Surgery forces Miller to withdraw after all

Jared Miller’s roller coaster ride of a summer hit another low Saturday when he was forced to have an emergency appendectomy at a hospital in Joplin, Mo.

Jared Miller’s roller coaster ride of a summer hit another low Saturday when he was forced to have an emergency appendectomy at a hospital in Joplin, Mo.

He has officially pulled out of this week’s Evan Williams Bourbon Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River in Waddington, N.Y.

In early July, Miller had contemplated skipping the final three tournaments on the Elite Series schedule to care for his ailing cousin, Zac Stice, in Oklahoma. But Stice recently succumbed to colon cancer, and Miller had decided to fish after all because he believed that’s what his cousin would have wanted.

Miller, who could not be reached for comment, has not announced his plans beyond this week’s event.

With Miller’s withdrawal, the field for the New York event is down to 107 anglers. Since the last Elite Series event in early June, Kelly Jordon has also withdrawn with a broken wrist and Yusuke Miyazaki has pulled out due to an unspecified illness that required hospitalization in Japan.

The full field of 107 will fish Thursday and Friday, with the Top 50 advancing to Saturday’s semifinal round. The Top 12 advance to Sunday’s championship round as usual.

The Top 50 anglers will earn a check.