By David A. Brown
BASS Press Release
WALKER, Minn. — The only thing that stood taller than Laker Howell was the fishing rod he used to win the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at Leech Lake presented by SEVIIN.
At 6-foot-5, the pro from Guntersville, Ala., armed himself with a 7-foot-9 Daiwa Kage medium swimbait rod and leaned on his largemouth prowess to tally a two-day total of 39 pounds, 13 ounces. Turning in daily weights of 19-10 and 20-3, Howell edged Texan Jace Lindsay by a pound.
The tournament’s scheduled start was postponed from Thursday to Friday due to a hazardous wind forecast. The event was shortened to two days, with the full field fishing both days.
“I don’t even have the words; I gotta thank the Lord right now,” a tearful Howell said. “Everyone who does this for a living understands why I’m crying. There’s so much you put into it. All the emotion, all the hard work. The late nights, the early mornings, all the YouTube fishing videos you study.”
