Edwin Evers Wins BASS St. Lawrence River

Ever since winning the 2007 Lake Erie/Niagara River Elite Series out of Buffalo, N.Y., Edwin Evers figured all other Great Lakes smallmouth-dominated tournaments would follow the same general script - finding wads of bait and nearby schools of bass off shore with his electronics and then employ a vertical presentation to trigger bites. He proved last week at the St. Lawrence River that there's waaaay more to it than that. With a berth in next year's Bassmaster Classic already in his back pocket thanks to his BASSFest victory, Evers knew he had some latitude to roll the dice and try something different. As it turned out, different was the way to go at the massive, scenic river that separates northern New York from Canada. "If I couldn't see them on electronics and drop on them like on Erie, every other smallmouth event we've had I'd done poorly in," Evers said. "I'm always trying to duplicate Erie." Experience has taught him to expand his thinking, especially two Major League Fishing events last year that featured inland lakes in Michigan and Maine where smallmouth were plentiful. "I've learned a lot," Evers added. "I may still be stubborn, but after paying attention to MLF and what Kevin (VanDam) has done, I'm starting to expand on what those fish can do." Rather than make the lengthy journey from Waddington, N.Y., toward the mouth of the St. Lawrence where he fished during the Elite Series' 2013 visit to the Thousand Islands region, Evers opted to sample a stretch of river to the east of the launch ramp. It was a slow go, at first, but he eventually figured out how to catch behind-schedule smallmouth that were more numerous in the 2- to 10-foot range compared to their usual summer deep-water haunts. He rolled into the lead after day 2 when he caught 22-09 and never gave it up as he bagged 17-08 on the final day to become the first to win two straight Elite Series events with a 77-10 total. "It was the same thing last time - guys caught them shallow, but there were so many more good ones out deep," he said. "On certain smallmouth fisheries, there are always fish shallow. The St. Lawrence is just a big enough place that it spread enough guys out so that you could do it."

In 2013, the Elite Series came to Waddington in mid-August. The smallmouth were settled into their summertime pattern and stacked up on offshore structure. Catching 40 or 50 fish a day was a regular occurrence for competitors, many of whom couldn't wait to come back. Some anglers fared pretty well with largemouth, but it was a brown fish blowout in the end. Things were much different this time around. Those offshore spots that held a dozen to 15 fish 2 years ago were maybe good for four or five bites last week. With Lake Ontario off limits, it left the 107 pros a daunting puzzle to put together. For Evers, he figured the bulk of the field would likely end up running toward mouth of the river by the boundary line. He fished in that direction in '13 all through practice and the tournament and finished 25th. He figured it'd be tough to do well down there this year. "I didn't feel like I could win down there," he said.

Instead, he headed northeast to comb sections of the river from Waddington to the Moses-Saunders Power Dam that served as the eastern boundary line. He fished many areas within a 15-mile stretch of water. He played on a hunch the full moon would pull some fish, especially bigger ones, shallow and he spent 16-hour practice days on his trolling motor, searching for anything he thought would have a fish nearby. He also saw several dozen fish in the clear water so that told him his hunch was right. "I had seven bites the first day, four the second and seven the third so I figured it'd be a gamble to catch a limit each day doing what I was doing," he said. "It happened to work out." Once he located some areas with fish, he began trying different baits to see what triggered bites. A swimbait and small jerkbait were key to getting fish to show themselves. If he couldn't catch them that way, he'd follow up with a wacky-rigged worm or a dropshot. "I didn't figure it out until the last part of the first day and start of the second day," he said. "It all came to fruition in practice."

Competition:

