Lake Erie near Buffalo, N.Y. is a place where a 19-pound bag of brown fish gets nothing more than a yawn. Here it's all about 22, and two anglers caught that today, but Edwin Evers lopped another 2 pounds onto his stud-smallmouth sack and won the Erie/Niagara Bassmaster Elite Series by a huge 4-pound margin.
The weights were so tight this morning, a single goby in the gullet could have determined the winner. But Evers persisted with his long run down the U.S. shore, to what others in the field – including his brother-in-law Terry Butcher and travel partner Matt Reed – said was the vicinity of Dunkirk, N.Y.
In fact, Butcher gave up his water today to Evers.
The result was nothing short of spectacular. Evers put a 23-10 whacking on the deep smallmouths for a near-5-pound average today. That brought his 15-fish, 3-day total in the shortened event to 65-07.
Kota Kiriyama caught 22-03 today and moved up seven spots to finish 2nd, but would have needed a 26-pound bag to surpass Evers – a doable spring weight here, but something rarely seen on this fishery in the summer.
Kevin Wirth and Paul Hirosky, who started the day in 2nd and 3rd (respectively), both slipped. Wirth weighed 16-07 and finished 7th, and Hirosky weighed 16-05 and finished 8th.
John Murray's 19-11 final day moved him up a spot and he finished 3rd.
Butcher, with 21-15 today, climbed eight spots to finish 4th, and Greg Hackney (19-15 today) began and ended the day in 5th.
Evers noted throughout the event that his electronics were like an extension of his body – at times, he didn't look up from the screen for hours, except to battle a jumping fish.
Over the past three seasons, Evers has logged a 2nd, three 3rds and 10 other Top 12s, and he's the 9th ranked angler in the world, but this is his first win since Lake Norman in 2005.
It easily could have went the other way today, but Evers' focus delivered what he described as nothing short of an unbelievable day.
Evers Ecstatic
About his 23-10 catch today, Evers said: "It was one of the most awesome fishing days in my life. It was a day from Heaven. I probably caught more smallmouths today than I've caught in my whole life combined. It seemed like I was able to catch them at will."
About the feeling of winning, he said: "It's unbelievable. I'm just all goosebumps. I can't believe it.
"I'm really happy. This is a huge blessing. This lake is unreal."
He said he threw a green-pumpkin Yum Houdini worm, and that his Lowrance electronics were a major key – they felt like an extension of his body.
The full details of his winning pattern, and pattern information for the other top finishers, will be posted soon.
2nd: Kiriyama Mixed
Today marks Kiriyama's fifth 2nd-place finish in BASS competition.
"I feel good and bad," he said of his finish. "You know how it is in 2nd place. I've had so many 2nds in Bassmaster it's unbelievable. But still, I fished a good tournament I think."
He ended day 1 in 8th, slipped one spot after day 3, then climbed with the second-best bag today.
Kota Kiriyama has mixed feeling about his finish – it's the fifth time he's finished 2nd.
He noted: "The first 2 days, I made a lot of mistakes in position and decisions. I think I could have caught better fish. My partner had 22 1/2 pounds on the second day from behind my seat. So I was on good fish."
3rd: Murray 'Had a Feeling'
Murray, who's a native of Phoenix, Ariz., has always wanted to fish Erie smallmouths, and he had a feeling he could do well here as soon as the event was announced.
He loves deep-structure fishing with light line, and felt right at home all week long.
"I'm extremely happy with my finish," he said. "I had 60 pounds, and a 4-pound average. You can't do much better than that.
"I prefished Dunkirk, down by Edwin, the first few days of practice," he added. "I caught a 22- or 23-pound bag from there. But just because of the (windy day-1) conditions I never went back down there. I found so many fish close, I put my hours into fishing there.
"I think Edwin found the right school. Obviously there's some big ones down there that are untouched."
About his feeling before the event, he said: "I had a good feeling about it. I've always wanted to fish this place. I've always read about deep-structure smallmouth fishing, and always felt it would be right up my alley.
"This place is everything it's cracked up to be and more."
4th: Butcher Has No Regrets
Butcher caught 21-15 – the day's third-best sack – and said his day was "phenomenal."
He started the day 3 1/2 pounds in back of Evers, so the win was within reach. But he decided to give his water to Evers, who gave him a couple waypoints to fish in trade. He caught his limit in 15 minutes and "it never stopped from there."
John Murray's 'extremely happy' with his finish, and raved about the fishery.
About his finish, Butcher said: "I feel good about it. I screwed up the first day (with 18-05) by not taking enough fish-care precautions. I lost one the first day, and had one die today. That's 1 1/2 pounds.
"But I fished a great tournament – I didn't lose any fish," he added. "I have no regrets."
5th: Hackney Okay With It
This was Hackney's best finish of the season.
"I feel all right about it," he said. "I fished pretty well all week, and it's been awesome catching these smallmouths. I mean, catching 5-pound smallmouths? That's awesome.
"Overall I'm happy, I can't complain. It was my best tournament all year. This is one of the worst years I've ever had. I've been making some really bad decisions, and this really helps out."
His biggest problem was the back deck, where his partners largely outfished him this week. That's common on Erie, where it can often be an advantage to fish from the back. Co-anglers don't have to worry about boat control, and the back deck swings more, which typically triggers strikes.
"My partners, I felt, caught my fish this week," Hackney said. "I couldn't guard it, and we pulled close to 100 pounds off three spots in 3 days."
Given the fact that Evers, Kiriyama and Butcher all made long runs, he added that he plans to fish Dunkirk next year, but he might bring a walleye boat instead of his bass rig to make sure he can get there.
