Fishing News - 3/3/01
From Operation BASS
Shepard Wins EverStart Series Bass Tournament, earns $50,000 in Cash and Prizes
Co-Angler Israel Finishes Fourth in Her Fourth Top-10 Showdown Eufaula, Ala.
After fishing at least part of Saturday in pounding rain from passing thunderstorms, Mark Shepard, 35, of Labelle, Fla., landed $50,000 in cash and prizes for his first EverStart Series Eastern Division victory on Lake Eufaula with five bass weighing 20 pounds, 5 ounces.
Shepard claimed victory over 165 anglers in the Pro Division after four days of elimination competition by constantly catching bass using spinnerbaits and by flipping a lizard into shallow grassy flats. Shepard, who in 1999 quit his job with an Ohio-based charity to pursue a professional bass fishing career, made the semifinal round cut to the top 30 pros Thursday in 13th place with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 32 pounds. He then made the final-round cut to the top 10 Friday in fourth place with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 10 ounces. Catch weights were cleared for all competitors at the start of the semifinal and final rounds.
"I was fishing in less than a foot of water," said Shepard, describing how he landed his winning catch worth $15,000 cash and a new Ranger boat ($35,000 value). "I'd throw my bait up there and see these monster wakes that looked like sharks coming at it.
"This is an absolute miracle," he added. "It's a dream come true. Ever since I was 4 years old I've lived to catch little green fish." Second through fifth place in the Pro Division went to Roger Beaver of Leesburg, Ga., with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 6 ounces worth $10,000; Jeffrey Thomas of Broadway, N.C., with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 11 ounces worth $9,000; Frank Poirier of Hopewell, Va., with five bass weighing 15 pounds, 12 ounces worth $8,000; and Mark Rogers of Naples, Fla., with five bass weighing 15 pounds worth $7,500.
Bruce Bowersock, 47, of Lake Worth, Fla., claimed first place in the 165-person Co-Angler Division and collected $6,000 with five bass weighing 20 pounds, 10 ounces. His winning catch was actually 5 ounces heavier than that of the winning pro. The second, third and fourth place co-anglers also outweighed their pro counterparts.
"I figured all the good fish were already taken, so I decided to dig out something that they probably haven't seen before," said Bowersock, who caught his bass Saturday on a double willow leaf spinnerbait rigged with a red skirt and chartreuse French fry trailer. "I don't know what it is about the bait, but it worked."
Co-Angler James Richardson Sr. of Harrison, Ohio, finished second and collected $4,000 with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 3 ounces. Tee Watkins of East Point, Ky., placed third with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 12 ounces worth $3,500. Judy Israel of Clewiston, Fla., finished fourth with five bass weighing 16 pounds, 11 ounces worth $3,000 followed by Terry Pennington of Tallahassee, Fla., in fifth with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 10 ounces worth $2,500.
Israel's fourth place showing was her fourth top-10 finish, placing her in second on the EverStart Series all-time top-10 finishers list. She placed second on Lake Eufaula in 1999, and that same year, co-angler Nobie Lebert of Brookeland, Texas, became the first women to win an EverStart tournament. She won on Toledo Bend Reservoir.
A total of 100 bass weighing 295 pounds, 12 ounces were caught Saturday including 20 five-bass limits. It was the first time in EverStart Series history that the entire final-round field weighed in limits. More than 99 percent of the bass were released alive.
The tournament began Wednesday with 330 anglers taking off from Lake Point State Park in Eufaula to claim a piece of the event's $185,000 purse. Lake Santee Cooper in Manning, S.C., will be the next Eastern Division EverStart Series stop March 28-31. The 4-year-old EverStart Series now includes three divisions - Eastern, Central and Northern - with four events each plus a year-end championship.
Tournament winners and the top 50 pros and top 50 co-anglers from each division will earn a spot in the championship, which will be held Nov. 7-10 on Pickwick Lake in Florence, Ala. There, the winning pro will receive a Ranger boat and $25,000 cash. The winning co-angler will receive a Ranger boat and $10,000 cash. More than $2.5 million will be awarded to bass fishing enthusiasts during the 2001 EverStart Series season. The series also provides a pathway to the $4.4 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour - bass fishing's most lucrative tournament series.
Sponsors of the 2001 Wal-Mart FLW Tour are ALPO Pet Foods, BFGoodrich Tires, Black & Decker, Chevrolet, CITGO, Coleman, Energizer, EverStart Batteries, Frito-Lay, Fujifilm, Kellogg's, Land O'Lakes, Lowrance, Mercury Marine, Minn Kota, Pepsi, Plano Tackle Systems, Poulan, Ranger Boats, Shop-Vac, Snickers Cruncher Bar, Timex, US Bank, Visa, Wal-Mart, Weed Eater, Wrangler and Yamaha Outboards.
