(Editor's note: In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, the top story will not be updated until Monday.)
By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor
The question hung in the air for all of a nanosecond before Edwin Evers swiftly delivered his response.
“Edwin, you had another solid year in 2012. Would you say you accomplished the goals you had set for yourself?” was how the query went.
Without hesitation, without taking a moment to ponder a reply, Evers offered a stern, “No,” pausing for a moment before repeating himself. “No.”
It wasn’t a rude exchange by any means – just a man letting it be known that until he achieves the goal he sets for himself at the start of every season, the answer to that question will always, and unequivocally, be, “no.”
On paper, Evers had another stellar season fishing the Bassmaster Elite Series. While he made just one 12-cut in eight events, he lived in the top half of the standings all year, registering seven Top-40 finishes, which was good enough for 8th in the Toyota Tundra B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year (AOY) standings. He qualified for the season-ending All-Star Championship where he finished 2nd for the second straight year.
It was the fifth time in his career he’d finished among the Top 8 in points and this year’s result followed back-to-back runner-up placements behind Kevin VanDam the last 2 seasons. Still, “Steady Eddie” entered the offseason lacking the achievement and trophy he so dearly covets – the AOY title. A strong argument can be made that he’s the best angler currently on tour who hasn’t hoisted the trophy and he’s not about to let up until he does.
“I felt like I had a solid year, but man, I have bigger goals and anything short of my goal is going to be a disappointment,” he said. “I feel like I’m capable of winning it every year. Going into each year, I know I’m a good enough angler to win that thing and you can’t let that thought go to rest and you can’t feel satisfied until you’ve accomplished what you think you should be doing.
“I feel like I should be winning Angler of the Year, but I just haven’t done it. I want to do it and I’m going to do it. I just haven’t done it yet. It just goes to show how hard that thing really is to win. It’s the hardest thing in the world to win.”
Douglas A Downer
After sandwiching a 14th at the St. Johns River and a 4th-place finish at Bulls Shoals Lake around a 35th at Lake Okeechobee to open the season, Evers arrived at Douglas Lake in 4th place in points. By the time he left, he had dropped to 9th as a result of a 63rd-place effort, his worst finish since the Lake Ouachita FLW Tour in May 2010.
From there, he finished no lower than 38th in any of the four remaining events, but not being able to figure out the deep fish at Douglas still irks the Oklahoman.
“It was one of those events where I would’ve given anything to know that long-lining was legal,” he said, referring to the technique used by winner Jeremy Starks and runner-up Britt Myers to max out the running depth of their crankbaits. “I’ve done a lot of strolling before on Lake Fork and I’m really comfortable doing it. I’ve had a blast with it and I saw those fish out there in that depth range and I tried to catch them on a football jig and a spoon, but in practice the majority of what I caught were smallmouth. Those were the only ones I could get to bite.
“I knew there were largemouths out there and that whole strolling deal comes to your mind, but I didn’t know it was legal. I read those rules in and out and I thought you couldn’t assist the cast in any way. I just didn’t think it was legal. It’s my own fault for not knowing it. It was just one of those tournaments that really bothered me not knowing that. I was frustrated at myself. It deflated me. It was a bad tournament. I hated it.”
Grand Opportunity
Evers has lost count how many people around his Talala, Okla., home have installed him as the odds-on favorite to win the Bassmaster Classic in February at Grand Lake. While he appreciates the back slaps and confidence his community has shown in him, he knows it’s not going to be easy.
“People think I’m the favorite because I’m local and that’s fine,” he said. “I’ll try not to disappoint them, but I’m going to have to go out there and figure them out just like everybody else. “
Fishing aside, he said it’s going to be a thrill to have the bass-fishing world converge on his home state for such a big event.
“It feels kind of different,” he said. “I was filling out the hotel packet even though I live 30 or 35 minutes from the hotel. If I forget something, it’s not the end of the world. I was reading through it and it said, ‘All the tackle you want in your boat and truck.’ I started thinking how different this is going to be having this within an hour of my house. We just don’t have many events like that.”
Evers wrapped up his Elite Series season with a runner-up finish at the All-Star Championship, then finished 5th at the Toyota Texas Bass Classic.
The challenge he faces, and the same will be true for fellow Oklahomans Tommy Biffle and Jason Christie, will be the additional demands on his time, whether it be from friends and family who rarely get to witness him compete in person or the local media or the floatilla of spectator boats that’s sure to trail him to every spot.
“I feel like this one’s going to be harder for me to win than one that’s on the Red River or somewhere you’re not expected to win,” he said. “Any time you’re fishing in front of a hometown crowd, there’s a lot of added pressure. It’s exciting from the aspect that so much family will be able to attend and friends that have never been able to attend before just because of the travel. And it’s exciting that it’s on a lake that I’ve spent time on, but not hardly any in February until last year. It’s just going to be cool to have the Classic here.
“Let’s just say it was going to be in Missouri on a lake where I’d never been. To me, I think it’s super cool as a guy from the Midwest to have the Classic that far west and that far north. Also, for a group of fans that’s never had the opportunity to drive 2 or 3 hours to make the Classic, that’s what we have. We’re right here next to Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and you can be in Texas in less than 3 hours from Tulsa. I think it’s going to be huge. I’ll be disappointed if they’re not the biggest crowds we’ve ever had.”
Notable
> While Evers enjoys deer hunting during the offseason, much of his spare time lately has been spent tending to his pecan orchard. It’s more than a hobby, though. This spring, he grafted 1,200 trees and in the next couple weeks, he’s going to begin transplanting them.
“My dad told me a long time ago that something I should look into was pecans,” he said. “An auction came up a couple years ago by the house that had a big pecan orchard on it. It looked like great deer hunting ground so I looked into it for the possible income potential and man, ever since then I’ve gotten into studying it and researching it. I’ve read every book there is to read, it seems. It’s kind of like when you start bass fishing – you can’t enough of it.”
