Treadaway wins co-angler title
Pro Brandon Medlock of Lake Placid, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart SeriesSoutheast Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 63 pounds, 8 ounces. For his victory, Medlock earned $35,000.
“I am so happy, this is unbelievable,” Medlock said.”What a day – believe it or not I lost a big one and I am just glad I was able to catch what I did.
“I was flipping a jig all week, Medlock went on to say.”Black and blue one ounce with 65 pound braid. I caught the big one today under a mat with a mini cricket. I caught about 50 keepers this week. The first day the fishing was incredible. Then the cold front came through and things got a little tougher, this has just been an unbelievable experience.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Brandon McMillan Belle Glade, Fla. 15 bass 58-1 $12,000
3rd: Yancy Windham Reform, Ala. 15 bass 54-15 $10,000
4th: Frank Jenkins Fort Myers, Fla. 13 bass 54-13 $9,000
5th: EverStart pro Randall Tharp Gardendale, Ala. 15 bass 54-12 $8,000
6th: National Guard pro Justin Lucas Guntersville, Ala. 15 bass 53-10 $7,000
7th: Joey Thigpen St. Johns, Fla. 14 bass 48-11 $6,000
8th: Rodger Beaver Dawson, Ga. 15 bass 46-5 $5,000
9th: JT Kenney Palm Bay, Fla. 15 bass 44-6 $4,000
10th: Derek Yasinski Senoia, Ga. 11 bass 40-10 $3,000
Joey Thigpen caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Thursday – a 9-pound, 11-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $300.
Rodney Treadaway of Decatur, Ala., won the Co-angler Division and Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard, with a three-day total of 14 bass weighing 37 pounds, 10 ounces.
“This has been the best week of fishing in my entire life,” said Treadaway.”Lake Okeechobee is just a great place to be, what an incredible fishery.”
Treadaway caught five bass weighing 16-8 Thursday while fishing with pro Leon Williams of Fairdale, Ky., to open the tournament in seventh place. On Friday he added five more bass weighing 13-15 to make the top-10 cut in first place while fishing with pro Kenneth (Boo) Williams of Hazard, Ky. Finally, on Saturday, he sealed the win with four bass weighing 7-3 while fishing with Brandon McMillan.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Gerald Bozeman , Sylvester, Ga. 12 bass 37-3 $4,500
3rd: Bill Brown Vero Beach, Fla. 14 bass 35-3 $4,000
4th: Galen Fugh Hixson, Tenn. 12 bass 30-1 $3,500
5th: Josh Smith Germantown, Ohio 13 bass 29-14 $3,000
6th: Thomas Kevin Miramar, Fla. 15 bass 29-12 $2,500
7th: Fred Martin North Little Rock, Ark. 13 bass 29-9 $2,000
8th: Ron Buck Port Saint Lucie, Fla. 12 bass 27-6 $1,500
9th: Lisa Opel Hernando, Fla. 10 bass 24-12 $1,000
10th: Ray Elmore Calhoun, Ga. seven bass 23-9 $800
Wayne Dixon of Sautee Nacoochee, Ga.,caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday – a 8-pound, 12-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $200.
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship that will be held on Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tenn., Oct. 27-30.
The Lake Okeechobee EverStart Series tournament is being hosted by the Okeechobee County Tourism Development Council.
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By: Julie Huber,