Despite a dearth of bites in practice, something he attributed to the speed at which he combed through areas, he made a right turn out of the take off are each day of the tournament. "I don't win tournaments going back to stuff," he said. "This time I considered it a new tournament because I went the other direction. I like that." The first fish he landed on day 1 was a 4-pounder, caught on a dropshot, but it had to go back because it was not hooked inside the mouth. He also had another 4-pound caliber fish come off right at the boat as he reached to land it. Despite those mishaps, he still managed 21-03 that had him in 5th place. His was one of 10 bags that exceeded 20 pounds on day 1 - there were 13 on day 1 back in 2013. Only three other 20-pound bags were caught over the final 3 days. He generated more bites (10) on day 2 and had a 5-04 kicker in his 22-09 bag that catapulted him to the lead. He caught some largemouth early in the day, but eventually culled them out in favor of beefier smallmouth. When the conditions were ideal, Evers could get visual cues on where the fish were or just plainly see them. "I was sight-fishing, but they were not on beds," he said. "When it got windy, I had to fan cast more because it was hard to see." He did more looking on Saturday, but the quality bites didn't come as easy and he lost a couple nice fish. Still, his 16-06 kept him the lead, but his cushion had been reduced to less than 2 pounds entering the final day. He said he felt calm and confident going out on the final day, a product of the surge of momentum he was riding. "You just make good decisions and trust your confidence and gut instincts," he said. "Things go better when you're catching them." He caught his first keeper a little after 6:30 a.m. and continued to probe areas with clean sand with little grass patches or rock. He caught three good fish during the middle couple hours of the day that gave him a good foundation and those helped him get to 17-08 and beat Alton Jones by 3-11.

Winning Gear:

Wacky-worm gear: 6'9" medium-light CarbonLite spinning rod, Johnny Morris Signature Series spinning reel (6.1:1 gear ratio), 20-pound XPS braided line (main), 8-pound XPS fluorocarbon line (leader), Size 1 Mustad Select Super Fine Finesse hook, Zoom Fluke Stick Jr. (green-pumpkin).

Swimbait gear: Same rod, same reel, same line, 3/8-oz. unnamed lead head jig, 4" Megabass Spark Shad (ayu). The Spark Shad was a key fish-catcher, but it also attracted followers that Evers was able to later target with finesse tactics.

Dropshot gear: Same rod, same reel, same line, same hook as wacky rig, Zoom Z Drop (green-pumpkin), 1/8- and 3/8-oz. tungsten drop shot weights.

Jerkbait gear: 7' medium-action CarbonLite casting rod, CarbonLite casting reel (7.1:1 gear ratio), 10-pound XPS fluorocarbon line, Megabass X-80 Trick Darter (elegy bone). He also caught a couple key fish during the morning rainstorm on day 1 on a War Eagle spinnerbait (white with silver/gold blades).

Main factor: "My decision to turn right instead of left and approaching it like a new body of water."

Performance edge: "Everybody thinks electronics are great for deep-water fishing, but I couldn't have done it without the plot trails to when I would be getting close to the waypoints when I was drifting around. I was always looking down to my screen to see how close I was. Also, my Wiley-X sunglasses were huge. I felt like the further away they were, I could still see them and I liked my chances of catching them."

St. Lawrence River Winning Pattern BassFan 8/4/15 (Todd Ceisner)

During the summer of 2014, prior to the release of the 2015 Elite Series schedule, Alton Jones and his son, Alton, Jr., made a trip to the St. Lawrence River for some fun fishing. As it turned out, the experience came in handy for the elder Jones last week. Jones said he caught the bulk of his weight off some of the spots he and his son fished and the trip served a valuable learning tool. "I learned the river a lot better and how it fishes and how to attack current and where to push the panic button and be able find largemouth, even on day 4 when they hadn't been picked over," Jones said. "We were here just having fun, no pressure." Jones established a couple patterns right away in practice. He targeted deeper areas that had a combination of grass and rock with a dropshot rig. "If there was an eddy in the current and that intersected the grass and rock, if you could find those three coming together, that's dynamite for smallmouth on a big river," he said. When he went shallow, he went down the inside weed line until he found some rock or a point. "The fish were on those shallow rocks on the inside weed line," he said. "I fished without hooks in practice because I felt like if I caught one shallow, I wouldn't have caught them in the tournament. "When I'd get a bite up shallow, I'd ease up and see them. You didn't have to fish for them. They weren't bedding. They were just up there gorging on gobies. When the gobies leave the shallow water, the bass will leave with them." With his smallmouth areas starting to fade on the final day, he targeted largemouth in order to get a limit. "That was an inside weed line in a backwater," he said. "It was mostly sand, but every 400 to 500 yards there'd be piles of rocks the size of a truck hood. I had seven or eight of those and there were fish on all of them."

