News
Evers Pulls To Front With Lone 20-Pound Stringer
Local experts predicted that a 20-pound bag would come to the scale on each day of the Lake Havasu Bassmaster Elite Series. On day 1, that stringer was caught by Edwin Evers.
The veteran from Oklahoma's 20-07 haul placed him just under a pound ahead of the 111 other anglers on the circuit's first visit to the desert impoundment that sits on the Arizona-California border. Despite winds that reached 30 mph at times, the lake lived up to its newly gained reputation as the prime bass fishery of the Desert Southwest, surrendering 20 sacks that weighed 16 pounds or more.
Arizonan John Murray, who's competed on Havasu since 1985 and vividly remembers when 10 pounds was considered a superb day, grabbed the No. 2 slot with 19-08. Matt Herren, who had mechanical issues and never even made it to the scale on day 1 last week at the Sacramento River, caught 18-09 to settle into 3rd.
Randall Tharp, trying to turn around a miserable season in which his finishes started out bad and have gotten progressively worse, sacked 18-03 and sat in 4th. Second-year pro Mike Kernan, bidding for his second Top-12 showing of the campaign, completed the Top 5 with 18-02.
Here's a look at the early Top 12, with red numbers in parentheses indicating deficit margins from the leader:
1. Edwin Evers: 20-07
2. John Murray: 19-08 (0-15)
3. Matt Herren: 18-09 (1-14)
4. Randall Tharp: 18-03 (2-04)
5. Mike Kernan: 18-02 (2-05)
6. Shaw Grigsby: 17-15 (2-08)
7. Bobby Lane: 17-13 (2-10)
8. Kelly Jordon: 17-12 (2-11)
9. Cliff Pirch: 17-08 (2-15)
10. Kevin VanDam: 17-06 (3-01)
11. (tie) Stephen Browning: 16-11 (3-12)
11. (tie) Alton Jones: 16-11 (3-12)
11. (tie) Greg Vinson: 16-11 (3-12)
The wind was the dominant story of the day, and it helped some competitors while hindering others. Havasu's water is mostly ultra-clear and the roiling surface undoubtedly aided the reaction-bait bite. Conversely, it limited the anglers' ability to move around freely and made proper boat positioning and precise casts difficult for those relying on slower-moving offerings.
Angler of the Year (AOY) leader and Lake Havasu City resident Dean Rojas had a lackluster day, catching a 14-01 sack that left him right on the mark where the cut will fall after day 2 (52nd place). Skeet Reese's AOY hopes took a severe blow as he weighed just three fish for 6-00 and is mired in 105th.
The wind is expected to subside significantly on day 2 – WeatherChannel.com predicts that it'll blow at 13 mph out of the south/southwest. The air temperature will top out at only 72 degrees, which is unseasonably cool for May.
Evers Surprised
Read more: http://www.bassfan.com/news_article/7236/evers-pulls-to-front-with-lone-...
MLF airs Saturday on CBS Sports
Major League Fishing will make its fifth appearance on a major television network Saturday when the championship round of the Shell Rotella Challenge Cup airs at 3 p.m. ET on CBS Sports. The hour-long episode was filmed in and around Shreveport, La.
“We’re extremely pleased to again have the opportunity to showcase Major League Fishing on a traditional major network," said MLF general manager Jim Wilburn. "With every new show we seem to be attracting more viewers, as well as viewers that don’t fall into the ‘fishing fan’ category.
Read more: http://www.bassfan.com/docktalk_article/14754/mlf-airs-saturday-on-cbs-s...
EVERS LEADS ON HAVASU
STOP #4 LAKE HAVASU, DAY 4
Edwin Evers fishes with Wounded Warrior on Guntersville
Edwin Evers fished with was Jake Whipkey from Pennsylvania as part of his Healing Heroes in Action tour, where he will fish with a Wounded Warrior on each Elite stop.
