Clewiston Native Wilson is Co-angler Champ
He was born and raised in Clewiston, and for the last eight years Moses Wilson has been pouring his heart and soul into building a professional fishing career on his hometown waters of Lake Okeechobee. Today, Wilson took a long step forward in his quest by winning the co-angler division of the Rayovac FLW Series Southeast Division event presented by Power-Pole on Lake Okeechobee.
Wilson caught 13 pounds, 7 ounces today while fishing with pro Mark Daniels Jr. for a three-day total of 38 pounds, 2 ounces.
Wilson’s family was on hand to see him hoist the co-angler trophy, and he joked that his wife would be happy for his success, but not too happy because the winning prize is a new Ranger Z117, and now the champ plans to spend even more time on Okeechobee honing his craft.
A handful of baits were key to Wilson’s win this week, including a Yamamoto Senko, a Z-Man Original ChatterBait and a Gambler Flapp’n Shad, but none was as critical as a copperhead-colored Gambler Big EZ swimbait.
“The copperfield color imitates a shiner,” Wilson says, adding that big Okeechobee bass regularly forage on big copper-colored shiners. “I fish it Texas-rigged, pegged but weightless so I can burn it on top of the water. The biggest key for me was fishing it on 20-pound-test ANDE monofilament. I caught more fish than my boaters, and they were using braid. The monofilament is clear.”
Daniels and Wilson spent their morning at the north end of Okeechobee, where they caught several fish that were all small. Later, they moved back closer to the takeoff site to an area where Wilson knew the Big EZ bite would be hot. That’s where he caught his kicker, which earned him the win.
“I told Mark this place was going to have a Big EZ bite,” Wilson recalls. “She [his kicker bass] came up and rolled on it. I stopped the bait, then she came back and ate it.”
Top 10 Co-anglers
1st place – Moses Wilson – Clewiston, Fla. – 38 pounds, 2 ounces
2nd place – Tim Fox – Meridan, Miss. – 34 pounds, 10 ounces
3rd place – Daniel Beebe – Niota, Tenn. – 33 pounds, 15 ounces
4th place – Ken Crumpler – Marianna, Fla. – 32 pounds, 14 ounces
5th place – Johnny Nguyen – Tucson, Ariz. – 32 pounds, 1 ounce
6th place – Blaine Bucy – Weirton, W.Va. – 30 pounds, 13 ounces
7th place – Douglas Conklin – Saint Cloud, Fla. – 29 pounds, 12 ounces
8th place – Theron (Cody) Pinchin – Middleburg, Fla. – 29 pounds, 11 ounces
9th place – Dennis Sprayberry – Lehigh Acres, Fla. – 26 pounds, 11 ounces
10th place – Richard Predmore – Bainbridge, Ga. – 24 pounds, 11 ounces
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