By MLF Communications Staff
APPLING, Ga. – When you’re hot, you’re hot. And right now, perhaps no bass angler on the planet is as hot as Brookeland, Texas' Dakota Ebare.
Ebare boated a five-bass limit Thursday weighing 16 pounds, 7 ounces – enough to win his second high-level event of the year at the MLF Invitational on Clarks Hill Lake. Ebare’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 58-10 earned him the win by a 10-ounce margin over hard-charging Travis Harriman of Huntsville, Arkansas, who weighed in the largest limit of the tournament Thursday – 23-14 – to give Ebare quite a scare.
Ebare earned $115,000 for his victory and will now receive an automatic invitation into REDCREST.
“Man, what a relief. I’ve been so stressed the last hour since I checked in,” Ebare said. “I wasn’t really nervous until about 2:50, before we started the weigh-in. I knew my time was up, and I just prayed it was enough. If it was meant to be, it was going to happen. And it did!”
Ebare was all over the lake throughout the week, catching fish both shallow and deep. He said the key depth seemed to be in the 12- to 15-foot mid-range, as lots of fish are roaming, just waiting to move to the bank for the spawn.
“The key bait for me this week was a 3/16-ounce Strike King shaky-head,” Ebare said. “I don’t know why there were biting the shaky-head for me – my roommate Kyle (Hall) couldn’t get a bite on it at all, but I caught a lot of fish on it this week. I also caught quite a few on a vibrating jig, and a couple of key fish each day on the (Strike King) Rage Bug. But the shaky-head was definitely the major player for me and I just kept throwing what was working.”
Ebare has been on an absolute tear the last 12 months, accumulating eight top-10 finishes in 2022 – including three 2nd-place finishes – but the tournament win always seemed to elude him.
Until this season.
Now, just two months into the new year, Ebare has already banked two tournament wins and added more than $205,000 to his bank account. He credits his grueling travel schedule competing on the Bass Pro Tour, the Invitationals and the Toyota Series as being one of the keys to his success.
“Man, I was so close so many times, I did feel like it was inevitable and that I’d eventually get it done, but to be able to do it twice this year already, just a month into the season, is truly a blessing,” Ebare said. “That’s all I can really say – it’s been great. This is my fifth week in a row on the road with tournaments. REDCREST next week will be six, and I think I’ve got nine weeks in a row that I’ll be fishing. So, I am just in the groove right now and rolling.
“Fishing this much is absolutely helping,” Ebare continued. “That’s really the way I’ve structured the last five years of my career since I started fishing on tour. A tournament every week. Go, go, go. You just get conditioned to fishing new lakes. And when you go to a new tournament, a new lake every week, it's different. That’s what has allowed me to move around so freely on this lake and be successful this week, just fishing the moment.
“When you leave Lake Toho in Florida, then come straight to Clarks Hill Lake in Georgia, you can’t get any two lakes that are farther apart in regard to what it’s like on the water. You have to have an open mind and just go fishing, you can’t get too dialed in. Right now, I’m just flowing. And it feels great.”
Final Standings
1. Dakota Ebare -- 23-13 (5) -- 18-06 (5) -- 16-07 (5) -- 58-10 (15) -- $118,500
2. Travis Harriman -- 18-11 (5) -- 15-07 (5) -- 23-14 (5) -- 58-00 (15) -- $50,000
3. Spencer Shuffield -- 16-10 (5) -- 20-04 (5) -- 17-01 (5) -- 53-15 (15) -- $20,000
4. Ron Nelson -- 13-02 (5) -- 16-14 (5) -- 22-13 (5) -- 52-13 (15) -- $18,000
