King of the Hill
North Carolina co-angler nets first EverStart tourney win
GROVE, Okla. – It was a long time coming. After nearly two dozen top-10 finishes in the Co-angler Division on the EverStart tour over the past four years, Fred Hill of Roxboro, N.C. finally came out on top. Using a catch of 8 pounds, 1 ounce, Hill captured first-place honors and a check for $6,000 – narrowly beating out second-place finisher Brian Tolley by a slim 2 ounces.
“This is great. I’m thrilled to death,” said Hill, ecstatic over his victory. “I’ve been in the finals lots of times, but I really wanted this one. Everything just worked out.
“It’s humbling in a lot of ways,” continued Hill. “I kind of feel like I don’t deserve it.”
Although Hill walked away with the title, he said he didn’t think he had a chance when he found out yesterday the type of water his pro partner would be fishing in the finals.
“When my partner said he was going to be fishing shallow ditches, I didn’t think I’d catch a fish at all today,” said Hill, who used a fluke bait to land the majority of his catch. “As a co-angler, there’s usually not a lot of room to fish in that situation. I thought I was in real trouble.”
With the win finally secured, Hill turned his thoughts to what mattered most.
“I want to go out there and go fishing right now,” he said.
Tolley loses heartbreaker
After losing out on first place by a mere 2 ounces, Brian Tolley of Katy, Texas, could be excused for feeling sorry for himself. However, that wasn’t the case at all. Tolley, one of the more jovial members of the EverStart tour, said he couldn’t have been more pleased with the outcome.
“It feels awesome,” said Tolley, who walked away with a check for $4,000 after registering a catch of 7 pounds, 15 ounces. “I didn’t catch a fish in practice and I was about ready to go home. But it turned out to be just one of those weeks where everything worked out perfectly.”
Keith Johnson of Moore, Okla., took third place after landing a catch weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces.
“I’ve had a great time,” said Johnson, who won a check for $3,500. “I’ve really enjoyed this lake.”
Dennis Huggins of Broken Arrow, Okla., finished in fourth place and won a check for $3,000 after landing a catch of 6 pounds, 12 ounces. Willie Ogden of Wentzville, Mo., took home fifth place after netting a total catch weighing 4 pounds, 8 ounces. Ogden won $2,500 for his efforts.
Best of the rest
Rounding out the top 10 co-angler finalists were: Larry Creech of Columbia City, Ind., with a catch of 2 pounds, 6 ounces; Bobby Reed of Cypress, Texas, with a catch of 1 pounds, 15 ounces; Bobby McMullin of Pevely, Mo., with a catch of 0 pounds; Mike Swayne of Du Quoin, Ill., with a catch of 0 pounds; and Steve Marler of Fenton, Mo., with a catch of 0 pounds.
Tiebreakers were determined by using the combined totals of the anglers’ day-one and day-two performances.
The next EverStart Central Division event is scheduled to take place May 1-4 on Kentucky Lake in Gilbertsville, Ky.
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