EUFAULA, Ala. - March 9, 2003 - Edwin Evers returned to his roots as a young angler to win the Bassmaster Tour event at Lake Eufaula.
Maybe it should be referred to as a younger angler. Evers, 28, is still young, but he's been winning tournaments a long time. His very first one at the age of 12 was re-visited in sorts during the final two days of the Tour event.
The result, Evers of Mannsville, Okla. finished with a final-day limit of 17 pounds, 7 ounces, to take what could be considered a commanding 3-pound win in a contest that was expected to be decided by ounces. Evers four-day total was 73-5.
Charlie Hartley of Grove City, Ohio was second with 70-3, while Kentucky's Mark Menendez, the third-day leader, slipped to third with 62-1.
Mike Reynolds of Modesto, Calif. was fourth with 58-9, Tom Biffle of Wagoner, Okla. was fifth with 54-8 and Peter Thliveros of Jacksonville, Fla. was sixth with 49-5.
In a field full of older, wiser veterans, Evers utilized lessons learned early in life to post the most consistent four-day creels. They came from a large shallow bay up the Chattahochee River, where Evers camped out for the entire tournament. He targeted bass moving into spawn, catching them on a Mad Man Lizard, a Storm Sub-Wart, Stanley spinnerbait and Hart Buzzbait.
"I just kept circling, throwing whatever felt right at the time," Evers said.
Which was obviously a small tacklebox of different lures. But while the angler may have constantly changed lures, he never considered moving from the area where he was fishing.
"I've learned that there are a whole lot more bass in an area than I can imagine," Evers said. "I knew that this place was just loaded up with an awful lot of fish. So, I wasn't about to move."
The only real movements he made were with the fish. Evers said that every place he caught a fish during the final two days was dry ground for the first two days.
"The fish just kept getting shallower and shallower," Evers said. "And I just tried to stay with them."
Which is where the lesson comes in. Many of the anglers in the tournament saw the same problem, and many left their areas to find easier fish. Evers on the other hand stayed put.
It reminded of a tournament he fished on Lake Worth when he was 12 years old. Evers was at the lake with a business partner of his father who was fishing the tournament. The friend also built and distributed a small one-man boat Evers calls a Kicker Boat. The craft has a 2 horsepower motor, and the angler sits in a cradle with swim fins on that double as a trolling motor.
"There's not a whole lot of places you can go in one of those things," Evers said. "You can go kicking across the lake."
While all the other fully-rigged bass boats in the tournament were able to run freely all over the lake Evers was stuck with one cove. As it turned out, that was all he needed. He won the tournament and a lesson was learned. But not heeded.
"When I got my first bass boat I thought I was the cat's meow," Evers said, laughing. "I'd run from one end of the lake to the next. Since then, I'm learning again that it's better to stay put."
Ironically, the area he was fishing was within sight about 3/4 of a mile away from one of the gushing pipes that had defined the early rounds of the tournament.
"I feel kind of stupid," Evers said. "I didn't know you could catch them like that under a pipe."
That small bit of ignorance may have actually proved to be beneficial. Evers found the area he was fishing in practice. In the 2002 Tour event, the bass where located on a huge flat between his area and the river, a distance of about two miles.
"They were there in that real shallow water, even after the lake had fallen two feet during practice," Evers said. The fished stayed close when the water began to rise and gradually marched shallower with each additional rise during the course of the tournament.
By the final day, Evers had narrowed his areas down to two small indentions or ponds, one of which that he had to cross a beaver dam to access. The beaver dam, he said, was 2- to 3-feet out of water on the first day of the tournament.
Hartley had a similar story, and was able to pinpoint his fish in a couple of spots each day as the water continued to move up.
While Evers and Hartley were able to stay with the moving fish, the rest of the Super Six had a difficult time.
In Menendez's case, the small indention he was fishing filled with muddy water, and although the area had produced heavy weight stringers for two days, he could only manage one fish from that spot.
"I was forced to go ad lib," Menendez said. "And I ad libbed a couple of babies."
It was the same story for the rest of the anglers who believed the rising and spreading water eventually moved the fish away from them into inaccessible areas.
Texan Bud Pruitt moved into the lead at the halfway point in the Busch BASS Angler of the Year race, with a 26 point lead over veteran Florida pro Shaw Grigsby. Jim Bitter, who has led the race since the second event fell to 13th in the standings.
TELEVISION
The event from Eufaula will be telecast on ESPN2 on Saturday, March 15, at 10:30 a.m.
UP NEXT
This was the fifth event of 10 on the 2003 Bassmaster Tour schedule. The next event takes place March 20-23 on South Carolina's Santee Cooper Reservoir.
