Taking the win on the Strike King co-angler side in the Toyota Series presented by A.R.E. Southwestern Division event on Lake Texoma, Bill Bean tallied 31 pounds, 5 ounces over the course of the week. For his win in the event, which was presented by Abu Garcia and hosted by Discover Durant, Bean took home a brand-new Phoenix boat package worth $33,500 and fulfilled a lifelong dream.

“I’ve tried to win a boat for 40 years, from way back in the Red Man days,” Bean says, who is a retired postal worker. “I’ve always wanted to win a boat, and I finally got my bucket list checked.

“I’ve been fishing since I was 18-years-old,” Bean says. “Some years I fished five events, some years I fished a bunch. I never wanted to be a professional, I just like competing. But, my goal was always to win a boat. I’m one of those guys now that can say they’ve won a boat – it’s something we all strive for.”

To catch his fish, Bean did his damage on a ½-ounce chartreuse and white War Eagle Spinnerbait and an umbrella rig. The spinnerbait accounted for a lot of his weight the first day, but as the event wore on, his umbrella rig came into play more and more.

Bean’s umbrella rig was a YUM YUMbrella Flash Mob Jr. with ¼-ounce heads. For his swimbaits, he used both 4.8-inch Keitech Swing Impact FAT swimbaits and Bass Pro Shops Speed Shad swimbaits in shad colors.

His heavier rig forced him to reel it faster to keep from getting it hung up, and it seemed to work better than the umbrella rigs some of his pro draws were using. So, despite throwing a non-standard rig, he wasn’t in any hurry to change.

“Once I started catching fish on it, I didn’t want anything to change,” Bean says.

On the final day, with just four keepers caught late in the day, Bean wasn’t sure he would get the win.

“He had four fish, I had four fish, but I didn’t know how big they were,” Bean says. “When you’re fishing and it’s fast and furious, you don’t even really look at the size of them. Thinking about it, knew what I needed, I knew what my fish had been averaging, mathematically I knew I would win. But it was still pretty exciting, it was nice to have what you need to win it.”