 560 035 David Wharton Texas 558 036 George Cochran Ark. 556 037 Randall R Romig Pa. 555 038 Stephen Browning Ark. 550 039 Ishama Monroe Calif. 549 040 Matt Reed Texas 548 040 Gerald Swindle Ala. 548 042 Bernie Schultz Fla. 546 043 Takahiro Omori Texas 545 044 Peter E. Thliveros Fla. 544 045 Koby Kreiger Ind. 543 046 Roland Martin Fla. 542 047 Chad Morgenthaler Ill. 541 048 Guy H. Eaker N.C. 538 049 Kevin Wirth Ky. 537 050 Brian Snowden Mo. 531 050 Paul L Elias Miss. 531 052 Todd Auten S.C. 527 053 Jay Kendrick Tenn. 525 054 Randy Howell Ala. 515 055 David Fritts N.C. 513 056 Dalton Bobo Ala. 512 057 Kenyon Hill Okla. 508 058 Ben Matsubu Texas 499 059 Jason Barber Texas 495 060 Tom Biffle Okla. 492 061 Mike Auten Ky. 491 062 Ron Shuffield Ark. 479 062 Tommy Stiles Tenn. 479 064 Jimmy D. Mize Ark. 476 064 Ken Cook Okla. 476 064 Cody Bird Texas 476 067 Woo Daves Va. 475 068 Allen Armour Ga. 474 069 Jody Cordell Ga. 464 069 Joe Thomas Ohio 464 071 Keith Green Ark. 463 072 Charlie Hartley Ohio 462 072 Luke Clausen Wash. 462 074 Danny Kirk Ga. 460 075 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 458 076 Pete Ponds Miss. 457 077 O. T. Fears III Okla. 456 078 Rick Clunn Mo. 454 079 Denny Brauer Mo. 452 079 Jason Quinn S.C. 452 081 Tim Loper Miss. 448 081 Kyle Mabrey Ala. 448 083 Mike Hicks Va. 446 084 Charlie Weyer Calif. 444 084 Casey Iwai Ariz. 444 086 Gary Yamamoto Texas 436 087 Rick Taylor Mich. 435 088 Mike Gough Fla. 430 089 Kotaro Kiriyama N.J. 429 090 Michael Johnson Ga. 419 091 Chris Price Md. 414 092 Shonn Blassingame Texas 411 093 Dennis Kolender Calif. 410 094 Brett Hite Ariz. 408 095 Danny Correia Mass. 405 096 Lee Bailey, Jr. Conn. 401 097 Sean Hoernke Texas 400 098 Mark Rogers Fla. 399 099 Chad Brauer Mo. 395 099 David Mansue N.J. 395