Bassmaster Tour
Lake Eufaula; Eufaula, Ala.
P r o S t a n d i n g s D a y 4
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$ 1. Edwin Evers Mannsville, Okla. 20 73-05 175 $100,000 Day 1: 5 21-05 Day 2: 5 17-14 Day 3: 5 16-11 Day 4: 5 17-07 2. Charlie Hartley Grove City, Ohio 20 70-03 174 $39,000 Day 1: 5 20-06 Day 2: 5 17-00 Day 3: 5 17-15 Day 4: 5 14-14 3. Mark Menendez Paducah, Ky. 18 62-01 173 $24,000 Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 5 13-13 Day 3: 5 22-15 Day 4: 3 6-02 4. Mike Reynolds Modesto, Calif. 17 58-09 172 $20,000 Day 1: 5 21-09 Day 2: 5 17-12 Day 3: 5 13-11 Day 4: 2 5-09 5. Tom Biffle Wagoner, Okla. 16 54-08 171 $16,000 Day 1: 5 22-11 Day 2: 5 15-15 Day 3: 5 13-14 Day 4: 1 2-00 6. Peter E. Thliveros Jacksonville, Fla. 16 49-05 170 $14,000 Day 1: 5 21-11 Day 2: 5 13-05 Day 3: 5 11-09 Day 4: 1 2-12 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Big Bass Day 1 Mark Davis Mount Ida, Ark. 9-04 $1,000 2 Randy Yarnall Womelsdorf, Pa. 7-10 $1,000 3 Mark Menendez Paducah, Ky. 6-02 $1,000 4 Charlie Hartley Grove City, Ohio 4-00 $1,000 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals Day #Limits #Fish Weight 1 109 726 2028-0 2 59 558 1478-9 3 7 44 128-13 4 2 17 48-12 ---------------------------------- 177 1345 3684-2
03/09/03 Bassmaster TourBASS Angler of the Year Standings
------------------------------------------- Place Name St Pts ------------------------------------------- 001 Bud Pruitt Texas 725 002 Shaw E Grigsby, Jr Fla. 699 003 Mark Kile Ariz. 689 004 Jay Yelas Texas 688 005 Elton Luce Jr. Texas 687 006 Tom Mann, Jr. Ga. 665 007 John Murray Ariz. 661 008 Jeff Reynolds Ohio 660 009 Curt Lytle Va. 656 010 Mike Wurm Ark. 655 011 Zell Rowland Texas 649 012 Alton Jones Texas 645 013 Jim Bitter Fla. 643 014 Brent Chapman Kan. 642 015 Gary Klein Texas 641 015 Roger Boler La. 641 017 Harold Allen Texas 638 018 Kevin VanDam Mich. 636 018 Mark Davis Ark. 636 020 Jack L. Wade Tenn. 631 021 Skeet Reese Calif. 619 022 Kelly Jordon Texas 611 023 Todd Faircloth Texas 600 024 Mike Reynolds Calif. 599 024 Tim Horton Ala. 599 026 Mark Menendez Ky. 597 027 Stacey D. King Mo. 584 027 J. T. Kenney Md. 584 029 Jeff Kriet Okla. 571 030 Dustin Wilks N.C. 566 031 Edwin Evers Okla. 563 032 Terry Scroggins Fla. 562 032 Lance Vick Texas 562 034 Mark Tyler Calif. 560 035 David Wharton Texas 558 036 George Cochran Ark. 556 037 Randall R Romig Pa. 555 038 Stephen Browning Ark. 550 039 Ishama Monroe Calif. 549 040 Matt Reed Texas 548 040 Gerald Swindle Ala. 548 042 Bernie Schultz Fla. 546 043 Takahiro Omori Texas 545 044 Peter E. Thliveros Fla. 544 045 Koby Kreiger Ind. 543 046 Roland Martin Fla. 542 047 Chad Morgenthaler Ill. 541 048 Guy H. Eaker N.C. 538 049 Kevin Wirth Ky. 537 050 Brian Snowden Mo. 531 050 Paul L Elias Miss. 531 052 Todd Auten S.C. 527 053 Jay Kendrick Tenn. 525 054 Randy Howell Ala. 515 055 David Fritts N.C. 513 056 Dalton Bobo Ala. 512 057 Kenyon Hill Okla. 508 058 Ben Matsubu Texas 499 059 Jason Barber Texas 495 060 Tom Biffle Okla. 492 061 Mike