6th: Duckett 'Carried it' Far
Boyd Duckett chalked his finish up to one factor – he wasn't on the right holes.
"When you come up here, you need to have 21 or 22 pounds," he said, "and I didn't have any 21-pound holes. I caught pretty much everything that bit.
"I'm happy with (the finish)," he added. "I wasn't on the winning pattern, but I carried it as far as I could."
7th: Wirth Fished Canada
Kevin Wirth began the day in 2nd, but weighed just 16-07 and slipped to finish 7th. He fished Canada today, where a one-cull rule was in effect.
"I did everything I could to win this tournament," he said. "I threw back some fish that could have probably given me a pound or so more, but I was in Canada.
"I knew I needed to have at least 21 pounds to win. But I had a great tournament. I did what I could to win. It didn't transpire."
8th: Hirosky a Little Disappointed
Pennsylvania's Hirosky sort of paralleled Wirth today. He led day 1, began today a hair behind Evers, but then tanked with 16 1/2 pounds.
"I knew I was catching less fish than everybody else," he said. "Everything was fine, because they were better fish. But my best fish from the first 2 days weren't there (today). They were the same tried and true spots, and I saved lots of spots for the last day.
"It just didn't pan out. I ran out of fish."
About his finish, he said: "I'm a little disappointed. After 21-11 (on day 1), I really felt I could do that every day. To catch 16-05 – that really stunk. But I had a strong tournament, and that helped with the points, and that goes a long way."
Last week he fell from 7th to finish 47th at Champlain, so he added that this helps him "get a little of the swagger back," and he's also happy that he was able to get some good exposure for his primary sponsor Channellock.
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 11 limits, 1 three.
> Aaron Martens caught 16-01 today and finished 9th. His morning was basically a disaster because his media card, with all his waypoints, didn't work in the electronics on the BASS-supplied day-4 boat. He spent some frantic time before launch trying to manually punch in waypoints, but never really got back to his best areas. Overall, though, he's "happy" with his finish.
> A 16-10 limit for Elton Luce, Jr. moved him up one spot and he finished 10th. "I'm tickled to death with the finish," he said. "After the kind of year I've had, I feel blessed to make the cut."
> Jami Fralick, who finished 11th, noted: "I'm a little disappointed with today, but my fish were used up. They weren't there anymore. I had some good fish in Dunkirk that I found in practice that I was going to go to, but I knew several guys in the Top 12 were there, and I didn't want to get on their water."
> Rick Morris was the only angler who didn't weigh a limit today, and he finished 12th. "They were a little more finicky today, and I had a lot of trouble keeping them on," he said. "But I'm satisfied with (12th). I fished the best tournament I could. I milked one area thoroughly for 3 days."
> BASS will shortly issue the final list of qualifiers for this week's Bassmaster Memorial Major at Lake Oneida in Syracuse, N.Y. Check the Dock Talk section for updates.
> Skeet Reese still leads with Angler of the Year race with two events left. To view the updated standings, click here.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
Note: Day 2 was cancelled. In the standings below, day 3 is written as day 2, and day 4 is written as day 3.
1. Edwin Evers -- Talala, Okla. -- 15, 65-07 -- $109,000
Day 1: 5, 20-13 -- Day 2: 5, 21-00 -- Day 3: 5, 23-10
2. Kotaro Kiriyama -- Moody, Ala. -- 15, 61-07 -- $30,000
Day 1: 5, 20-08 -- Day 2: 5, 18-12 -- Day 3: 5, 22-03
3. John Murray -- Phoenix, Ariz. -- 15, 60-08 -- $25,000
Day 1: 5, 19-08 -- Day 2: 5, 21-05 -- Day 3: 5, 19-11
4. Terry Butcher -- Talala, Okla. -- 15, 60-03 -- $18,000
Day 1: 5, 18-05 -- Day 2: 5, 19-15 -- Day 3: 5, 21-15
5. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, La. -- 15, 59-15 -- $18,000
Day 1: 5, 21-02 -- Day 2: 5, 18-14 -- Day 3: 5, 19-15
6. Boyd Duckett -- Demopolis, Ala. -- 15, 59-01 -- $15,500
Day 1: 5, 18-07 -- Day 2: 5, 20-09 -- Day 3: 5, 20-01
7. Kevin Wirth -- Crestwood, Ky. -- 15, 58-01 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 21-00 -- Day 2: 5, 20-10 -- Day 3: 5, 16-07
8. Paul Hirosky -- Guys Mills, Pa. -- 15, 57-14 -- $15,500
Day 1: 5, 21-11 -- Day 2: 5, 19-14 -- Day 3: 5, 16-05
9. Aaron Martens -- Leeds, Ala. -- 15, 55-09 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 20-01 -- Day 2: 5, 19-07 -- Day 3: 5, 16-01
10. Elton Luce Jr -- Brookeland, Texas -- 15, 55-08 -- $15,500
Day 1: 5, 20-10 -- Day 2: 5, 18-04 -- Day 3: 5, 16-10
11. Jami Fralick -- Martin, S.D. -- 15, 51-12 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 18-03 -- Day 2: 5, 21-13 -- Day 3: 5, 11-12
12. Rick Morris -- Virginia Beach, Va. -- 13, 48-08 -- $12,300
Day 1: 5, 19-03 -- Day 2: 5, 20-04 -- Day 3: 3, 9-01
Big Bass
> Day 3 -- Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, La. -- 5-10 -- $1,000
> Day 2 -- Cliff Pace -- Petal, Miss. -- 5-15 -- $1,000
> Day 1 -- Elton Luce Jr -- Brookeland, Texas -- 6-04 -- $1,000
