Photo by Rob Newell / FLWOutdoors.com
Alex
Davis of Albertville, Ala., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 27
pounds, 1 ounce Saturday to win the EverStart Series Southeast Division
event on Lake Guntersville with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 81
pounds, 12 ounces. For his victory, Davis earned $34,767.
“I’m mentally exhausted after having to sit and watch everybody
weigh in before me today,” joked Davis. “Justin (Lucas) just had to show
up and catch 31-10 to make me nervous and keep me on the edge of my
seat.
“I had a great week out here. It went really good today,” Davis
continued. “I think I caught around 20 to 25 keepers today, with at
least three limits over 20 pounds. I was fishing on the lower end of the
lake. I targeted Honeycomb Creek, Brown’s Creek and I also had a few
spots near Seibold Creek. It was about a 15-mile stretch that I would
run, and I would just hit all of my spots. I probably had around 25
different spots that I would run to. I would stay for a bit and if I was
catching fish, I would just sit on them. If I wasn’t, I would just run
to the next one.
“I was fishing pretty deep – anywhere from 14 to 32 feet deep,”
said Davis. “Earlier this week I had some success with a big spoon, and I
caught a few on a jig head rigged with a single shad-colored swimbait.
However, today all of my fish came on the Alabama rig. I had it rigged
with Strike King Shadalicious swimbaits, and I was using multiple
different lengths and weights. If the fish were up higher, I would use
the 1/8-ounce or ¼-ounce rig. If they were deeper, I would throw the
3/8-ounce or ½-ounce rig. The last week they really moved from the grass
and went out deeper, and I was able to find a bunch of big schools of
them. The bass are mostly out in their summer spots now, and should be
there for the rest of the summer.
“I guide on Lake Guntersville and have pretty much fished it
every day since January,” Davis said. “Coming in to this event
I thought it would take around 65 to 70 pounds to win. I
never thought it would take 80 pounds to get it done. I couldn’t have
done this without my sponsors – Vicious fishing line, Strike King
Baits and Ranger Boats. I’m planning on joining the FLW Tour next year
as a boater and have been saving my money to make the big jump, so this
win is definitely a good shot in the arm for me.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: National Guard pro Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 78-8, $11,920
3rd: Rick Cotten, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 76-3, $9,933
4th: Marshall Deakins, Dunlap, Tenn., 15 bass, 75-5, $8,940
5th: Casey Martin, New Market, Ala., 15 bass, 73-9, $7,947
6th: Richard Peek, Centre, Ala., 15 bass, 73-1, $6,953
7th: National Guard pro Mark Rose, West Memphis, Ark., 15 bass, 70-15, $5,960
8th: Gary Fleming, Russellville, Ala., 15 bass, 69-9, $4,967
9th: Derek Hicks, Rocky Face, Ga., 15 bass, 60-9, $3,973
10th: Straight Talk pro J.T. Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 12 bass, 58-14, $2,980
Fleming caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro
Division Friday – a 7-pound, 13-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s
EverStart Series Big Bass award of $298.
Justin Sward of Birmingham, Ala., won the Co-angler Division and a
Ranger 177TR with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a
three-day total of 15 bass weighing 62 pounds, 12 ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Jason Atkins, Section, Ala., 14 bass, 53-11, $4,470
3rd: Ed Shannon, Milford, Ohio, 15 bass, 53-5, $3,973
4th: Steve Keller Jr., Bethel, Ohio, 13 bass, 42-6, $3,477
5th: Josh Mims, Clanton, Ala., 13 bass, 41-4, $2,980
6th: Kyle Giella, Pooler, Ga., 14 bass, 40-4, $2,483
7th: James Bobbitt, Rainbow City, Ala., 11 bass, 39-8, $1,987
8th: Randy Brewington, Moulton, Ala., 13 bass, 38-4, $1,490
9th: Ben Johnson, Huntsville, Ala., 11 bass, 33-5, $993
10th: Wally Coward, Beech Island, S.C., 15 bass, 28-1, $795
Sward caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler
Division Friday – a 7-pound, 13-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s
EverStart Series Big Bass award of $198.
