The first part of the week, he said, was disappointing so Ellis spent Wednesday trying to find fish for the tournament.

“I am hoping I can find something because nothing I am catching is the size I need. I have not caught any 5-to-6-pound fish yet,” said Ellis who has been recognized in the Southeast as a force to be dealt with in tournaments, especially on his home waters, the Santee Cooper Lakes..

“I have not had a good practice, but they have been catching them here like crazy. There was a tournament last week that took over 30 pounds to win,” he said. “There will be a lot of fish caught in this tournament and I am sure it will take some big weights to do well.”

With a full moon coming and warm temperatures, some fish are already moving to shallow water to bed, Ellis noted, so there will be a lot of sight fishing in the tournament.

“I am planning to flip. I’m not going to sight fish. My eyes are not good enough and there are too many guys who are a lot better at it than I am. Now, if I see one on the bed I might try to catch it,” he said.

For those like Ellis who are not sight-fishing, he said there should be plenty of action flipping craw worms and creature-type baits in the matted grass and working a swim bait like a Gambler Big Easy or Reaction Skinny Dipper.

As many as 300 pros and co-anglers will take to the water Thursday for the first of four stops in the Southeast Division. Pros will fish for a top award of $35,000 plus a 198VX Ranger boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award consisting of a Ranger 177TR with 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines are met.

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 the Ouachita River in Monroe, La., Nov. 1-4.

“I am fishing the first tournament here and then the series goes to Lake Seminole, Santee Cooper and Guntersville this year. I plan to fish at least the first three, but I have a little conflict with some local tournaments for the Guntersville tournament,” Ellis said. “So, I will just see where I am in the standings at that point. The championship will be held on the Ouachita River and I really don’t have any desire to go out there in November.”

That, he said, is because he is admittedly slowing down a little with age and the recovery from heart surgery.

“I’m getting old and my fishing partner and travel partner, Chuck Howard, is in school in Pittsburgh this year until the first of April. Traveling to tournaments is not near as much fun when you don’t have your buddies to go with,” Ellis said.

 

FLW EverStart Series – Southeast Division

Jan 19-21, 2012

Lake Okeechobee

Scott Driver Recreation Area

www.flwoutdoors.com