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| FishTails |
Eric Stewart crowned 2003 WVBF State Champion
[By Jim Matuga, February 5, 2004]
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| 2003 West Virginia BASS Federation State Team: Eric Stewart, Tim Rhodes,
Larry Taylor, Joe Decker, Keith Tyler, Mark Godwin, Billy Gue, Chase Bryant, Dave Corsaro, Jim Davis, Benji Barnette,
Bruce Greene, Lester Marsh. |
For 23-year-old Eric Stewart, winning the 2003 WVBF Central Qualifier September 6-7, 2003 was a dream come true.
But, winning that tournament and winning the 2003 WVBF State Championship October 18-19, 2003 was an experience
he'll never forget. Accomplished WVBF angler Russ Smarr is the only other person to ever win both the qualifier
and the state championship in the same year - 1998. "This accomplishment is very special to me. I never really
thought about being able to accomplish something like this at such a young age. It is an experience I will never
forget," said Stewart.
Stewart, a Civil Engineer at Gannett Fleming in Morgantown, has been tournament fishing for 9 years. He has been
a WVBF member for 5 years all of which as a member of the Mid-State Bassmasters.
Competing in any tournament requires some degree of preparation. Winning a major tournament requires practice,
tenacity and above all - plenty of preparation. How did Stewart prepare for the two biggest wins of his young career?
"In preparation for the Sutton tournament, I spent two weekends in advance of the tournament trying to locate
fish that most other people were over looking. For instance, the Elk River was very muddy, so most people avoided
that area, but I found some concentrations of fish located there in practice. I went there on the first day of
the tournament and fished until noon when my partner caught lunker for the day. Without a single bass, I left the
river and headed towards the lower end of the lake. With one hour remaining on the first day, I caught two keeper
bass. Then, I made the decision to return to the same spot on day two of the tournament. This area produced a limit
for me on day two," Stewart said.
"My mind set going into the state championship was to qualify in the top six, and therefore, become a boater
at the Eastern Regionals. This quickly changed after day one of the tournament. From that point forward, I wanted
to win," Said Stewart.
Winning Strategy at Summersville: "I practiced the two weekends prior to the tournament and the Friday
before. During practice, I located fish that were willing to bite top water baits, but I was only getting two to
three bites per day. I thought I could pick up an extra fish or two by using a Carolina rig (Zoom 6" Watermelon
Finesse Worm). On day one of the tournament, I went out throwing top water baits (Spit N Image Jr.). This produced
three quality bass on the first day of the tournament. Then, around eleven-thirty, I went to see if I could catch
my rigging fish. I located the school of bait fish that were holding the fish on the point with my electronics
and was able to catch a couple of quality bass beneath the bait fish. The bait fish on day one were in about 15
feet of water. On day two, I went back out throwing top water in the morning, but was unable to catch any keeper
fish. I switched to a rig at around eleven o'clock and pulled up on the area I was fishing on day one and found
that it was too crowded for my liking. For this reason, I switched areas and finally produced one keeper doing
the same thing as on day one, except the bait fish had moved a little deeper to around 25 feet due to the bright
sun on day two. The key to my success was fishing top water in the morning and being able to use my electronics
to locate bait fish," said Stewart.
Winning Equipment: Carolina Rig - 7ft. All Star Riggin' Rod and Diawa TD-X Reel with 14 lb. Stren main line
and 10 lb. Stren Fluorocarbon Topwater - 6ft. All Star Topwater Rod and Diawa TD-X Reel with 10 lb. Stren.
Winning Creel: 6 bass - 10.00 lbs, Big bass 2-09, 4 Largemouth, 2 Smallmouth
State Championship conditions: Summersville - clear water; first day some cloud coverage with helped the
topwater bite; day two was clear blue skies.
What are Stewart's plans for the future? "My plans for the future include fishing the Wal-mart BFL Shenandoah
Division during 2004 and preparing for the Eastern Regional tournament. I am currently seeking potential sponsors
to help with the ever increasing cost of fishing the bigger tournament trails. After winning the state championship,
I was able to add Ranger Boats, Evinrude, and Wright's Riverside Marine to my sponsorship list. I am trying to
make professional bass fishing my career."
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| 2003 WVBF State Champion Eric Stewart. |
Vital Statistics:
Home: Walkersville, West Virginia (will be moving to Morgantown in April)
Married: Will be on June 5, 2004
Children: None
Tournament Partners: Shawn Stewart and Reggie Brogan
Inspiration: Shawn Stewart (my brother who purchased our first boat) and Ford Gregory (he always made time
to take me fishing)
Tournament Trails Fished in 2003: Bassmaster Northern Open Tournament Trail, Fishers of Men Trail
Sponsors: Ranger Boats, Evinrude, Wright's Riverside Marine, Merritt's Boat Yard, Strike Works Jigs, Mt.
State Log Homes
Boat: 2004 520VX Ranger Comanche
Motor: 2004 Evinrude 225 HO
2003 West Virginia BASS Federation State Team: Eric Stewart, Tim Rhodes, Larry Taylor, Joe Decker, Keith Tyler,
Mark Godwin, Billy Gue, Chase Bryant, Dave Corsaro, Jim Davis, Benji Barnette, Bruce Greene, Lester Marsh. |
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