Medlock wins EverStart Series event on Lake Okeechobee

Treadaway wins co-angler title

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – Pro Brandon Medlock of Lake Placid, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart SeriesSoutheast Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 63 pounds, 8 ounces. For his victory, Medlock earned $35,000.

“I am so happy, this is unbelievable,” Medlock said. “What a day – believe it or not I lost a big one and I am just glad I was able to catch what I did.

“I was flipping a jig all week, Medlock went on to say. “Black and blue one ounce with 65 pound braid. I caught the big one today under a mat with a mini cricket. I caught about 50 keepers this week. The first day the fishing was incredible. Then the cold front came through and things got a little tougher, this has just been an unbelievable experience.”

Rounding out the top 10 pros were:

2nd:Brandon McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., 15 bass, 58-1, $12,000

3rd: Yancy Windham, Reform, Ala., 15 bass, 54-15, $10,000

4th: Frank Jenkins, Fort Myers, Fla., 13 bass, 54-13, $9,000

5th: EverStart pro Randall Tharp, Gardendale, Ala., 15 bass, 54-12, $8,000

6th: National Guard pro Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 15 bass, 53-10, $7,000

7th: Joey Thigpen, St. Johns, Fla., 14 bass, 48-11, $6,000

8th: Rodger Beaver, Dawson, Ga., 15 bass, 46-5, $5,000

9th: JT Kenney, Palm Bay, Fla., 15 bass, 44-6, $4,000

10th: Derek Yasinski, Senoia, Ga., 11 bass, 40-10, $3,000

Joey Thigpen caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Thursday – a 9-pound, 11-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $300.

Treadaway snares co-angler crown

Rodney Treadaway of Decatur, Ala., won the Co-angler Division and Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard, with a three-day total of 14 bass weighing 37 pounds, 10 ounces.

“This has been the best week of fishing in my entire life,” said Treadaway. “Lake Okeechobee is just a great place to be, what an incredible fishery.”

Treadaway caught five bass weighing 16-8 Thursday while fishing with pro Leon Williams of Fairdale, Ky., to open the tournament in seventh place. On Friday he added five more bass weighing 13-15 to make the top-10 cut in first place while fishing with pro Kenneth (Boo) Williams of Hazard, Ky. Finally, on Saturday, he sealed the win with four bass weighing 7-3 while fishing with Brandon McMillan.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:

2nd: Gerald Bozeman, Sylvester, Ga., 12 bass, 37-3, $4,500

3rd: Bill Brown, Vero Beach, Fla., 14 bass, 35-3, $4,000

4th: Galen Fugh, Hixson, Tenn., 12 bass, 30-1, $3,500

5th: Josh Smith, Germantown, Ohio, 13 bass, 29-14, $3,000

6th: Thomas Kevin, Miramar, Fla., 15 bass, 29-12, $2,500

7th: Fred Martin, North Little Rock, Ark., 13 bass, 29-9, $2,000

8th: Ron Buck, Port Saint Lucie, Fla., 12 bass, 27-6, $1,500

9th: Lisa Opel, Hernando, Fla., 10 bass, 24-12, $1,000

10th: Ray Elmore, Calhoun, Ga., seven bass, 23-9, $800

Wayne Dixon of Sautee Nacoochee, Ga.,caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday – a 8-pound, 12-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $200.

The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship that will be held on Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tenn., Oct. 27-30.

The Lake Okeechobee EverStart Series tournament is being hosted by the Okeechobee County Tourism Development Council.

About FLW Outdoors

FLW Outdoors is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world offering anglers worldwide the opportunity to compete for millions over the course of 191 tournaments in 2011. FLW Outdoors has taken fishing mainstream with the world’s richest fantasy sports game, FLW Fantasy Fishing, where competitors can play for free as well as sign up for Player’s Advantage to gain an edge. For more information about FLW Outdoors and FLW Fantasy Fishing, visit FLWOutdoors.com or FantasyFishing.com.