“Ed-WIN” Evers on the hunt in Alabama: Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., scored last Sunday, and he wasn’t even competing.
At the Sunday conclusion
of the Diamond Drive in Little Rock, Ark., Evers officially moved from
fourth into second place in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the
Year points race. He’s now 55 points behind the leader, and it’s a new
leader: Kevin VanDam, who has positioned himself to close on his fourth
consecutive title.
But Evers wasn’t on site
in Arkansas to celebrate his two-place jump. After not making the
final-day cut on Saturday, he had headed to Alabama’s Wheeler Lake so
he’d be ready Monday for the first day of practice for the all-important
June 16-19 Dixie Duel, where the title will be decided.
Coming off stage Saturday, when he knew he was out of it, he lamented the loss of a chance to earn more points on Sunday.
“I did all I could here,
but I was disappointed,” said Evers, who ended with an 18th-place
finish. “It was lack of execution on a few fish I didn’t get into the
boat. You start noticing those fish when points are on the line.”
But he’d seen the
preliminary points standings, and he knew he’d end up in second place.
He said he was encouraged by his two-place move.
He didn’t get to fish on
Sunday, but the day was not wasted. By not making the Diamond Drive
final-day cut when VanDam did, Evers had an off day that he spent
traveling to Alabama. So, on Sunday night, when VanDam still had that
same 350-mile trip in front of him, Evers was relaxing and getting a
good night’s sleep.
Monday evening after his
first day of practice on Wheeler Lake, Evers said he was rested, had
plenty of energy and felt very optimistic about overtaking VanDam.
“I think I can catch him,” Evers said. “If he falters a little bit, I’ve got a chance.”
Contingent on doing very
well himself, Evers figured that if VanDam landed a Top-5 finish, he
could sew up the title. But if VanDam gets only as far as 20th or even
to 15th, it would not be enough.
Much depends on the
fishability of the Tennessee River impoundment on the four days the
Elite Series field will face it. Evers said the bite Monday was as slow
as the current.
“Normally here, you
catch the numbers, but I didn’t catch many today,” he said. “I think
that has to do with the fact that there’s hardly any current at all. I
don’t foresee that changing unless there’s a monsoon of rain between now
and Thursday. We’ll all have to figure out how to catch them with the
amount of current we have.”
As expected, a pattern that keys on vegetation isn’t going to happen.
“I haven’t found one
sprig,” Evers said when asked if he’d seen any grass as he ran up and
down the river Monday, eliminating water.
Another non-surprise: The Decatur Flats will be covered by competitors.
“The Flats houses as
many bass as anywhere on the whole lake,” he said. “There are always
numerous pros who figure out how to catch them there. I’m looking there —
and trying to find stuff everyone else isn’t hitting.”
DeFoe has a new challenger in rookie race:
After the Bassmaster Elite Series Arkansas River event, Ott DeFoe of
Knoxville, Tenn., was still ranked as the top rookie, but Keith Combs of
Huntington, Texas, made a move on him.
Combs climbed from fifth place to second place in the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year race. He’s now 127 points behind DeFoe.
DeFoe lost some of his
cushion after ending in 58th place in Arkansas. Combs shot through that
open door with his 15th-place finish.
Some extra bling at the Diamond Drive: Bassmaster Elite Series pros once again mopped up on bonuses.
Jonathon VanDam won two
bonuses at the Diamond Drive. One for $3,000 comes through the Toyota
Bonus Bucks contingency program that awards the two highest finishers
(among those eligible). His second bonus was $500 from Berkley for
weighing the Berkley Big Bass of the Tournament, a 5-0 on Day 3.
Tim Horton will collect
$2,000 in Toyota Bonus Bucks. Eighth in the Diamond Drive, he was the
second-highest finisher enrolled in the Toyota program.
Kevin VanDam won a
$1,000 bonus for leading the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year
points race after the Diamond Drive. A six-time AOY winner, VanDam is
leading the race for the first time this season after starting out in
fourth place, then hovering in third and second place.
Diamond Drive winner Denny Brauer landed an extra $1,000 from Power-Pole through its Captain’s Cash program.
On stage at the Diamond
Drive, three commemorative bonus checks were presented for awards earned
on Lake Murray at the previous Elite Series event. Terry Scroggins got
the $1,000 award from Toyota for leading the points race after the
Murray competition. Casey Ashley won $1,000 in Power-Pole Captain’s
Cash. Jami Fralick took the $500 Berkley bonus for the Lake Murray
event’s biggest bass, a 6-9.
A Day on the Lake Live presented by Z-Man on tap online: Bassmaster Elite Series pro Stephen Browning of Hot Springs, Ark., will be featured June 28 on A Day on the Lake Live presented by Z-Man, on the Arkansas River from 8 a.m. (CT) to noon (CT).
The Bassmaster.com live
webcast will offer visitors four hours of on-the-water action and the
opportunity to post questions and comments through the live chat module.
There’s no cost to watch or participate.
On June 27, the day
before the webcast, Browning will be the featured guest in a one-hour
Bassmaster University presented by Z-Man segment at 1 p.m. (CT), hosted
by Tommy Sanders.
David Walker will be the star of an August presentation of A Day on the Lake Live presented by Z-Man.
B.A.S.S. chats with Salazar: B.A.S.S.
Conservation Director Noreen Clough was one of more than 360
individuals from organizations all over the country who participated in
the June 10 online chat with Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.
The discussion centered
on the Interior's activities in support of President Barack Obama’s
America's Great Outdoors (AGO) initiative. June is Great Outdoors Month.
Clough said questions to
the secretary touched on conservation of rivers, protection of farm and
ranch lands, development of alternative energy sources, global climate
change and expansion of the National Park and National Wildlife Refuge
systems.
“B.A.S.S. Conservation
has been a supporter of the AGO initiative because it is important to us
as anglers,” Clough said. “It is based on the tenet that lasting
conservation solutions start with the American people, and that nobody
knows better which places are most important to American communities
than do the people who live, work and recreate in them. And not many
people spend more time recreating and working to conserve and protect
places to fish than anglers do.”
Spoken at the June 9-12 Diamond Drive:
* “The river will bite
you in the butt; it doesn’t matter who you are.” — Kevin Short of
Mayflower, Ark., an old hand at Arkansas River fishing. He ended in 36th
place, out of the final-day cut.
* “It was unfortunate
for all of us today, but if I had it to do over, I’d do the same again.”
— Billy McCaghren of Mayflower, Ark., finishing ninth after losing all
his Day 4 weight to a late penalty after he and nine others were delayed
at a lock.
* “Those guys who knew
they were going to zero let the guys with fish leave the lock first.” —
Gerald Swindle, with enough weight on the final day for 7-12 to the
good. He took third place despite a 6-pound late penalty due to a
locking delay.
* “I came into this
wanting to make the Classic, so I gambled and locked up one lock.” — Ish
Monroe who took a 3-pound hit on Day 3 after being delayed at a lock.
He was one of only two pros who did not get caught by a lock on Day 4.
