Evers, Ashley Lead As Field Reduced To 20

By MLF Communications Staff

CHARLOTTE, N.C. –Oklahoma's Edwin Evers caught a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 29 pounds, 15 ounces, to pace the Qualifying Round field and advance to the weekend at MLF REDCREST 2023 on Lake Norman. South Carolina's Casey Ashley weighed in 10 bass for 28-08 to end the round in second place and California’s Brent Ehrler compiled 27-03, good for third.

Carolina pros Andy Montgomery (18th), Bryan Thrift (19th), and Anthony Gagliardi (20th) also advanced inside the Top-20 cut. Jacob Wheeler, the No. 1-ranked angler in the BassFan World Rankings, tied Montgomery for the 18th spot.

Weights are zeroed as competition moves into the Championship Round. The Top 20 anglers will compete Friday, the field is cut to 15 for Saturday and then the final 10 anglers compete on Championship Sunday. The winner will pocket $300,000.

“For these first two days, I’ve pretty much just put the trolling motor down and fished everything in front of me,” said Evers, who won the inaugural REDCREST Championship event in 2019. “This lake is one of those lakes where you try to duplicate your patterns, and I’ve spent a lot of time really just narrowing down where the bites are coming from. It’s been pretty random – from the back of a pocket to a point and everything in between – but the more days on the water, the more pieces to the puzzle I get.

“Today it got a little bit clearer, where the better fish were,” Evers said. “I’ll know more tomorrow when I really start running that water again, but I’m not really sure how the spotted bass are going to react to the cloudy conditions (being forecast), so that’s going to be kind of interesting to see what happens.”

Evers caught nine fish Thursday – all spotted bass – with his largest weighing 3 1/2 pounds. Fans watching live on the MLF NOW! livestream saw Evers catch some on a big glide bait, some on a boot-tail swimbait and some on a topwater wake bait.

“I’ve been getting it narrowed down as the tournament goes on,” Evers said. “I’ll have three or four baits tied on tomorrow to do what I need to do.”

When asked about his history on Lake Norman, Evers spoke highly of the fishery.

“I love this lake,” Evers said. “I’ve got some history here – I’ve won two major events on this lake. I relate to it really well and it fits with how I grew up fishing. Lake Norman is just a fun lake to fish.”

Evers went on to predict what the winning weight on Sunday will be.

“The lake is fishing good – it’s going to take every bit of 45 pounds over the next three days. I think a 15-pound-a-day average is going to do it and I’m excited to get back out there.”

Ashley won Thursday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, weighing in a 4-09 largemouth during Period 3. Berkley awards $1,000 to the angler who weighs the biggest bass each day and a $1,000 bonus to the angler who weighs the largest bass of the tournament.

The take-off ceremony will begin at 6:15 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 7:15 a.m. on Championship Sunday, at Blythe Landing Park, located at 15901 N.C. 73 HY, in Huntersville, North Carolina. Anglers will depart at 7 a.m. on Days 3-4, and 8 a.m. on Day 5, and return after competition ends at 4 p.m. on Days 1-4 and 5 p.m. on Day 5. Fans are welcome to attend all launch events and also encouraged to follow the event online throughout the day on the MLF NOW! livestream and ScoreTracker coverage at MajorLeagueFishing.com.

The MLF NOW! broadcast team of Chad McKee, Marty Stone and J.T. Kenney break down the extended action from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the first four days of competition, and from 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Championship Sunday. MLF NOW! is livestreamed on MajorLeagueFishing.com and the MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) app.

Qualifying Round – Day 2

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the round)

