Evers Fails To Catch Limit, Falls To 3rd
Hill Wins Battle Of The Okies At Clarks Hill

Photo: ESPN Outdoors Oklahoma pro Kenyon Hill says he's having a lot more fun fishing this year than he has in years past.

It all started when Mike McClelland overtook Brian Snowden on the final day of the Harris Chain tournament in Florida. Then Paul Elias somehow found a way to make a five-spot upward hop on the last day at the big-bass bash that was Falcon Lake. A week later Todd Faircloth added his name to the list of comeback kids when he overcame an 8 1/2-pound deficit in the final quarter at Amistad.

Today, Oklahoma pro Kenyon Hill became the newest member of the commeback club as he weighed his best sack of the tournament at 18-02 to snatch the lead from Edwin Evers and coast to a victory by a margin of over 8 pounds at Clarks Hill.

Almost as remarkable as Hill's sack of slobs was Edwin Evers' lackluster 6-pound bag of three bass. After weighing limits of 15-, 18- and 17-plus-pounds the first 3 days, it looked like Evers was on a rock-solid foundation of hungry herring eaters. But his dismal day 4 showing pulled him down into the 3rd-place spot behind home-water hero Davy Hite who brought 12-09 to the scales today.

Kevin VanDam managed 13-07 today and that weight improved him four spots over his day 3 standing into 4th.

Elite Series sophomore and local favorite Casey Ashley said he struggled with the calm, sunny conditions today, but his 12-06 final-day limit nudged him up the leader board one spot into 5th.

Here's a look at how the final Top 12 shaped up.

1. Kenyon Hill: 68-00
2. Davy Hite: 59-08
3. Edwin Evers: 57-01
4. Kevin VanDam: 55-01
5. Casey Ashley: 54-10
6. Timmy Horton: 54-02
7. Todd Faircloth: 53-15
8. Peter Thliveros: 53-11
9. Skeet Reese: 53-06
10. Denny Brauer: 52-04
11. Alton Jones: 49-03
12. David Smith: 48-09

As is usually the case at Clarks Hill, just about every angler in the Top 12 found their fish in shallow water - extremely shallow water - on points, with the exception of Dave Smith who said he caught his fish in grassy pockets.

Photo: ESPN Outdoors With this win Hill sneaks up to 6th place in the Angler of the Year standings.

Hill, on the other hand, sacked the big bass of the day and tied the weight of the biggest bass of the tournament with his 7-01 kicker that ate a swimbait under the cloudless afternoon sky.

It's been said all week that the key to clinching at Clarks revolves around two things: being in the right spot at the right time, and making the most of the few big bites the stingy lake has been giving up. Hill accomplished both of those feats on day 4.

Hill Having Fun

This win marks Hill's first tour-level victory since his winning effort at a Bassmaster Tour event on the Alabama River in 2003. And while any win that puts a hundred grand in your bank account is sweet, this event holds a special meaning for the 21-year bass-fishing veteran.

His father is suffering from esophageal cancer, and as Hill put it: "It's pretty much got him.

"He supported me emotionally and financially when I decided I wanted to be a professional angler," he said. "I want to get the trophy to him as soon as possible so he can have it sit on his mantle. He doesn't have much time left but I know this will make him feel good."

About how his father's illness has impacted his fishing, he said: "When you watch that happen you realize that every day is a precious day. I go out every day and I just fish for the day. I leave all the worrisome whiny stuff back at the dock, and I don't let stuff upset me so much anymore.

"That happens when you realize there's some finality in life."

He said he's having "a lot more fun out there than ever before," and it's showing in his performance. This is the third time he's been in the Top 12 cut out of five events this season, and only once in 2008 has he failed to cash a check. With this victory he'll move up to 6th in the Angler of the Year (AOY) points race.

"The key is to try and get just as much from a non-successful day on the water as you do from a day where you really catch them," he said. "I've been taking that mindset into all these tournaments this year, and hopefully it'll pay off."

He described the win as "special" and added he "almost forgot what it felt like" to come out on top.

Six hard-bottomed points comprised his winning run of water, and he revisited each of those points multiple times each day. His three main producers included a pencil popper, a Sebile Magic Swimmer jointed swimbait and a Carolina-rig. He called the Carolina-rig his "safety net" and said the limits he caught with it allowed him to throw the other baits in search of bigger bites.

The full details of his winning pattern, plus pattern information for the other top finishers, will be posted soon.

2nd: Hite Went Light

Previous Clarks Hill champion Davy Hite said he used his signature Buckeye Lures Mop jig to boat most of his fish the first few days, but he had to make a switch to finish off his limit on day 4.

