(Jan. 09, 2011 – Okeechobee, FL)… Pro Brandon Medlock of Lake Placid, Fla., caught a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart SeriesSoutheast Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 63 pounds, 8 ounces. For his victory, Medlock earned $35,000.

“I am so happy, this is unbelievable,” Medlock said.”What a day – believe it or not I lost a big one and I am just glad I was able to catch what I did.”I was flipping a jig all week, Medlock went on to say.”Black and blue one ounce with 65 pound braid. I caught the big one today under a mat with a mini cricket. I caught about 50 keepers this week. The first day the fishing was incredible. Then the cold front came through and things got a little tougher, this has just been an unbelievable experience.” (more…)

(Jan. 09, 2011 – Okeechoebee, FL)… OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Jan. 8, 2011) – The University of Tennessee, Chattanooga team of Nicholas Pratt and James Childers, won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Southeast Division on Lake Okeechobee Saturday with five bass weighing 13 pound, 13 ounces. The victory earned the team $10,000 to be split between the university and the university’s bass-fishing club; $7,500 for the bass club and $2,500 for their school. The win also helped them advance to the Southeast Division Regional Championship.

“I’m so pumped right now,” said James Childers, a sophomore in Finance. “We were fishing a lot differently than anyone else; we went to the deeper water in the canals near the dam and the Kissimmee River and used DD 22s and spinnerbaits. We found a pattern that worked for us last week during a practice we came down for and it held up today. We stuck with what we knew and it paid off.

“We knew that with the cold front that came through the shallow grassy areas that Lake Okeechobee is known for probably wouldn’t be productive so we headed for deeper water,” added Nicholas Pratt a senior in business finance. (more…)