Fishing News - 7/28/01
From Operation BASS
Vida Wins EverStart Series Event on Lake Ontario
Clayton, N.Y., (July 28, 2001) - Kevin Vida of Clare, Mich., landed $50,000 in cash and prizes Saturday for winning the second EverStart Series Northern Division tournament on Lake Ontario with five smallmouth bass weighing 20 pounds, 13 ounces.
Vida, who is fishing his first full EverStart Series season, survived four days of competition and two elimination rounds before claiming victory in the Pro Division. He made the semifinal round cut to the top 30 pros Thursday in second place with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 34 pounds, 12 ounces. He then made the final round cut to the top 10 Friday in third place with five bass weighing 21 pounds, 8 ounces. Catch weights were cleared for all competitors at the start of the semifinal and final rounds.
"Things started out rough this morning," Vida said after winning $15,000 and a new Mercury- or Yamaha-powered Ranger boat with GARMIN electronics. "I fouled a spark plug, so it took us awhile to get out there. Then I broke off a fish while I was watching everyone around me catch fish. Then, one by one, I started catching 4-pounders."
All of Vida's fish were caught on a green tubebait that he worked over a shallow-water flat. He and several other anglers in the final round fished the same productive area all week. Second through fifth place in the Pro Division went to Neil Vandebiezen of Portage, Mich., with five bass weighing 20 pounds, 12 ounces worth $10,000; Koby Kreiger of Osceola, Ind., with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 13 ounces worth $9,000; Gerald Beck of Lexington, N.C., with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 9 ounces worth $8,000; and Art Ferguson III of Saint Clair Shores, Mich., with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 4 ounces worth $7,500.
Dwight Ameling of Fremont, Ind., claimed first place in the Co-Angler Division and collected $6,000 with five smallmouth bass weighing 17 pounds, 7 ounces. David Smith Jr. of Edmond, Okla., finished second in the division and collected $4,000 with five bass weighing 17 pounds, 1 ounce while Carl Tripple of Ilion, N.Y., finished third with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces worth $3,500.
"By the end of the day I thought I had a chance, but you just never know," said Ameling, who fished with Kreiger. "There were five boats in the same area and everyone was catching fish." A total of 93 bass were caught Saturday and more than 98 percent were released alive.
The tournament began Wednesday with 294 anglers from the United States and Canada taking off from French Creek Marina in Clayton to claim a piece of the event's $185,000 purse. Sandusky Bay near Sandusky, Ohio, will be the next Northern Division EverStart Series stop Aug. 22-25.
The 4-year-old EverStart Series now includes three divisions-Eastern, Central and Northern-with four events each plus a year-end championship presented by Conseco. 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. 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 $4.45 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour-bass fishing's most lucrative tournament series. Top EverStart competitors may also qualify for the Ranger M1 tournament in Mobile, Ala., Feb. 27-March 2, 2002, where they can win up to $1 million in the world's richest freshwater tournament.
Sponsors of the EverStart Series are ALPO Pet Foods, BFGoodrich Tires, Black and Decker, Chevy Trucks, CITGO, Coleman, Conseco, Energizer, EverStart Batteries, Frito-Lay, Fujifilm, Garmin, Kellogg's, Land O'Lakes, 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.
