GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – Low water levels on Kentucky/Barkley lakes may have diminished this week’s weights at the EverStart Series Central Division tournament, but it didn’t diminish Randy Haynes victory on Saturday. Haynes, a resident of Counce, Tenn., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 10 ounces on the final day of the tournament to win with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 54 pounds, 6 ounces. For his victory, Haynes earned $35,000.
“I’ve been shaking since I caught my last fish,” said Haynes. “This has been a tough tournament and I knew that when I saw Curt (McGuire) jumping around to the same holes that I was fishing today that it wasn’t going to be easy. He was on one side of the river and I was on the other looking for that miracle school that was going to push us over the top. We fish so much alike it is just pitiful. This is a nice win.
“I had a really great practice," Haynes continued. “Saturday through Tuesday the fish were biting like mad, but then the fish made a move. I started up north on Thursday and really struggled so the last two days I went down to Paris and the fishing was a lot better. The lake was under a ton of pressure and I think the fish decided it was time to make a move.
“I think the turning point for me in this tournament was when I caught my big fish on day 2 and brought in the biggest bag of the tournament (19-7). It was then that I started to understand what was going on. Coming into the tournament I really thought it was going to take 75 pounds to win and 60 to make the cut.
“I was fishing the main river ledges with Strike King 6XD with a rattler and when the bite died I changed to the silent 6XD. I was also using Strike King 1-ounce football jigs.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Sam Lashlee, Hermitage, Tenn., 15 bass, 50-9, $12,000
3rd: Jason Lambert, Pickwick Dam, Tenn., 15 bass, 50-7, $10,000
4th: Lance Ricketts, Madisonville, Ky., 15 bass, 49-10, $9,000
5th: Tim Griggs, Paducah, Ky., 15 bass, 48-11, $8,000
6th: Curt McGuire, Paris, Tenn., 15 bass, 48-2, $7,000
7th: David Fields, Murray, Ky., 15 bass, 47-11, $6,000
8th: Scott Mansfield, McKenzie, Tenn., 15 bass, 46-9, $5,000
9th: Drew Lynch, Paducah, Ky., 15 bass, 46-6, $4,000
10th: Matt Robertson, Central City, Ky., 15 bass, 45-14, $3,000
Jeremy Ethridge of Nashville, Tenn., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Thursday – a 7-pound, 4-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $300.
Fishing for his first time on Kentucky Lake and in his first EverStart Series event, DJ Smith of Fishers, Ind., won the Co-angler Division and a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 39 pound, 14 ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Bobby Wade, Sedalia, Ky., 15 bass, 38-8, $4,500
3rd: Cody Kelley, Conway, Ark., 15 bass, 38-7, $4,000
4th: Alan Woodford, Winslow, Ind., 15 bass, 37-4, $3,500
5th: Bill Bell, Smithville, Tenn., 12 bass, 36-4, $3,000
6th: Ben Jackson, Paducah, Ky., 14 bass, 36-4, $2,500
7th: Rick Krassinger, House Springs, Mo., 13 bass, 35-7, $2,000
8th: Scott Stallings, Glencoe, Okla., 13 bass, 35-7, $1,500
9th: Howard Poitevint, Bainbridge, Ga., 15 bass, 34-7, $1,000
10th: Kenny Botts, Bowling Green, Ky., 12 bass, 29-7, $800
Bill Bell caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday – a 6-pound, 12-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 Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship that will be held on the Ouachita River in Monroe, La., Nov. 1- 4, 2012.
The next EverStart Series Central Division tournament will be July 26-28 at the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wis.