Auten Ky. 491 062 Ron Shuffield Ark. 479 062 Tommy Stiles Tenn. 479 064 Jimmy D. Mize Ark. 476 064 Ken Cook Okla. 476 064 Cody Bird Texas 476 067 Woo Daves Va. 475 068 Allen Armour Ga. 474 069 Jody Cordell Ga. 464 069 Joe Thomas Ohio 464 071 Keith Green Ark. 463 072 Charlie Hartley Ohio 462 072 Luke Clausen Wash. 462 074 Danny Kirk Ga. 460 075 Michael Iaconelli N.J. 458 076 Pete Ponds Miss. 457 077 O. T. Fears III Okla. 456 078 Rick Clunn Mo. 454 079 Denny Brauer Mo. 452 079 Jason Quinn S.C. 452 081 Tim Loper Miss. 448 081 Kyle Mabrey Ala. 448 083 Mike Hicks Va. 446 084 Charlie Weyer Calif. 444 084 Casey Iwai Ariz. 444 086 Gary Yamamoto Texas 436 087 Rick Taylor Mich. 435 088 Mike Gough Fla. 430 089 Kotaro Kiriyama N.J. 429 090 Michael Johnson Ga. 419 091 Chris Price Md. 414 092 Shonn Blassingame Texas 411 093 Dennis Kolender Calif. 410 094 Brett Hite Ariz. 408 095 Danny Correia Mass. 405 096 Lee Bailey, Jr. Conn. 401 097 Sean Hoernke Texas 400 098 Mark Rogers Fla. 399 099 Chad Brauer Mo. 395 099 David Mansue N.J. 395 101 Warren Wyman Calif. 394 102 Marty Stone N.C. 392 103 Morizo Shimizu Japan 385 104 Darren Wolf Texas 382 105 Doug Gilley Fla. 381 106 Ken Sheets Mo. 380 107 Jack A. Gadlage Nev. 379 108 Charlie Youngers Fla. 376 109 Byron Velvick Nev. 375 109 Mark Duerr Wisc. 375 111 Mark Rizk Ala. 374 112 Randy Yarnall Pa. 372 112 Tommy Martin Texas 372 114 Rick Morris Va. 363 115 Gerry Williams Fla. 362 116 Jimmy Reese Calif. 361 117 Robert 'Duke' McCardleGa. 360 118 Tim Carroll Okla. 358 118 Robert Hamilton Jr. Miss. 358 120 Aaron A. Hastings Md. 357 121 Johnny Lesesne Ga. 355 122 Gerald Gostenik Mich. 352 123 Chris Daves Va. 351 124 Robert Lee Calif. 350 124 Charles Hammack Texas 350 126 Frank Scalish Ohio 349 127 Gregory Pugh Ala. 346 128 Jim Murray, Jr. Ga. 340 129 Rickie Harp Ala. 337 130 Marty Fourkiller N.C. 333 131 Mark Sabbides La. 332 132 Brooks Rogers Texas 328 133 Doug Garrett Ark. 318 134 Kim Stricker Mich. 316 135 Pete Gluszek N.J. 315 136 Dean Rojas Texas 314 137 J Todd Tucker Ga. 310 138 Terry Segraves Fla. 309 138 Yusuke Miyazaki Texas 309 140 Randy Dearman Texas 308 141 Homer Humphreys, Jr La. 303 142 Roger Schofield Ala. 300 143 Larry Nixon Ark. 292 144 David Foshee Fla. 291 145 Scott Rook Ark. 289 146 Coby Carden Ala. 288 147 Ray Sedgwick S.C. 287 148 Mike O'Shea Calif. 284 149 Aaron Martens Calif. 278 150 Jarrett Edwards Colo. 276 151 Tom Dolin N.Y. 274 152 Boyd L. Duckett Ala. 271 153 Dave Smith Okla. 268 154 Eric Nethery Ga. 262 155 Greg Hoskinson Ky. 258 156 David LeFebre Pa. 249 157 Wayne Jeffcoat S.C. 247 158 Art Ferguson III Mich. 246 159 Tim Sainato Mo. 240 160 Timothy Carini N.Y. 238 161 Gabriel Bolivar Calif. 225 162 Mark Tucker Mo. 221 163 Bo Fraser Va. 220 164 John Crews Va. 218 165 Chuck Economou Fla. 207 165 Bill Berry Ind. 207 167 Jeff Magee Miss. 206 168 Carl Maxfield S.C. 187 169 Walt Reynolds Fla. 149 170 Steve Sennikoff Texas 140 171 Davy Hite S.C. 125 171 Steve Geffs Calif. 125 173 Danny White Ga. 107 174 Ted Pate La. 80 175 Micahel Hall Va. 35