By Lynn Burkhead
OSG Senior Digital Editor

For bass fishing fans, it’s déjà vu all over again as Oklahoma anglers Jason Christie and Edwin Evers staged a 1-2 battle on Friday at South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell.

With the two good Sooner State friends and tour roommates bringing five fish to the scales at the Bons Secours Wellness Arena, Christie was in 1st place with 20-14, while the 2016 Classic champ Evers was just behind with 19-09.

Those numbers after the first round of the are eerily similar to what they were two years ago when the 46th edition of the derby was staged on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake.

How similar? Christie led the 2016 Classic after day 1 with that same 20-14 mark. The difference was that Evers was in 13th after that year's initial round.

Heading into day 2 this year, Evers feels much better about his starting position than he did en route to winning the 2016 Classic with a stirring final-day comeback on the strength of a 29-03 sack.

“The fish are scattered and this is a really great venue for the guy that fishes by the seat of his pants,” Evers said earlier this week. “It’s my kind of tournament, I really like it.”

While Evers was very satisfied with what he discovered in the 2018 event’s practice practice period, he indicates that there won’t likely be a magical spot somebody milks day after day for the win this week on Hartwell.

“It’s not going to be a tournament that you’re going to win on one spot,” said the winner of 11 B.A.S.S events. “That’s why I like the tournament.”

In some ways, despite being one of the sport’s upper-echelon stars in recent years, Evers came into this event flying under the radar just a bit, perhaps overshadowed by defending champ Jordan Lee, a part of the new wave of young bass anglers threatening to take the sport over, and hometown hero Casey Ashley, who copped the win the last time the event was staged on Hartwell in 2015

That won’t hurt Evers’ feelings at all, meaning that he likely won’t have to deal with the crush of local spectators that he had to maneuver through in 2016 at Grand Lake.

And then there’s last year’s event, something that still smarts, according to the Talala, Okla. pecan farmer. In that event, which Lee captured with his own comeback for the ages, Evers sat in 3rd place heading into the final day, a little more than 4 pounds out of the lead.

But a day after posting a 20-13 bag, Evers stumbled on day 3, weighing in only two bass for 6-11, finishing in 11th place and being denied a back-to-back championship run.

“I’m still pretty mad about last year after watching the video (again),” said Evers, a two-time Major League Fishing champion in addition to his Bassmaster Elite Series exploits. “It is the hardest tournament to win and I’m still not over it (last year), letting it slip through my fingers. I know it doesn’t show in the standings, but when you’re in 3rd place going into the final day, and how my day unfolded and the bites that I lost, it was a really frustrating day.

“I should have had two in a row, there’s no doubt in my mind,” he added. “I’m just using that to motivate me to make it happen this year.”

Evers was quick to point out that the Classic is substantially different from the regular tour events.

“It’s a tournament that you fish to win,” said Evers. “It’s not about points, it’s not about catching fish. I’m not scared to finish last. It’s a tournament that’s all about making the right decisions.”
With Evers honing his decision-making skills in recent years – in part, because of his success and experience with MLF events – he explained a bit more.

“In an Elite event, if you had a schooling spot, you’d probably go to that schooling spot and get you four or five fish in the morning (and then work on upgrading),” said the winner of more than $3 million dollars on the B.A.S.S. circuit. “I just think that it means that if you have a chance to go catch a big one in the morning versus going to catch you some fish, I think that’s where you differentiate between the Classic and a (regular) Elite event.”

Would finding a way to overtake Christie – and the rest of the 52-angler field competing here this weekend – and win a second Classic crown mean more to Evers than winning the first in 2016?

“Oh yeah, yeeaahh!” he said with a huge grin.

Why is that?

“Rare, rare company. It’s the highest achievement in our sport, along with Angler of the Year. It would be awesome and it would mean that the first one wasn’t a fluke.”

Speaking of flukes, after winning the 2016 Classic on Grand Lake, Evers made a humorous television commercial for one of his sponsors (General Tire) along with 2009 Classic champ Skeet Reese, who shares the same sponsor.

The gist of the commercial was that it was Evers’ first official day on the job as Classic champ for Team GT Fishing, a position that came with an official parking spot and such.

Standing with Reese in a tight office cubicle setting, Evers proceeded to flip a jig into a fish bowl in an adjoining office, high-fiving Reese afterward and exclaiming “Yes! I got a dollar out of it!”

“I actually made that pitch on the first try,” laughs Evers. “I probably couldn’t do that again in a million tries. But at least I got a dollar out of Skeet, even though it took a while for him to pay up.”