"I caught a 5-pounder on the Mop jig on the first day and I caught a 5-08 on it yesterday. Today was different, though. I had to break out the spinning rod and the light line to catch what I caught. It got really tough out there this afternoon.

Photo: ESPN Outdoors Davy Hite's local knowledge of Clarks Hill propelled him to a 2nd-place finish.

He said the primary difference he's noticed revolves around the behavior of the blueback herring.

"Usually on this lake when you find a school of those herring they'll stay in one spot for weeks. Right now they're only staying for hours. That's why we're having to run around so much and look for them. You can't really rely on them to be there."

4th: Lack of Wind Hurt VanDam

Kevin VanDam was another pro singing a sad song about the bite-killing conditions that settled over Clarks Hill today.

"I knew that I could catch a good stringer today if we had wind or clouds, and we didn't have either," he said. "These fish really bite if you get wind, but they've been kind of finicky all week. You can fish a point for an hour and then drive up there and you'll see four of five fish just sitting there. It's really frustrating."

With all the herring hoopla flying around this week it seems that most of the anglers forgot that there's a secondary forage fish on this lake - threadfin shad. VanDam was one of the few competitors who said he believes his bass were relating more strongly to the shad movements than they were the herring.

While several pros were throwing big topwaters and jigs, he employed a slightly different technique involving a Strike King Zero soft-plastic jerkbait to coax his bites today.

"I was fishing that Zero fast right up near the top, kind of like a topwater," he said. "These fish are so conditioned to those big topwater baits I just wanted to do something different.

"My best bait was really a Strike King RedEye shad," he added. "I'd throw it up on those points and just rip it up and let it fall. You couldn't let them get a good look at it. These fish know the difference between what's real and what's not."

5th: Ashley Stayed on Top

Casey Ashley had relied exclusively on a topwater bite the first 3 days of the tournament, but the second-year South Carolina pro had to switch to a swimbait today.

"The only thing eating that topwater was a bunch of stripers," he said.

Ashley knows this water well, and he stressed the importance of returning to spots several times throughout the day.

"You have to come back to your points," he said. "It's all about timing here, and if you're not checking your stuff a few times every day you're probably missing them.

"Once you catch one fish you bring the whole school off with it," he added. "You have to give those fish time to move up and get positioned again to where you can catch them."

7th: Faircloth Mixed it Up

Clarks Hill hasn't been kind to Todd Faircloth. The last three visits here he's place no higher than 48th, and he posted a 75th-place finish here in 2007. But the Texas pro is having the best year of his 10-year career, and he finally figured out a way to beat the Clarks curse.

"The first day I fished around stumps and I was catching bed fish," he said. "What really saved me was the second day I figured out a point pattern. I stayed on those points yesterday and caught a good bag. That's definitely where the bigger fish are."

He caught his fish on a combination of three baits: a Sebile Magic Swimmer jointed swimbait, a Yamamoto Shad-Shaped worm and an All-Terrain Tackle jig. He also noted that he "didn't catch a fish (in water) deeper than 5 feet all week."

With this finish he'll replace Mike McClelland as the top contender in the AOY points race, but he knows there's still a lot of road to be traveled and fish to be caught before that battle is over.

"We're not even halfway through the season," he noted. "It's still a little early to be thinking about that. Right now I'm just trying to take it tournament by tournament. I'm looking forward to the next couple events, and I'm just excited to be where I'm at."

Photo: EPSN Outdoors Peter Thliveros says he soaked his Carolina-rig so long his worms changed colors.

If there's a Carolina-rig bite to be had you can bet that Peter "T" Thliveros will find it. While most pros were busy burning gas and flinging casts, Thliveros settled in for the slow grind.

"I only had three little places and Casey (Ashley) and I were hop-scotching on the same water, but we were on completely separate deals," he said. "Casey was bouncing around me going 'boop, boop, boop' and I was just sitting there soaking my worm until it changed color."

About why more pros didn't get dialed in to the 'ball and chain' bite, he said: "I think it's really just too slow of a process for most people on this lake. You can catch the winning fish by running around so fast here that nobody wants to slow down and wait it out.

"The main thing is you have to be patient and pay attention to the details on those points," he added. "The other thing is that you have to fish shallow. These fish get shallower here than they do anywhere else. The herring are such fast swimmers that in order for the bass to have a chance they have to herd those baitfish up into shallow water where they can't get away."

He used a Tru-Tungsten weight on top of a Tru-Tungsten Peter "T" Force bead for a little added audible appeal on his Carolina-rig.

Additional Notes