PLATTSBURGH — Edward Pecore of Plattsburgh won the co-angler division and a Ranger 177TR boat Saturday at the FLW EverStart Series Northern Division event on Lake Champlain. Pecore caught a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 43 pounds, 5 ounces.
Pecore was in ninth place after Day 2, but he hauled in a catch of 14-6 Saturday to move up.
J.T. Kenney of Palm Bay, Fla. won the professional division with a total of 15 bass weighing 56-12.
Kenney, who weighed a five-bass limit totaling 20-6 Saturday, earned $32,189 and a Ranger Z518.
“It feels pretty good to break that Florida bubble,” said Kenney, who surpassed the million-dollar mark in career FLW earnings. “I’ve won a few of these, but never one out of Florida. I’d been close quite a bit, and I knew that I was going to eventually win one away from Florida.
“The bite was pretty steady all day long. I actually caught my biggest fish (Saturday) about 30 minutes before I had to make the trip back. I knew that the winning fish were down at (Ticonderoga) and I really just had to figure them out.”
Kenney caught most of his fish this week on three main baits — a ghost shad-colored Gambler Big EZ swimbait, a chatterbait and a Gambler Ugly Otter. He also weighed in a few fish Saturday on a frog.
“When I first started fishing, I never would have believed that I would win a million dollars with a fishing rod in my hand,” Kenney said. “I was just some kid from Maryland who loved to go fishing. Somewhere along the way someone suggested that we fish a tournament. Fifteen years later, here I am.”
Ron Wolfarth caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Thursday — a 6-1 bass — that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $264.
Stephen Kocell caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Friday (5-15) that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $176.
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions — Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments, and competitors vie for valuable points that could earn them the Strike King Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pros and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship on the Ouachita River in Monroe, La., Nov. 1 to 4.
The next EverStart Series Northern Division tournament will be Aug. 16 to 18 at 1,000 Islands in Clayton.
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FLW EverStart Series on Lake Champlain
Final results
Pros
1, Straight Talk pro J.T. Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 15 bass, 56-12, $32,189 + Ranger Z518 w/200 HP outboard
2, Bryan Labelle, Hinesburg, Vt., 15 bass, 56-9, $11,036
3, Joseph Thompson, Landenburg, Pa., 15 bass, 55-15, $9,197
4, Joe Lucarelli, Center Harbor, N.H., 15 bass, 55-3, $8,277
5, Matt Greenblatt, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 15 bass, 55-0, $7,357
6, Thomas Waltz, Fairfax, Vt., 15 bass, 53-6, $6,438
7, Tom Belinda, Holidaysburg, Pa., 15 bass, 53-1, $5,518
8, Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre, Erie, Pa., 15 bass, 52-7, $4,598
9, George Lambeth, Thomasville, N.C., 15 bass, 49-9, $3,679
10, Glenn Babineau, Mechanicville, 12 bass, 41-8, $2,759
Co-anglers
1, Edward Pecore, Plattsburgh, 15 bass, 43-5, Ranger 177TR w/90 HP outboard +$5,000 Ranger Cup
2, Carl Alexander, Hampton, 15 bass, 41-0, $4,214
3, Billy Carroll, Fayetteville, N.C., 15 bass, 40-7, $3,746
4, Brian Alspaugh, Manchester, Vt., 12 bass, 40-2, $3,278
5, Dan Tesch, Elkton, Md., 14 bass, 39-2, $2,809
6, Derek Bigford, Cicero, 13 bass, 38-3, $2,341
7, Matt Randles, Gallipolis, Ohio, 15 bass, 37-0, $1,873
8, Kenneth Roderick Jr., Putnam, Conn., 11 bass, 34-2, $1,405
9, Cecil Wolfe, Cross, S.C., 11 bass, 34-1, $936
10, Stephen Kocell, Waxhaw, N.C., 10 bass, 29-3, $749
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