The need for speed
It's springtime, and everyone's excited about warming waters and more active bass. But sometimes that excitement turns to frustration when the fishing's not quite as good as we think it's going to be or should be.
Yes, the fish are shallower and more active than they have been all winter. They're eating more and are more susceptible to our lures, but that doesn't mean we're going to get out there and hammer them. At this time of year — like every other — you just never know. But there are a few things you can do to stack the odds in your favor — things a lot of other anglers don't do.
Fish faster
Unless you're sight fishing and targeting individual fish on beds, this is a great time to speed up your approach, make more presentations and get on a reaction bite.
A lot of anglers will get into a rut with their flipping outfits, thinking they need to grind it out in the shallows with precise vertical presentations. But unless you're looking at them or they're chewing the paint off your sinkers and jigheads, a better approach might be to pick up a spinnerbait and get to chunkin' and windin'.
It's true that a lot of anglers love a spinnerbait in spring, but probably not the one I'm going to recommend. Most of them are throwing (a) something light they can keep near the surface even on a slow retrieve or (b) something heavier that they can slow roll along the bottom.
My choice is a 1/2-ounce War Eagle spinnerbait in chartreuse and white or white. I like one silver blade and one gold blade — a Colorado blade up front and a willow leaf in back — but I want smaller blades than most anglers choose at this time. Instead of the #4 or 4 1/2 blades that typically come on such a spinnerbait, I drop down a size to a #3 1/2 and 4 … or even smaller.
The smaller blades give the bait a lot less "lift." That lets me keep it under the surface even on a very fast retrieve. I can cover a lot of water with this bait, fishing it faster than the guys using bigger blades, and I get more reaction strikes because of the speed and because the fish don't get such a good look at my lure.
When the water's clear...
Edwin Evers offers chance of a lifetime
What do you get when you combine one of the best bass lakes in the country with an 8-time B.A.S.S. winner and an American military veteran?
You get "Healing Heroes in Action Tour," a program devised by the 14-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier to give back to the military veterans who risk their lives to keep the rest of us safe.
"It's just my way of telling our military that my family and I are grateful for what they do," Evers said. "At every Bassmaster Elite Series event, with the help of the Wounded Warriors in Action Foundation, we're selecting a veteran who suffered injuries during his tour of duty and we're taking him fishing."
But it's a lot more than that. Not only is the Oklahoma bass pro taking a deserving veteran fishing on some of the top bass waters in the country, but he and his sponsors are giving the veteran some of the finest gear on the market.
And it doesn't stop there. You can get involved, too.
If you and a friend would like to be involved and make a tax-deductible donation to Wounded Warriors, just visit Evers' Facebook page and enter a bid in the comments area. The top bidder and a friend will go out on the water (in the bidder's own boat or one arranged for at the site) and compete with Evers and the selected vet on Monday, April 6. You might even beat them!
"Our first trip, after the Sabine River tournament, went for about $2,000," Evers explained. "I'm excited about that, and want our bidders to know that the prize pack my sponsors and I have put together is nothing less than amazing!
"It includes a Lowrance HD Elite 7, a $200 gift card to Bass Pro Shops, a tackle bag and solar pack (to keep your cell phone charged or your iPod playing) from Wild River, a selection of Megabass, Zoom and War Eagle lures, some Mustad hooks and a pair of Wiley X sunglasses. The prize pack alone would probably retail for around $2,000, but you get a great on-the-water experience, too, plus knowing that you're doing a great thing for our veterans."
Wounded warrior fishes with Evers
One minute James Holbrook was reeling in a 2-pound bass caught on his first cast of the day. The next minute he had a crankbait and Bassmaster Elite Series pro Dennis Tietje's face in, uh, an unfortunate place – Holbrook's crotch.
Blood was spilled, which is nothing new for Holbrook. He survived an AK-47 round to the helmet and suffered shrapnel wounds in his forehead and both knees in 2007, while serving as a Navy Hospital Corpsmen in Afghanistan's Korangal Valley.
