“I just do my thing and try to catch a limit of fish,” said the Brownsville, Ky., angler who is tied at the top of the FLW EverStart Series Central Division points race with Zach King of Clarksville, Ark., and is just two points ahead of fellow Kentuckian Lance Rickets of Central City. The Central Division’s third tournament of 2012 kicks off Thursday on the Mississippi River near LaCrosse, Wisc.

“I really don’t want to talk to anybody else before or during a tournament. I think that is counterproductive when you really have to go find them yourself, so I try to stay away from the advice of others.”

Meredith was finishing up four days of practice Thursday and, true to his convictions, he has spent the week fishing in an area where there were no other boats.

“It’s pretty lonesome where I am,” he said.

He has found “a bunch of fish” and where he is fishing, he said, when he gets around a fish it attacks.

“I’ve got a couple of grass patterns – one with a frog and one flipping that is paying off. Yesterday I had over 20 pounds, but everything fell into place. If that happens in the tournament I will be very blessed,” he said.

But he admits he does not know what it will take to win the tournament because he’s never fished here before.

“I’ve not talked to anybody else, so I will find out tomorrow at the weigh-in if what I am doing is right.”

The only problem he has run into this week, he said, is that the fish are not locked onto any one location.

“Just because you find them one day does not mean they will be there the next day. They seem to be following the bait and the current is dictating that. It keeps the bait moving.”

But, he added, that means he will just have to have patience and fish harder.

“As they say back in Kentucky, you have to keep your minnow wet,” he said.

Meredith finished third in the first Central Division EverStart tournament April 4 on Bull Shoals Lake, weighing in 10 fish at 28.06 pounds to win $6,293. He followed that with an 11th place finish on Kentucky Lake May 10, weighing 10 fish at 31.12 pounds and winning $2,000.

“I like to fish shallow and both of those tournaments played to my strength,” Meredith said.

King and Ricketts logged similar results. King finished 2nd at Bull Shoals and 12th at Kentucky Lake and Rickets was 12th at Bull shoals and 4th at Kentucky Lake.

The Strike King Angler of the Year title carries a $5,000 prize. The fourth and final stop of the EverStart Series Central Division will be on Lake of the Ozarks at Osage Beach, Mo., Sept. 13-15.

The top 40 pros and co-anglers in each of the five EverStart Divisions will qualify for the EverStart Series Championship on the Ouachita River in Monroe, La., Nov. 1-4.

The EverStart Series is Meredith’s first serious return to tournament fishing for several decades. He enjoyed early success, qualifying for the 1981 Bassmaster Classic and fishing several Red Man All Americans before going into the marine industry and having to give up competitive fishing because of time constraints.

“I’d be in a tournament and have as many as 70 phone calls in a day,” he said. “I’m giving this thing a shot this year. If I do good, I will go forward. If not, I’ll quit.”

So far in the EverStart Central Division, it does not look like he will be quitting again anytime soon.

 

FLW EverStart Series – Central Division

Jul 26-28, 2012

Mississippi River near LaCrosse, WI

Clinton Street Landing West

www.flwoutdoors.com