2011 Citrus Slam - Edwin Evers

During his second stop on Day Four, Edwin Evers tucked into a pool behind a line of reeds to sight-fish.

Trying to keep a big bass from seeing him, Evers crouches at the bow of his boat.

A push-pole is a relatively silent way to move into position to cast to shallow bass.

Evers sets the hook on the male bass guarding a nest on the western shore of Crescent Lake.

A study in concentration, Evers fights a Crescent Lake keeper.

Evers comments to "The Bassmasters" TV cameraman after stowing a keeper bass in his livewell.

After removing the male bass from the nest, Evers hauls back to set the hook ...

... on what obviously is a much bigger fish ...

... that sets off an almost epic battle ...

... leading Evers to the back of his boat as he moans ...

... "Stay on there, fish. Stay on there girl!" ...

The giant fish makes a run back to the reedbed as Evers follows.

... and tries his best to keep the fish from reaching cover ...

... Evers' bass is tiring now as he works it close to the boat yet another time ...

... and reaches for a hand-hold on the fish ...

... and the prize is his ...

... The big bass would weigh 8 pounds, 13 ounces ...

... and take big-fish honors for the final day ...

... and, more importantly, seal the victory for its captor.

Shortly after Evers' big catch, a stiff east wind blew into his area, nearly trapping his boat in shallow water ...

... and forcing him to push his way into deeper water with a push-pole.

Evers spews sand with his prop as he struggles to reach deeper water and escape the wind and waves.

Chased to the lee side of Crescent Lake, Evers tries to enter a small tributary to look for bedding bass. A fallen tree blocked his entrance, however.

After running across a flat only inches deep, Evers settles into the mouth of a small creek in Crescent Lake.

Limbs prevented Evers from casting to a bass in the creek, so he broke out a tree trimmer to snip off offending branches.

The trip into the creek pays off with a small bass that helps Evers cull a slightly smaller one.

Evers tosses back a nice bass that wasn't big enough to earn a ride to the weigh-in.

A bass gets tangled in Evers' Power-Pole.

Two fish of almost identical size are hard to eyeball, even for an experienced pro like Evers.

Evers struggles to decide which to cull. He doesn't know whether an ounce or two of difference could mean loss or victory.

Spectator boats were kept out of the small creek by a shallow bar. This fishing fan waded across the flat for a better view of the action.

The only way out of the creek was on plane.

Evers sneaked into a tiny canal with a beautiful little pond at the end, where he quickly went to work catching fish.

Evers lost a giant in the pond earlier in the tournament. This catch helped his creel, but it wasn't the big one he wanted.

Evers swings one of his final bass of the day out of a pond off Crescent Lake. Altogether, his catch of 19 pounds even was big enough to earn $100,000 and an Elite Victory.

Edwin Evers, last year's AOY runner-up, finished with 77-1.

Evers wins his sixth B.A.S.S. victory, his first Elite victory since 2007.

Evers placed second in Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Anger of the Year points last year.