Rick Taylor of West Olive, Mich., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Southeast Division event on Wheeler Lake with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 57 pounds, 9 ounces. After starting the day in 10th place, Taylor weighed the heaviest sack of the day to claim victory. For his win, Taylor earned $28,958. “That’s a good day of fishing,” Taylor exclaimed after receiving his prize.
On a lake that was described as being charged with current, Taylor started and ended the tournament with the current. According to Taylor it was the current that kept moving the fish into his prime fishing area and as the water got lower, the fish got more plentiful.
“I was fishing a big brush pocket on the edge of the current that was a spawning area,” Taylor said. “I fished the same area on the first day as I did on the last day. It was probably a five acre area and I just kept going in one big circle.
“There were about 10 or 12 boats fishing the area on the first day of competition. But then on the second day of the tournament the wind blew so hard that nobody could fish it.”
Taylor said that was the game changer for him. He believes that it was the wind blowing so hard and keeping anglers from getting into the area on the second day prevented the fish from being beaten-up.
“On the second day I had to go to my back-up areas,” Taylor continued. “I was still flipping brush but I had to work really hard to get the weight I had. I caught about 25 keepers, but they were all 2 1/2 – to 3-pounders. This whole tournament has just been incredible. I bet I caught about 25 to 30 big fish each day and by big fish I mean 3-pounders. From where I am from (Michigan) that’s considered a big fish.
“I really didn’t think I would be able to overcome a 6-pound deficit, I didn’t think there was a snowballs chance that I would win today. Remarkably I did,” said an overjoyed Taylor.
Taylor was flipping Schubert Tubes in black with a 1/4 ounce weight. He said it was the lighter weight that really made the difference. He said that his co-anglers started by using heavier weights without much success, after they followed suit and started using lighter weights the bite really turned on.
The top 10 pros on Wheeler Lake were:
| 1st: | Rick Taylor | West Olive, Mich. | 15 bass | 57-9 | $28,958 |
| 2nd: | Straight Talk pro JT Kenney | Palm Bay, Fla. | 15 bass | 54-14 | $10,859 |
| 3rd: | Jeff Fitts | Keystone Heights, Fla. | 15 bass | 54-11 | $7,240 |
| 4th: | Jordan Lee | Auburn, Ala. | 15 bass | 54-8 | $6,516 |
| 5th: | Koby Kreiger | Okeechobee, Fla. | 15 bass | 54-5 | $5,792 |
| 6th: | Chad Aaron | Lawrenceburg, Tenn. | 15 bass | 51-10 | $5,068 |
| 7th: | Brian Merriman | Falkville, Ala. | 15 bass | 51-7 | $4,344 |
| 8th: | William Davis | Sheffield, Ala. | 15 bass | 50-14 | $3,620 |
| 9th: | Josh Dorr | Pickens, S.C. | 15 bass | 48-12 | $2,896 |
| 10th: | Eddie Jewell | Lawrenceburg, Tenn. | 15 bass | 48-3 | $2,172 |
Lee caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division on Friday, a 6-pound, 15-ounce bass that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $196.
Nick Thliveros of St. Augustine, Fla., won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 48 pounds, 12 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers on Wheeler Lake were:
| 1st: | Nick Thliveros | St. Augustine, Fla. | 15 bass | 48-12 | Ranger Z117 with 90-horsepower outboard |
| 2nd: | Tony Prince | Pulaski, Tenn. | 15 bass | 44-11 | $3,892 |
| 3rd: | Lee Frye | Brooksville, Fla. | 15 bass | 43-4 | $3,113 |
| 4th: | Scott Towry | Lawrenceburg, Tenn. | 15 bass | 42-13 | $2,724 |
| 5th: | Nick Cupps | Decatur, Ala. | 15 bass | 41-7 | $2,335 |
| 6th: | Michael Stewart | Pell City, Ala. | 13 bass | 41-5 | $1,946 |
| 7th: | Ethan Cox | West End, N.C. | 15 bass | 37-13 | $1,557 |
| 8th: | Brent Chitty | Moultrie, Ga. | 15 bass | 37-0 | $1,168 |
| 9th: | Donald Jason | Medina, Ohio | 14 bass | 35-7 | $778 |
| 10th: | Dean Harcourt | Sebastian, Fla. | 13 bass | 33-8 | $623 |
Brad Horton of Niceville, Fla., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Friday – a 5-pound, 12-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s EverStart Series Big Bass award of $130.
The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments where competitors are vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Strike King Angler of the Year title, which allows them to fish the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup.
The Wheeler Lake event was the fourth and final event in the Southeast Division. Tony Davis of Williston, Fla., took home the Strike King Angler of the Year title in the Southeast Division and has earned an invitation to the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup.
For complete details and updated information visit the FLWOutdoors website. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the EverStart Series on Facebook at Facebook/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter/FLWFishing.
ABOUT FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2013 over the course of 220 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. FLW is committed to providing a lifestyle experience that is the “Best in Fishing, On and Off the Water.” For more information about FLW visit the FLWOutdoors website and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.By: Julie Huber,
