10-Pounder Lifts Myers to Co-angler Title
Kentuckian wins at Chickamauga
Derrick Myers, co-angler in the 2020 Toyota Series Central Division tournament on Lake Chickamauga, says he has had a “dream week.”
“I sure have … well, the first day wasn’t,” says Myers. “The first day I zeroed. It’s the first time I’ve been to this lake, and I thought, ‘I’m not impressed.”
But Myers did a dramatic turnaround on day two when he caught a 22-15 bag, anchored by a 10-12 beast.
“I went from last to third. And then I had three today, and didn’t figure I’d ever win,” he says. “It doesn’t seem real really.”
By bringing in a final-day bag of 9-13 for 32-12 total, Myers beat out Kevin Jones, who went into the final day in first place and was actually Myers’ roommate during the tournament week. Jones came in third with 30-8. Second place co-angler was Luke Shrader from Barrington, N.J., with 30-15.
As is always the case, Myers admitted that the pros he was paired with made all the difference.
“It was the difference in styles of fishing,” he says. “The last two days their style of fishing fit more with my style of fishing.”
Myers caught all of his fish on a Strike King KVD Jerkbait. He says it was “some sort of chrome shad color,” but he wasn’t even sure exactly what. It wasn’t in the pack. It was just an old beat-up jerkbait he happened to have in his box.
“Every fish I caught was on that one jerkbait,” he says.
Myers won a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard valued at $33,500. In spite of a lousy day one, Myers, from Corbin, Ky., says he is ready to come back to Chickamauga.
“Yeah, I’m ready,” he says. “I’ll always remember Chick’ because I caught my personal best bass and won a boat. I might not ever catch another 10-pounder. But if you want to catch a big one, come down here. I saw another one bigger than the one I caught yesterday, a 10-15. This is where they grow big.”
Top 10 co-anglers
1. Derrick Myers – Corbin, Ky. – 32-12 (8) – $33,594
2. Luke Shrader – Barrington, N.J. – 30-15 (8) – $4,836
3. Kevin Jones – Somerset, Ky. – 30-8 (8) – $3,868
4. Travis Akers – Morehead, Ky. – 25-5 (8) – $3,385
5. Jason Cook – Ooltewah, Tenn. – 25-0 (8) – $2,901
6. Roger Williams – Moss Point, Miss. – 19-9 (5) – $2,418
7. James Roten – West Jefferson, N.C. – 18-5 (9) – $1,934
8. Christopher Morgan – Greendale, Wis. – 16-15 (6) – $1,692
9. John Coker – Knoxville, Tenn. – 16-6 (6) – $1,451
10. Darren Jeter – Marshall, N.C. – 15-15 (6) – $1,209