Nineteen-year-old Taylor Ashley of Warrior, Ala., fishing in his first-ever FLW Series event, weighed a 22-06 bag on Saturday to claim top honors in the Southeastern Division opener at Lake Okeechobee. Ashley’s three-day total of 68-12 was enough to earn him the win by a 7-10 margin and garnered him a check for $60,200.
“I’m feeling pretty great right now,” said Ashley, who became the third-youngest boater to ever win an FLW Series event. “All of my fish came from one area of the lake, on the south end. It wasn’t my original plan to fish there but the adjustment ended up being the biggest of the week.”
Ashley said his area – which spanned between 500 and 600 yards – was littered with reeds and lily pads. He said he caught 95 percent of his bass throughout the week on a 3/8-ounce Dirty Jigs No-Jack swimjig.
“I swam it along the edges of the reeds and cast it as far as I could in the pads,” he said. “Everybody that was watching me fish said I was doing something called the “Alabama Shake”, which means that I was shaking the lure while swimming it. I threw it in both green-pumpkin and white colors, but most of my big bites came on the white.”
Ashley’s heaviest bag weighed in at 25-06 on Friday. He noted that those five fish included his most crucial catch of the week.
“I hooked a largemouth in the lily pads and the bait popped out of her mouth just as my co-angler dipped the net under to grab it. She was buried under a bunch of pads in the net and ended up being a 7-pounder. That definitely was my anchor for the tournament.”
Here are the totals for the final Top 10:
1. Taylor Ashley: 68-12
2. Joshua Weaver: 61-02
3. Derek Yasinski: 61-01
4. Gary Milicevic: 57-12
5. Scott Byrd: 52-05
6. Robert Beatty: 51-04
7. Brian Holder: 49-03
8. Buddy Gross: 45-02
9. Bill Tervin: 44-14
10. Ron Nelson: 44-01