1. Edwin Evers -- 15-06 (5) -- 14-09 (5) -- 29-15 (10) -- 3-08

2. Casey Ashley -- 13-11 (5) -- 14-13 (5) -- 28-08 (10) -- 4-09

3. Brent Ehrler -- 15-11 (5) -- 11-08 (5) -- 27-03 (10) -- 3-05

4. Dustin Connell -- 16-07 (5) -- 10-12 (5) -- 27-03 (10) -- 2-08

5. Dakota Ebare -- 10-00 (5) -- 16-12 (5) -- 26-12 (10) -- 4-03

6. Adrian Avena -- 11-11 (5) -- 14-14 (5) -- 26-09 (10) -- 3-05

7. Jeremy Lawyer -- 9-12 (5) -- 16-11 (5) -- 26-07 (10) -- 3-11

8. Jesse Wiggins -- 11-00 (5) -- 14-15 (5) -- 25-15 (10) -- 4-08

9. Ott DeFoe -- 11-01 (5) -- 14-14 (5) -- 25-15 (10) -- 3-12

10. Randy Howell -- 11-07 (5) -- 14-05 (5) -- 25-12 (10) -- 4-01

11. Zack Birge -- 12-15 (5) -- 12-13 (5) -- 25-12 (10) -- 3-12

12. Cody Meyer -- 14-15 (5) -- 10-12 (5) -- 25-11 (10) -- 2-04

13. Jonathon VanDam -- 11-07 (5) -- 14-03 (5) -- 25-10 (10) -- 3-13

14. Alton Jones Jr. -- 12-11 (5) -- 12-14 (5) -- 25-09 (10) -- 2-15

15. Matt Lee -- 14-04 (5) -- 11-05 (5) -- 25-09 (10) -- 3-05

16. Fletcher Shryock -- 13-10 (5) -- 11-12 (5) -- 25-06 (10) -- 3-04

17. Andy Montgomery -- 12-06 (5) -- 13-00 (5) -- 25-06 (10) -- 3-00

18. Jacob Wheeler -- 15-03 (5) -- 10-03 (5) -- 25-06 (10) -- 2-02

19. Bryan Thrift -- 13-12 (5) -- 11-07 (5) -- 25-03 (10) -- 2-12

20. Anthony Gagliardi -- 12-02 (5) -- 12-03 (5) -- 24-05 (10) -- 3-00

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not advance to the Championship Rounds

21. Greg Vinson -- 11-15 (5) -- 12-03 (5) -- 24-02 (10) -- 2-12

22. Shin Fukae -- 11-11 (5) -- 12-04 (5) -- 23-15 (10) -- 2-14

23. James Elam -- 10-15 (5) -- 12-11 (5) -- 23-10 (10) -- 2-14

24. Jordan Lee -- 12-00 (5) -- 11-02 (5) -- 23-02 (10) -- 2-12

25. Justin Lucas -- 11-10 (5) -- 11-04 (5) -- 22-14 (10) -- 4-08

26. Mark Rose -- 12-03 (5) -- 10-00 (5) -- 22-03 (10) -- 2-08

27. Mark Davis -- 10-08 (4) -- 11-09 (5) -- 22-01 (9) -- 4-00

28. Jared Lintner -- 11-10 (5) -- 10-06 (5) -- 22-00 (10) -- 2-07

29. Josh Bertrand -- 12-02 (5) -- 9-08 (5) -- 21-10 (10) -- 2-07

30. Mark Daniels Jr. -- 12-07 (5) -- 9-00 (5) -- 21-07 (10) -- 2-00

31. Kevin VanDam -- 10-13 (5) -- 10-10 (5) -- 21-07 (10) -- 3-02

32. Michael Neal -- 10-15 (5) -- 10-04 (5) -- 21-03 (10) -- 2-08

33. Stephen Browning -- 11-12 (5) -- 9-00 (5) -- 20-12 (10) -- 2-02

34. Andy Morgan -- 8-12 (5) -- 11-00 (5) -- 19-12 (10) -- 2-10

35. Chris Lane -- 10-01 (5) -- 8-08 (5) -- 18-09 (10) -- 2-06

36. Randall Tharp -- 12-03 (5) -- 6-01 (3) -- 18-04 (8) -- 2-06

37. Alton Jones -- 3-15 (1) -- 11-13 (5) -- 15-12 (6) -- 3-06

38. David Walker -- 3-11 (2) -- 10-13 (5) -- 14-08 (7) -- 2-12

39. Todd Faircloth -- 8-00 (4) -- 6-02 (4) -- 14-02 (8) -- 1-10

40. Wesley Strader -- 7-12 (5) -- 5-14 (3) -- 13-10 (8) -- 2-13