FLORENCE, Ala. (May 4, 2013) – Randy Haynes of Counce, Tenn., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 26 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Central Division tournament on Pickwick Lake after leading wire-to-wire with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 79 pounds, 11 ounces. For his victory, Haynes earned $30,088 and a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor.
“This is unbelievable,” said Haynes, who crossed the $200,000 in career earnings mark in FLW competition. “I have been so very fortunate in my life, and I’ve just been having a really good year.”
Haynes found success in this event by fishing river ledges and humps in 15 to 30 feet of water near the Pickwick dam.
“I fished about 40 different spots throughout the week,” Haynes said. “I was really dialed in on six of them, though. I counted on those to produce for me.”
Haynes said that he caught fish all day, every day, estimating that he caught 275 fish throughout the three-day event. He said that all of the fish that he weighed in came from two deep-diving crankbaits – a Strike King 6XD and a Strike King 10XD.
“I alternated between two different colors on my crankbaits – sexy shad and citrus shad,” Haynes continued. “I cranked all week with my Kistler Mark Rose Signature Series Z-Bone crankbait rod and a Lew’s BB1 reel. My gear definitely played a role in my success.
“I think that the biggest key for me, though, was my knowledge of the lake,” said Haynes, who earned his fourth career victory on Pickwick Lake in FLW competition. “I’ve spent a lot of time on this water. It provides a huge advantage when you know where to start and what to look for each day.”
This year also marks Haynes rookie season on the Walmart FLW Tour. In the two events in which he has competed, Haynes has placed in the top-50 and earned paychecks at both. When asked about the upcoming Tour stop at Lake Eufaula he was enthusiastic.
“I’m excited for that one,” Haynes said. “I’m not real familiar with Eufaula, so I don’t have real high expectations. But, I know that it will most likely be an off shore fishing tournament and that plays to my strengths. I was able to get some pre-practice in there last week, and there are a lot of good areas to fish. I will definitely have a bit of a learning curve to overcome, but I’ll be ready.”
The top 10 pros on Pickwick Lake were:
1st: Randy Haynes, Counce, Tenn., 15 bass, 79-11, $30,088 + Ranger Z518 with 200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Jeff Suratt, Leoma, Tenn., 15 bass, 76-0, $11,283
3rd: David Suratt, Leoma, Tenn., 15 bass, 72-5, $7,522
4th: Kevin Wright, Waterloo, Ala., 15 bass, 67-3, $6,770
5th: Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 15 bass, 62-8, $6,018
6th: Todd Rasberry, Killen, Ala., 15 bass, 62-7, $5,265
7th: Jeremy Utley, Florence, Ala., 15 bass, 62-3, $4,513
8th: Robert Boyd, Russellville, Ala., 13 bass, 53-12, $3,761
9th: Jade Keeton, Florence, Ala., 15 bass, 52-9, $3,009
10th: Matt Van Meter, Sharon, Tenn., 12 bass, 43-9, $2,257
Rasberry caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division on Thursday, a 10-pound, 10-ounce monster that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $206. Tim Cummings of Waynesboro, Tenn., won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 56 pounds, 10 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers on Pickwick Lake were:
1st: Tim Cummings, Waynesboro, Tenn., 15 bass, 56-10, Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower outboard
2nd: Jason Smith, Killen, Ala., 15 bass, 56-3, $4,010
3rd: John Hopper, Falkner, Miss., 15 bass, 52-12, $3,208
4th: Tim Beale, Hernando, Miss., 15 bass, 46-8, $2,807
5th: Tripp Pittman, Holly Springs, Miss., 12 bass, 38-7, $2,406
6th: Steve Sorrell, Beavercreek, Ohio, 13 bass, 35-2, $2,005
7th: Chuck Rounds, Benton, Ky., 11 bass, 34-2, $1,604
8th: Terry Hussey, Nickerson, Neb., 13 bass, 33-1, $1,203
9th: Logan Bliss, Cottage Grove, Wis., 11 bass, 32-5, $802
10th: Michael Phelps, Arlington, Tenn., nine bass, 27-4, $642
Jim Hippensteel of Rochester, Ind., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Friday – a 6-pound, 4-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $137.
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, which allows them to fish the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup.
The next EverStart Series Central Division tournament will be June 13-15 on Kentucky Lake in Benton, Ky.