DJ Willie doubles up
Wilcox wins back-to-back FLW Tour Lake Okeechobee events
CLEWISTON, Fla. – Aymon Wilcox officially got the monkey off his back in 2011. After several near misses, Wilcox finally won the Walmart FLW Tour event held on Okeechobee, his home lake. In 2012, he repeated the feat under much different, much tougher circumstances.
Wilcox started the 2012 opener in sixth place Thursday with five bass weighing 16-5. On Friday, he moved up to second on the strength of a five-bass catch weighing 10-8. He saved his best for last Saturday as he caught a 17-pound, 7-ounce stringer despite sustained winds of 25 to 30 mph.
“The bite was so much better last year,” said Wilcox, who has been fishing the Big O since he was 13 years old. “This year I felt like you would only get bit on certain key stretches.”
Wilcox used two setups all week. When he was fishing pencil reeds, he would Texas rig a 6-inch Tuscaroran stickbait (black and blue) with a 1/8-ounce weight and the bait would flutter nicely between the reeds. When he fished mats and cattails, the Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., native would flip a 1/2-ounce Gambler jig (black) and use either a Tuscaroran trailer or a Net Bait Paca Craw. He tied both setups to 30-pound test Trilene Big Game monofilament line and tried to pitch as far back into the vegetation as he could.
“My big fish today, the 7 1/2-pounder, came on the jig.”
Anyone who has fished with the 33-year-old Wilcox knows focused and determined he is.
“I just got to work this week. I came into this tournament with confidence and I worked hard. It’s just a lot of practicing and learning; that’s all there is to it.”
For a total weight of 44 pounds, 4 ounces, the part-time disc jockey known as DJ Willie earned another $20,000.
“These two wins mean about the same. I’m just so blessed to win these two events. There are so many good fishermen that don’t get this opportunity. All I want to do is leave a mark.”
Agouros slips to second
Opening-round leader Spiro Agouros slipped to second after catching three bass that weighed 5 pounds, 1 ounce. The Peterborough, Ontario, native and reigning angler of the year from Canada’s Top Bass Tournament Series finished the tournament with a three-day total of 38 pounds even.
“I started the day with a Swimming Senko and right away I lost a 3 1/2-pounder,” he said. “Then I caught my big fish, a 3-pounder, and then I lost another one. Then Randall decided to go flipping and I 
could just tell the flipping bite was not on. So I switched up and threw a 3/8-ounce Terminator spinnerbait with a Secret Lures frog off the end. That’s how I caught my other two.”
Agouros’ main bait earlier this week was the new Trigger X Flappin’ Bug. When flipping, he rigged the bait on a 1/2-ounce Rein’s tungsten weight and used 65-pound Sufix 832 braid.
Agouros’ consolation prize is a check worth $7,625.
His 8-pound, 1-ounce day-one kicker officially tied for the biggest bass of the week among the co-anglers.
Rest of the best
Jason Counsil of Casselberry, Fla., rose from eighth to third with an 11-pound limit.
Counsil finished the tournament with 34 pounds, 8 ounces and earned $5,000.
Ralph Mulleins of Cumberland, Va., caught a limit Saturday weighing 6 pounds, 14 ounces that resulted in a fourth-place finish. Mulleins’ total weight was 33 pounds, 5 ounces and he earned $4,000.
Larry Hostetler of Floyds Knobb, Ind., finished in fifth place after catching a five-bass limit weighing 10 pounds, 3 ounces. Hostetler finished the event with a total weight of 33 pounds, 2 ounces – earning $3,000.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers at the FLW Tour event on Lake Okeechobee:
6th: Shannon Schiner of Pompano Beach, Fla., 31-3, $2,500
7th: Marlon Crowder of Tampa, Fla., 29-10, $2,000
8th: Timothy Dearing of Loudon, Tenn., 27-10, $1,800
9th: Rod Lambirth of Odessa, Texas, 26-0, $1,700
10th: Theo Corcoran of Waterford, Mich., 25-13, $1,600