HEMPHILL, Texas – Todd Castledine of Nacogdoches, Texas, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 9 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Texas Division event on Toledo Bend with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 65 pounds, 2 ounces. For his victory, Castledine earned $27,842.
“Seems like every week I come up against these guys, [Bird and Martin], but I love the competition. It makes me a better fisherman” said Castledine. “This really has been an incredible week. This morning after my boat broke down I was real nervous, but then everyone came out to help and I knew I was prepared for this moment and everything worked out.
“I was sight fishing all week long,” Castledine went on to say. “I never strayed and stayed 100 percent committed to that. I love to sight fish and know that it is one of my strengths. All my fish were caught off beds using a sweet beaver. I was mostly in about two to three feet of water.
“The fish weren’t plentiful, but I was able to catch the quality ones that mattered. On the first day I only had five keepers. On day two I think there were only six keepers and today I had the most, about 10.
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Lendell Martin Jr., Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 62-7, $9,546
3rd: Cody Bird, Granbury, Texas, 15 bass, 54, $7,955
4th: Tim Reneau, Del Rio, Texas, 15 bass, 52-12, $7,159
5th: Chris Wilkerson, Conroe, Texas, 15 bass, 50-8, $6,364
6th: Joe Elkouri, Lawton, Okla., 15 bass, 48-15, $5,568
7th: James Caldemeyer, Gilmer, Texas, 15 bass, 48-15, $4,773
8th: Eric Wright, Scurry, Texas, 15 bass, 47-13, $3,977
9th: Robert Brown, Round Rock, Texas, 15 bass, 47, $3,182
10th: Cecil Russell, Willis, Texas, 10 bass, 36-9, $2,386
Christopher Brasher caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Thursday – a 9-pound, 4-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $214.
Rick Parker of Kaufman, Texas, won the Co-angler Division and a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor plus $5,000 with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 50 pound, 4 ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Steve Hope, Ovilla, Texas, 15 bass, 47-4, $3,755
3rd: Keith Honeycutt, Temple, Texas, 13 bass, 43-15, $3,338
4th: Brent Broussard, Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 42-12, $2,920
5th: Eric Richey, Paradise, Texas, 15 bass, 42-8, $2,503
6th: Robert Moffett, Silsbee, Texas, 14 bass, 38, $2,086
7th: Randall Coyle, Nederland, Texas, 14 bass, 34-11, $1,669
8th: Rich Dalbey, Greenville, Texas, 12 bass, 33-9 $1,252
9th: Kevin Carter, Spring, Texas, 11 bass, 32-10, $834
10th: Stephen Francis, Brookeland, Texas, 10 bass, 30-10, $668
Reggie Rivera 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 $142.
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 Texas Division tournament will be May, 12-14 at Lake Texoma in Denison, Texas, and will be hosted by Denison Area Chamber of Commerce.
