(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 of the fishing was incredible. Then the cold front came through and things got a little tougher, this has just been an unbelievable experience.”

Rounding out the top 10 pros were:

2nd:	Brandon McMillan	Belle Glade, Fla.	15 bass	58-1	$12,000
3rd:	Yancy Windham	Reform, Ala.	15 bass	54-15	$10,000
4th:	Frank Jenkins	Fort Myers, Fla.	13 bass	54-13	$9,000
5th:	EverStart pro Randall Tharp	Gardendale, Ala.	15 bass	54-12	$8,000
6th:	National Guard pro Justin Lucas	Guntersville, Ala.	15 bass	53-10	$7,000
7th:	Joey Thigpen	St. Johns, Fla.	14 bass	48-11	$6,000
8th:	Rodger Beaver	Dawson, Ga.	15 bass	46-5	$5,000
9th:	JT Kenney	Palm Bay, Fla.	15 bass	44-6	$4,000
10th:	Derek Yasinski	Senoia, Ga.	11 bass	40-10	$3,000

Joey Thigpen caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Pro Division Thursday – a 9-pound, 11-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $300.

Rodney Treadaway of Decatur, Ala., won the Co-angler Division and Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard, with a three-day total of 14 bass weighing 37 pounds, 10 ounces.

“This has been the best week of fishing in my entire life,” said Treadaway.” Lake Okeechobee is just a great place to be, what an incredible fishery.” Treadaway caught five bass weighing 16-8 Thursday while fishing with pro-Leon Williams of Fairdale, Ky., to open the tournament in seventh place. On Friday he added five more bass weighing 13-15 to make the top-10 cut in the first place while fishing with pro-Kenneth (Boo) Williams of Hazard, Ky. Finally, on Saturday, he sealed the win with four bass weighing 7-3 while fishing with Brandon McMillan.

Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:

2nd:	Gerald Bozeman	, Sylvester, Ga.	12 bass	37-3	$4,500
3rd:	Bill Brown	Vero Beach, Fla.	14 bass	35-3	$4,000
4th:	Galen Fugh	Hixson, Tenn.	12 bass	30-1	$3,500
5th:	Josh Smith	Germantown, Ohio	13 bass	29-14	$3,000
6th:	Thomas Kevin	Miramar, Fla.	15 bass	29-12	$2,500
7th:	Fred Martin	North Little Rock, Ark.	13 bass	29-9	$2,000
8th:	Ron Buck	Port Saint Lucie, Fla.	12 bass	27-6	$1,500
9th:	Lisa Opel	Hernando, Fla.	10 bass	24-12	$1,000
10th:	Ray Elmore	Calhoun, Ga.	seven bass	23-9	$800

Wayne Dixon of Sautee Nacoochee, Ga., caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the Co-angler Division Thursday – an 8-pound, 12-ounce bass – that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $200.

The EverStart Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeast, Texas, and Western. Each division consists of four tournaments and competitors will be vying for valuable points in each division that could earn them the Angler of the Year title along with $5,000 for the pro and $2,000 for the co-angler. The top 40 pros and co-anglers from each respective division will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship that will be held on Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Tenn., Oct. 27-30.

The Lake Okeechobee EverStart Series tournament is being hosted by the Okeechobee County Tourism Development Council.

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