5. Sean Anderson -- 17-03 (5) -- 17-11 (5) -- 15-02 (5) -- 50-00 (15) -- $17,000
6. Tristan McCormick -- 16-11 (5) -- 18-09 (5) -- 13-04 (5) -- 48-08 (15) -- $16,000
7. Matt Becker -- 13-02 (5) -- 16-02 (5) -- 19-04 (5) -- 48-08 (15) -- $15,000
8. Connor Cunningham -- 11-11 (5) -- 18-10 (5) -- 17-15 (5) -- 48-04 (15) -- $14,000
9. Cal Lane -- 16-10 (5) -- 17-09 (5) -- 13-14 (5) -- 48-01 (15) -- $13,000
10. Tom Redington -- 14-05 (5) -- 18-14 (5) -- 14-14 (5) -- 48-01 (15) -- $12,000
11. Spike Stoker -- 16-08 (5) -- 14-13 (5) -- 16-11 (5) -- 48-00 (15) -- $10,000
12. Jack Daniel Williams -- 13-02 (5) -- 16-05 (5) -- 18-06 (5) -- 47-13 (15) -- $10,000
13. Christian Greico -- 13-15 (5) -- 14-12 (5) -- 18-14 (5) -- 47-09 (15) -- $10,300
14. John Cox -- 16-01 (5) -- 15-14 (5) -- 15-07 (5) -- 47-06 (15) -- $10,000
15. Martin Villa -- 17-01 (5) -- 13-15 (5) -- 16-04 (5) -- 47-04 (15) -- $10,000
16. Jordan Hirt -- 12-14 (5) -- 15-13 (5) -- 17-07 (5) -- 46-02 (15) -- $10,000
17. Keith Carson -- 18-01 (5) -- 13-02 (5) -- 14-04 (5) -- 45-07 (15) -- $10,000
18. Grae Buck -- 10-12 (5) -- 16-03 (5) -- 18-01 (5) -- 45-00 (15) -- $10,000
19. Drew Boggs -- 18-09 (5) -- 13-03 (5) -- 12-11 (5) -- 44-07 (15) -- $10,000
20. Matthew Stefan -- 14-01 (5) -- 17-02 (5) -- 13-02 (5) -- 44-05 (15) -- $10,000
21. Nick Hatfield -- 13-08 (5) -- 16-06 (5) -- 14-01 (5) -- 43-15 (15) -- $10,000
22. Fred Roumbanis -- 14-10 (5) -- 16-05 (5) -- 12-05 (5) -- 43-04 (15) -- $10,000
23. Lane Olson -- 14-06 (5) -- 15-13 (5) -- 13-00 (5) -- 43-03 (15) -- $10,000
24. John Voyles -- 11-15 (5) -- 16-07 (5) -- 14-13 (5) -- 43-03 (15) -- $10,000
25. Cole Breeden -- 16-15 (5) -- 11-10 (5) -- 14-08 (5) -- 43-01 (15) -- $11,000
26. Jacob Wheeler -- 17-00 (5) -- 15-01 (5) -- 10-15 (5) -- 43-00 (15) -- $10,000
27. Brad Jelinek -- 14-13 (5) -- 16-11 (5) -- 11-06 (5) -- 42-14 (15) -- $10,000
28. Mark Condron -- 12-01 (5) -- 20-10 (5) -- 10-02 (5) -- 42-13 (15) -- $10,000
29. Chad Mrazek -- 16-03 (5) -- 13-15 (5) -- 12-05 (5) -- 42-07 (15) -- $10,000
30. Scotty Villines -- 17-06 (5) -- 11-13 (5) -- 13-03 (5) -- 42-06 (15) -- $10,000
31. Kyle Hall -- 14-14 (5) -- 14-12 (5) -- 12-07 (5) -- 42-01 (15) -- $8,000
32. Colby Schrumpf -- 16-09 (5) -- 14-09 (5) -- 10-13 (5) -- 41-15 (15) -- $8,000
33. Michael Harlin -- 13-00 (5) -- 16-13 (5) -- 11-03 (5) -- 41-00 (15) -- $8,000
34. Eric Panzironi -- 10-08 (5) -- 17-13 (5) -- 12-08 (5) -- 40-13 (15) -- $8,000
35. Shaw Grigsby -- 12-02 (5) -- 14-13 (5) -- 13-14 (5) -- 40-13 (15) -- $8,000
36. Ricky Robinson -- 13-04 (5) -- 13-05 (5) -- 14-01 (5) -- 40-10 (15) -- $8,000
37. Cody Petit -- 16-10 (5) -- 12-00 (5) -- 11-09 (5) -- 40-03 (15) -- $8,000
38. William Fletcher -- 13-07 (5) -- 17-03 (5) -- 9-08 (5) -- 40-02 (15) -- $8,000
39. Justin Cooper -- 12-06 (5) -- 15-02 (5) -- 12-10 (5) -- 40-02 (15) -- $8,000
40. Ron Farrow -- 10-12 (5) -- 18-11 (5) -- 10-10 (5) -- 40-01 (15) -- $8,000
41. Jim Moynagh -- 10-14 (5) -- 15-10 (5) -- 13-08 (5) -- 40-00 (15) -- $8,000
42. Jaden Parrish -- 8-13 (5) -- 18-08 (5) -- 12-07 (5) -- 39-12 (15) -- $8,000
43. Brock Reinkemeyer -- 13-08 (5) -- 13-04 (5) -- 12-02 (5) -- 38-14 (15) -- $8,000
44. Lance Crawford -- 14-13 (5) -- 13-00 (5) -- 10-04 (5) -- 38-01 (15) -- $8,000
45. Kyle Minke -- 12-08 (5) -- 13-15 (5) -- 10-03 (5) -- 36-10 (15) -- $8,000
46. Blake Hall -- 15-02 (5) -- 13-01 (5) -- 8-06 (5) -- 36-09 (15) -- $8,000
47. Steve Lopez -- 12-09 (5) -- 16-10 (5) -- 6-11 (5) -- 35-14 (15) -- $8,000
48. Matt Reed -- 10-11 (5) -- 16-11 (5) -- 8-05 (5) -- 35-11 (15) -- $8,000
49. Joshua Weaver -- 11-08 (5) -- 16-14 (5) -- 6-11 (4) -- 35-01 (14) -- $8,000
50. Kollin Crawford -- 8-07 (5) -- 18-05 (5) -- 8-05 (4) -- 35-01 (14) -- $8,000
