Winning FLW Outdoors events on Lake Okeechobee is becoming a family tradition for the Kimbrough family.
Last year, Robert Kimbrough of Vero Beach, Fla., won the Co-angler Division of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Lake Okeechobee. This year, it was his brother’s turn.
Edwin Kimbrough of Sebastian, Fla., hauled in an impressive 15-pound, 7-ounce limit from Lake Okeechobee to handily win the Co-angler Division of the EverStart Series Southeast opener with a two-day total of 22 pounds even.
“I’m tickled to death,” Kimbrough said. “My older brother has won several big tournaments here, and my dad kept telling me to give it a try. So I did, and this is what happened. It’s great.”
Kimbrough caught all of his fish on a June bug Senko rigged on a weighted hook.
He caught his two biggest fish, one close to 8 pounds and the other about 3 pounds, on back-to-back casts with just minutes left in the day.
“It just goes to show, you can never give up,” he added.
Kimbrough said he would use his $5,000 in winnings to make repairs to his house, which incurred damage in the hurricanes earlier this year.
Ed Dixon of Moore Haven, Fla., finished second with a two-day total of 16 pounds, 5 ounces.
Aymon Wilcox of Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., finished third with a two-day total of 13 pounds, 13 ounces.
Kenneth Owens of Wise, Va., finished fourth with a two-day total of 13 pounds, 10 ounces.
And Alan Weiss of Greensburg, Pa., finished fifth with 7 pounds, 8 ounces.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were Mike McClenaghan of Jacksonville, Fla., in sixth place with a two-day total of 7 pounds, 3 ounces; Randy Vriesman of Oviedo, Fla., in seventh place with a two-day total of 6 pounds, 14 ounces; Reginald Pickett of Greensboro, N.C., in eighth place with a two-day total of 6 pounds, 2 ounces; Lloyd Meyers of Jacksonville, Fla., in ninth place with a two-day total of 2 pounds, 13 ounces; and Johnnie Parker of Elk Horn, Ky., in 10th place with a two-day total of 1 pound, 8 ounces.
Coming up
The next Southeast Division tourney is scheduled for Santee Cooper lakes near Manning, S.C., March 2-5.
The next EverStart Series event is the Western Division opener at Lake Havasu near Lake Havasu City, Ariz., Jan. 26-29.