Current Day 2 Classic leader Edwin Evers already has earned a Bassmaster Classic title and over $3 million in B.A.S.S. earnings. But his underrated consistency has had him on the verge of so much more. The Oklahoma angler was in contention for back-to-back Classic titles at Lake Conroe last year, after winning at Grand Lake in 2016.
Evers was in third place going into the final day, after sacking 18-3 and 20-13 the first two days. A limit weighing “only” 17-11 would have earned him the title, but Evers bagged two bass weighing 6-11 and dropped to 11th.
“There are not too many days that go by when I don’t think about that Classic,” Evers said earlier this year. “I spent too much time on one (spawning) fish. That’s the mistake I made. There was one other canal I’d found in practice that I never went to in the tournament. A friend of mine told me later that the fish were stacked in there like cordwood.”
And if he’s not at the top of the “best anglers to never win AOY” list, Evers is close. Consider how consistently good he’s been: 2nd three times (2013, 2011, 2010), 4th (2015), 5th (2017), 6th (2008) and 8th twice (2012, 2006). That’s eight Top 8 AOY finishes. Add in the 63 Top 10 finishes in his B.A.S.S. career, and Evers has Hall of Fame credentials now – at the relatively young age of 43.
In other words, if Evers were to win another Bassmaster Classic title this week, it should come as no surprise.