FLW today announced that the EverStart Series will again consist of five divisions – Southeastern, Central, Northern, Texas and Western – in 2013 with four tournaments in each division, including several repeat fisheries from this year.
Entry fees remain unchanged at $1,000 for pros and $400 for co-anglers, but the payouts have increased for winners and runners-up on the pro side. Pros will compete for a $40,000 top prize with 2nd-place finishers bagging $15,000 next year. The winning co-angler will take home a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower outboard. If the angler is Ranger Cup-qualified, the winning pro will also receive a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower outboard and the co-angler will receive an additional $5,000 in each tournament.
At the same time, payouts for finishers in 31st to 50th (based on a full 150-boat field) have been eliminated. This year, those finishing in between 31st and 40th took home $1,200 each while 41st to 50th paid $1,100.
In addition, the EverStart Series championship has been eliminated as have the cash bonuses ($5,000 pro, $2,000 co-anger) for the Angler of the Year (AOY) in each division. Next year, the AOY from each division on the pro and co-angler side will qualify for the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup, provided they’ve fished all four events in that division.
Here’s the schedule:
Central Division
> March 14-16 – Lake of the Ozarks (Osage Beach, Mo.)
> May 2-4 – Pickwick Lake (Florence, Ala.)
> June 13-15 – Kentucky Lake (Hardin, Ky.)
> July 25-27 – Detroit River (Trenton, Mich.)
Northern Division
> Apr 25-27 – Smith Mountain Lake (Huddleston, Va.)
> June 20-22 – Potomac River (Marbury, Md.)
> July 18-20 – Lake Champlain (Plattsburgh, N.Y.)
> Sept. 12-14 – Chesapeake Bay (North East, Md.)
Southeastern Division
> Jan. 10-12 – Lake Okeechobee (Okeechobee, Fla.)
> Feb. 28-March 2 – Lake Guntersville (Guntersville, Ala.)
> April 4-6 – Lake Seminole (Bainbridge, Ga.)
> May 9-11 – Wheeler Lake (Rogersville, Ala.)
Texas Division
> Jan. 24-26 – Lake Amistad (Del Rio, Texas)
> Feb. 14-16 – Toledo Bend Reservoir (Hemphill, Texas)
> April 18-21 – Lake Texoma (Pottsboro, Texas)
> Oct. 3-5 – Sam Rayburn Reservoir (Sam Rayburn, Texas)
Western Division
> Jan. 17-19 – Lake Oroville (Oroville, Calif.)
> Feb. 21-24 – Roosevelt Lake (Roosevelt, Ariz.)
> May 16-18 – California Delta (Bethel Island, Calif.)
> Oct. 10-12 – Clear Lake (Lakeport, Calif.)