Dropshot gear: 6'9" medium-heavy Kistler Helium 2 spinning rod, unnamed spinning reel, 15-pound unnamed braided main line, 8-pound Silver Thread fluorocarbon line (5-foot leader), 1/0 Gamakatsu EWG worm hook, Texas-rigged YUM Warning Shot (green-pumpkin), 1/8-, 3/16- and 1/4-oz. unnamed dropshot weights. Jones tried to stay as light as he could with the weight depending on the conditions - he used 1/8 oz. when shallow, 3/16 out deep and 1/4 when the wind kicked up. He wanted the most natural fall possible on his bait.

Tube gear: Same rod, same reel, 8-pound Silver Thread fluorocarbon line, 3/16- and 1/4-oz. unnamed tube jigs, YUM tube (green-pumpkin). He said the key to keeping the smallmouth buttoned up was playing them out. The fish he lost seemed to throw the hook the first time they jumped.

Main factor: "Establishing that pattern early on in practice so I could build on it. Then I could spend all 3 days doing the right thing instead of figuring it out."

Performance edge: "My Lowrance electronics were key this week with being able to spot little divots in the rock where the fish were hiding."

St. Lawrence River 2-5 Patterns BassFan 8/5/15 (Todd Ceisner)

Want to know the reason why Greg Hackney fished for largemouth this time around at the St. Lawrence River? Because he didn't do it the last time he was there. "It was one of those deals where the smallmouth fishing wasn't as good as the last time and I never fished for largemouth the first time," he said. "How I ended up on largemouth was I wanted to break the monotony." He said largemouth were pretty catchable out of the current and around grass, but the above-average fish were in specific areas. "I concentrated on one primary area," he said. "It was the only place that seemed to have quality. I could catch largemouth everywhere and weigh 10 pounds, but the really good ones were not everywhere. It's not like you could go into a backwater pocket and catch a good one." His largemouth quest started around 11 a.m. on the first day of practice. He'd been fishing for smallmouth but saw an area that looked like it would hold some green fish. "It was really easy to get bit," he said. "They weren't big, but I kept fishing and occasionally I'd catch a better one. I fished for largemouth until the end of the day." He went back to smallmouth on the second day and ultimately started the tournament fishing for largemouth before spending the last 2 hours chasing smallmouth upgrades once he had a decent limit. He weighed mixed bags on days 1 and 2, but had all largemouth on the final 2 days. His primary largemouth tactics were a hollow-body topwater frog and flipping a Strike King creature bait. He focused most of his attention around a depression on the flat covered with milfoil. While others were catching 6 to 10 fish a day, Hackney was wearing them out. "I put a hurt on those largemouth on Saturday. I must've caught 100," he said. "I caught a big one before I was going to fish for smallmouth, then another. I didn't think I'd make the 12 cut. I figured I'd need 18 to make it." It turned out 16-04 was enough to get him into 11th. The frog bite tailed off on the final day, so he flipped the grass and came out with a day-best 19-00 to jump eight spots. "I knew from Saturday it would be slow in the morning so I went flipping," he said. "My fourth fish was a 5-pounder so I kept at it. I didn't catch a lot of them flipping, but the average size was better. I had to go through more fish with the frog to get better fish. I caught so many I couldn't get them to come up on day 4."

Topwater gear: 7'3" medium-heavy Quantum Smoke PT casting rod, Quantum EXO PT 200 casting reel (7.3:1 gear ratio), 65-pound Gamma Torque braided line, Strike King Poppin' Perch (stump jumper), Strike King KVD Sexy Frog (stump jumper). Hackney thinks the fish were keying on the yellow belly of the Poppin' Perch and frog. "It looks like a perch or bluegill," he said. The Poppin Perch isn't yet available to the public, but Hackney likes the different action it offers on the surface. "It's very erratic," he said. "It's the best open-water frog style bait ever made action-wise. It is crazy. It walks and skips and is super erratic." He tried a white version of the Poppin' Perch, but it was obvious the fish were color oriented.

Flipping gear: 7'11" heavy-action Quantum Tour Tactical Greg Hackney casting rod, Quantum EXO PT 100 casting reel (7.3:1 gear ratio), same line, 1 1/4-oz. Strike King tungsten flipping weight, 6/0 Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover flipping hook, 4" Strike King KVD Perfect Plastics Rodent (black blue flake).

