TULSA, Okla. — By now, anyone who follows bass fishing knows Edwin Evers won the 2016 Bassmaster Classic with a monster 29-pound, 3-ounce bag on Championship Sunday. He went from 6 pounds, 5 ounces behind at the start of the day to beating second-place Jason Christie by 10 pounds, 5 ounces.
He grabbed the Classic by the throat and literally choked it into submission. This feat reminds me of a grand slam home run in the top of the 9th at the World Series.
Steve Bowman and I had the assignment to cover Evers’ final day from start to finish. Along with our boat driver, retired Marine Sgt. Daniel Standridge, we watched the whole thing unfold from mere yards away. Read on for my synopsis of Evers’ historic day.
Getting the band back together
A little background first: Bowman and I have a history with Evers. We covered him when he won on Kentucky Lake last year, and we covered him when he won at St. Lawrence River in 2015, as well. Maybe we were good luck for him? Evers had joked that we needed to “get the band back together.” When we did just that, he had, as he put it, “a magical, magical day.” On the drive back to Tulsa on Sunday, we called him to suggest perhaps we deserved ten percent of the prize money. Evers thought that was funny, but declined our offer.
A fast start
On the evening before Day 3, Evers suggested we arrive with a full tank of gas if we were going to follow him. He planned to start the day way up Oklahoma’s Elk River, but then might run all the way south to the dam. Turns out the fishing was so good on the Elk he never left.
His day started fast. Evers made two quick stops on the way to his honey hole. After arriving there, he quickly caught two 6-plus pounders. Our heart rates shot through the roof, and we rapidly got down to the business of creating content, with Bowman shooting photos, and me sending updates to the blog. (See Evers’ amazing morning photos here.)
Could we actually be witnessing our third Evers victory in nine months?
About this time, a spectator boat pulled up next to us with five young guys in it. Okay, so it turned out one of the guys wasn’t so young after all. He was Terry Butcher, Sr., Evers’ father-in-law. He’s also the father of Terry Butcher, Jr., the former Elite Series angler. The other guys in the boat were relatives and friends — Brennon Agulliard, Walker Roberts, Logan Armstrong, and Hunter Gibson. Perhaps they brought an extra dose of good luck.
The catches came fast and furious after the first two keepers. Bowman was trying to send his photos in, but every time he sat down to the computer one of us hollered, “Fish on!” And Bowman, in typical fashion, grew exasperated with us. By 10:30 or 11:00 a.m., Evers had his winning bag in the livewell. Of course he didn’t know it at the time.
“I need a 7-pounder!” He shouted to no one in particular, after a long dry spell.
“Evers would say that even if he had 30 pounds,” said his father-in-law. As it turned out, with 29-3, that’s nearly what he had at that point in the day. (On a side note, I got a charge out of Butcher calling his son-in-law “Evers.”)
A cold-blooded killer
Elite Series anglers sometimes say the tour is full of “cold-blooded killers.” I take that to mean certain guys are talented, experienced, and ruthless competitors.
Evers fits that description to a T. He is a serious angler, with a sense of purpose that radiates from the boat. He doesn’t display a lot of emotion on the water, high or low. But Sunday morning he held up several big fish, shouting “Yeah!” and we knew we were watching something special.
“Have you ever seen anyone with that much energy?” asked Butcher. “He’s like that at home, too.”
The perfect spot at the perfect time
Why did Evers fish the Elk River on Sunday?
He fished the south end of Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees on Friday, then mid-lake on Saturday, changing tactics both days. He did catch two 6- or 7-pound bass in the Elk during practice, but felt the conditions needed to be just right — cloudy and windy — for that to happen again. That’s exactly how Sunday morning lined up. When the sun came out around 11:00 a.m., the bite slowed way down.
In fact, Randy Howell fished the same area on Friday and Saturday, with little wind and bluebird skies.
“I saw lots of big bass,” he said. “But couldn’t get any of them to bite.” Success was all in the timing. Howell came back after 11:00 on Sunday and caught one bass before moving on.
“I should have gotten here earlier,” he said, with regret in his voice.
After the tournament Evers said, “I knew from experience the Elk River is very finicky. I could go there tomorrow and not catch a thing.”
A family jewel
Butcher, Sr. and his son have both had great success in that section of the Elk River. The senior Butcher won three boats and a truck there. Junior has won two tournaments in the same area.
“I fished a tournament with my wife and caught a 7-15 here,” said Butcher, Sr. “I knew I wasn’t going to win it, but I figured I’d at least collect $1,000 for big bass.” Nope, Butcher had the second biggest bass in that tournament.
The area where Evers won the Classic is the last wide spot in the Elk River as you head upstream. It has lots of downed timber, and is shallow, 3- to 4-feet deep. The water was gin-clear on Championship Sunday.
As we prepared to depart the winning spot, Butcher surveyed the area, noting the many spectators and media boats.
“It won’t do much good to come back here next week,” he said with a smile.
“This is the kind of day you dream of,” said Butcher. “I know Evers is tired of hearing he’s one of the best anglers to never win the Classic.”
I’m glad he gets that monkey off his back too. Edwin Evers is a deserving champion. He’ll be a great representative of the sport. With three wins in less than a year, it’s safe to say he’s on a major roll.
By the way, if you’d like to go fishing with the Classic champion — and who wouldn’t? — enter our Fish With Edwin Evers Sweepstakes. The winner also gets a Nitro/Mercury bass boat and Evers’ gear!