From a distance, it looked as if rabbi Tietje was performing some Bassmaster version of a bris as he went to work on Holbrook's crotch, where one treble hook was buried in one side of the angler's pants and one hook was snagged in the other, very near where the inseams meet.
"Hold on, dude," said Tietje, trying to suppress laughter, as he clipped off the hook barbs with pliers.
The blood (only a bit) came from Holbrook's hand that got hooked momentarily when he initially tried to remove the crankbait from his pants.
There was no more bloodshed, but the smiles and fish catches continued well into the afternoon Saturday in southwest Louisiana. Holbrook, 29, of San Antonio, Texas, and Tyson Scott, 29, of Houston, Texas, were the first two participants in Elite Series angler Edwin Evers' "Healing Heroes In Action" campaign. Combined with one of Evers' major sponsors, OPTIMA Batteries, there will be four more events this season where combat-wounded Purple Heart veterans from the Wounded Warriors In Action (WWIA) Foundation participate.
Four Elite pros prepare together
Edwin Evers and Dennis Tietje
While Evers and Tietje spent their day hosting two Wounded Warriors, each indicated there were small clues you just pick up, pointing to trends in water temps that should be similar to those they will start practice with.
The anglers were guarded about what they felt like a day of relaxing fishing provided in terms of how it could help them once they venture out to tougher waters.
“You don’t really want to discuss those things,” Evers said. “But whenever I can, I always try to go somewhere near the tournament waters in hopes of getting a little more dialed in. When we go to Guntersville, I’ll try and spend a day on Wheeler.
“Those days can be invaluable.”
Disappointment on the Sabine
I'm more upset about my performance on the Sabine River (94th at last week's Bassmaster Elite Series event) than I have been in a long time.
To set the stage a little, I had a good practice. I really thought I was on the fish to win the tournament, and that doesn't happen very often. You hear a lot about how tough it is to win an Elite event, and it's true. When you think you have that kind of opportunity, it's exciting and you want to take advantage of it.
Unfortunately, things didn't work out so well. On the first day, I managed just two keepers weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces to put me in 72nd place. I was on a pretty good pattern with a Zoom Horny Toad and had quite a few bites, but I couldn't get them in the boat. I'd get them about halfway in before they came off. It was frustrating, and I couldn't get enough bites to compensate for all the fish I was losing.
I should have had about 12 pounds in the opening round and been on a pace to make the finals. Instead I dug a hole for myself and that cost me in a way I didn't anticipate.
Tuesday Evers On Life With E2
Tuesday Evers, wife of Edwin Evers (E2), make their home in Talala, Oklahoma with their two children Kaylee and Kade. Much like the other wives, Tuesday wears many different hats, now including a pecan business hat. This is a blessed family who makes sure that they stay connected. According to Edwin, “FaceTime makes travel a lot easier” for him, but nothing is as good as coming home.
BS: Tuesday, what roles do you play in Edwin’s fishing career?
TE: “I try and take care of the business side of Edwin's fishing career; from contracts, to insurance, scheduling of events, website, etc. Anything to help take the load and pressure off of him a little.”
BS: How does it feel being the wife of one of 56 anglers fishing in the 2015 Bassmaster Classic?
TE: “It's exciting of course! They work so hard and to see them living out their dream of competing in the Bassmaster Classic is the best. It's an exciting week from the get go and the atmosphere of this tournament is different than all the others.”
BS: When you are sitting in the arena and Edwin’s song plays, you see his truck drive in, him sitting in his boat and he starts to step on stage, what goes through your mind?
TE: “You can't help but smile and feel a since of pride for him.”
BS: How well do you sleep the night before the start of the Classic? How well does Edwin sleep?
TE: “We both laughed at this question. We tend to go to bed really early all the time and the night before the Classic is no exception. Our 16 year old daughter makes fun of us all the time at how early we go to bed.”
BS: Tell readers about the Edwin Evers you know….
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