Main factor: "Just keeping an open mind was the biggest thing and not doing the norm."

Performance edge: "I won the boat race every day. That Phoenix, I truly believe, is the best riding boat. All of my marshals say that and the Mercury is the fastest motor on it. I feel like it gives me an advantage. I'm not beat up and I get to have extra fishing time. I get to fish longer because I get there quicker."

St. Lawrence River 2-5 Patterns BassFan 8/5/15 (Todd Ceisner)

The fish that carried Brandon Card to the best finish of his Elite Series career were in the same spot 2 years ago. He just opted to not fish for them. "I just didn't go to them like an idiot," he said. "I thought I had to have smallmouth to do well. I found them in practice and it was a whack fest, but I didn't catch any decent fish in there." After seeing John Murray record a Top-12 finish in 2013 on largemouth, he knew he had to give it more attention this time around. "When I saw Waddington on the schedule, I knew I could back in there," he said. He tried to tap into the shallow smallmouth pattern that a lot of his competitors did well on, but "it was so random," he said. "It was one fish per shoal and I couldn't build a tournament around that." When he decided to target largemouth with a topwater frog and by punching, his friends laughed at him. "I did, too," he said. "I didn't know what to expect. I thought I could catch a bunch of fish and have fun, but I didn't think I could get a Top 5. My favorite way to catch them is on a frog. I just love it." He fished the same area as Hackney and while Hackney seemed content to hammer away at a specific smaller portion, Card moved around some. "It got pounded on," Card said. "It's not like Greg and I had a secret spot." He did most of his punching in the morning when it seemed like the fish weren't as active, especially after a couple cooler nights. His best fish on the final day came punching a creature bait through matted grass. "It was a blast being able to fish shallow there," he added. He did weigh in two smallmouth during the tournament, a 4 1/2-pounder on day 1 and a 3-pounder on day 4. Both came on a small, paddletail swimbait.

Topwater gear: 7'6" heavy-action Abu Garcia Veracity casting rod, Abu Garcia Revo STX casting reel (7:1 gear ratio), 65-pound Spiderwire braided line, SPRO Bronzeye 65 frog (various colors).

Punching gear: 7'11" heavy-action Abu Garcia Veritas casting rod, same reel, same line, 3/4- to 1 1/2-oz. unnamed tungsten punching weights, 4/0 Gamakatsu Heavy Cover Flipping hook, unnamed creature bait (dark colors).

Main factor: "Thinking outside the box and doing something different and trusting my instincts and what I saw in that bay and how it looked. I practiced in there for only 2 hours, but I knew what I was looking at. There was so much habitat and potential in there. It's so cool to look at something and just know. I didn't need to catch a 4 to know there were 4s in there."

Performance edge: "My Suzuki motor. That four-stroke worked great and I was making a pretty long run. It got pretty rough out there, but it got me there and back."

St. Lawrence River 2-5 Patterns BassFan 8/5/15 (Todd Ceisner)

Skeet Reese was looking to stop his descent down the AOY standings after missing the cut in the previous two tournaments. He achieved that with his second Top-5 finish of the season, which put him back up to 10th in points. The following information was compiled from videos posted to Reese's Facebook page during and after the tournament. Several messages left for Reese seeking comment and additional details went unanswered. "After day 1 of practice, I didn't know if I could catch one at all," Reese said. "To be able to scramble and find some fish and grind out a Top-5 finish is good for me. It was all about points this week after the two bombs I had. "It would've been great to have had a shot at winning, but I needed a bigger bag Saturday." He caught 20-08 on day 1 after getting in an area "with a lot of fish." The weight "exceeded his expectations." He caught 19-13 on day 2 to move into 2nd place behind Evers. Most of his fish were caught with a smaller, two-treble jerkbait in 6 to 8 feet of water. He was unhappy with his execution on day 3 when he caught 15-09 and fell back to 6th. "I don't know if it was me or the smallmouth," he said. "Every time I hooked a big one, it would jump off. Maybe I fished a little tighter. I don't know. That's fishing. I had opportunities to do well."

St. Lawrence River 2-5 Patterns BassFan 8/5/15 (Todd Ceisner)