FLW Press Release
OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – For an entire year Keith Fels of Ocala, Fla., has had to live with the nightmare that occurred last year at the Rayovac FLW Series on Lake Okeechobee.
In that event, Fels entered the final day of the event in fifth place. Everything was going according to plan on the last day, including the 20-plus pounds that was swimming in his livewell. Then his cranking battery died. He was able to jump it off and made a fateful decision to keep the outboard running in neutral while he fished from the front deck without his kill switch attached.
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| Luckily, Fels day 2 bag was super heavy because he almost let it slip away today. (Photo: FLW) |
The grievous error constituted a rules infraction that requires the kill switch to be attached to the pro anytime the motor is running. As result, Fels catch for the day was disqualified, costing him his first Rayovac Series win.
Today, Fels redeemed himself from the mistake, holding a Rayovac FLW Series trophy in his hands.
“Redemption,” sighed an exasperated Fels, who is a driver for Fed Ex in Ocala. “This helps make up for last year for sure. That’s 40 grand I can use to pay off my truck and boat.”
Fels took a healthy 12-pound lead into the final day, but his four-bass bag weighing in at only 7 pounds, 15 ounces today left the door open. Jared McMillan tried to take advantage of the opportunity to rain on Fels’ wire-to-wire parade, but Fels had built up too much of a lead overcome with his previous days’ bags of 20 pounds, 9 ounces and 26 pounds, 7 ounces, respectively. In the end, Fels held on to victory with a three-day total of 54 pounds, 15 ounces, winning by 2 pounds, 4 ounces.
And Fels might forever remember the 10-pound, 9-ounce monster he caught on day 2 – that he had to hand-line in after his line broke – which pushed him over the top.
Fels’ week centered on pitching a Gambler 1-1/4-ounce Jigzilla, trailed with a Gambler Megadaddy trailer (both black/blue), into holes in hydrilla in several feet of water. He fished the big jig on 65-pound braid with Fitzgerald’s Rods in lengths of 7-foot, 6-inches and 7-foot, 10 inches.
Fels could not confirm whether the fish were bedding in the holes saying, “the water was too dingy to see down that far.”
As to why his catch fell off so dramatically today, Fels said that the wind wreaked havoc on his boat control in the matted hydrilla.
