Ken Howden of Mesa, Ariz., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 4 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Western Division event on Lake Roosevelt with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 56 pounds, 10 ounces. For his victory, Howden earned $32,913.
“I’m just speechless,” said Howden. “I found these fish in practice on Wednesday and I knew this was the area with the fish that would win the tournament. I was done fishing within an hour every day, today I was finished by 8:30.
“I have to thank my partner, Mike (Rychard), for literally giving me the shirt off his back,” Howden went on to say.” I have been flipping Strike King Coffee Tubes all week. The first fish I caught this morning I flipped into a tree and I had to go retrieve it through the water, I was literally drenched and Mike was good enough to give me his shirt.
Howden indicated that he was a little worried about what today’s weather would bring, however, despite unrelenting wind and rain, it didn’t seem to hamper a thing as he anchored today’s catch with a 6 pound, 9 ounce lunker.
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Clay Lippincott, Goodear, Ariz., 15 bass, 38-11, $11,28
3rd: Mark Kile, Payson, Ariz., 15 bass, 37-15, $9,404
4th: John Murray, Phoenix, Ariz., 15 bass, 36-13, $8,463
5th: Kevin Stewart, Elk Grove, Calif., 15 bass, 33-14, $7,523
6th: Keith Espe, New River, Ariz., 15 bass, 33-10, $6,583
7th: Young Yang, Los Angeles, Calif., 15 bass, 33-6, $5,642
8th: Andy Manahl, Mesa, Ariz., 15 bass, 33, $4,702
9th: Dean Kreuzer, Mesa, Ariz., 14 bass, 32-7, $3,762
10th: Rick Mason, Glendale, Ariz., 15 bass, 31-12, $2,821
Kevin Stewart caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Thursday – an 8-pound, 12-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $274.
Mike Rychard of Anderson, Calif., won the Co-angler Division and a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor and $5,000 with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 40 pound, 8 ounces. Rychard dedicated his victory to his father who is battling cancer.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Christopher Irigoyen, Henderson, Nev., 12 bass, 32-1, $4,282
3rd: Mike Powell, Heber City, Utah, 15 bass, 30-6, $3,806
4th: Lester Albury, Temecula, Calif., 14 bass, 29, $3,331
5th: Roy Desmangles Jr., Lincoln, Calif., 15 bass, 28-15, $2,855
6th: Bryant Smith, Castro Valley, Calif., 15 bass, 26-13, $2,379
7th: Pat Wilson, Petaluma, Calif., 15 bass, 26-4, $1,903
8th: Shannon Henry, Phoenix, Ariz., 15 bass, 25-6, $1,427
9th: Matthew Nadeau, Grass Valley, Calif., 13 bass, 22-10, $952
10th: Justin Arellano, Isleton, Calif., 12 bass, 21-13, $761
Christopher Irigoyen caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Friday – a 7-pound, 9-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $182.
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 Strike King 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 Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tenn., Oct. 27-30.
The next EverStart Series Western Division tournament will be May 5-7 at the California Delta in Stockton, Calif. and will be hosted by the Stockton Sports Commission.
ABOUT FLW OUTDOORS FLW Outdoors is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with the world’s richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing presented by Straight Talk, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player’s Advantage to gain an edge. For more information about FLW Outdoors and FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FLWOutdoors.com or FantasyFishing.com. FLWOutdoors.com
