TAVARES, Fla. - Boater Steve Naas of Inverness earned $5,000 Saturday as winner of the Bass Fishing League Gator Division bass fishing tournament on the Harris Chain. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Gator Division events and featured 200 boaters vying for the win, which earned Naas 200 points in the Boater Division.
Naas used a 4-inch Gambler Crawdaddy in Lake Griffin to catch his tournament-winning bass - five weighing 25 pounds, 3 ounces. He earned $1,000 from Ranger Boats as the highest-finishing participant in the Ranger Cup incentive program, and he earned another $1,000 from Garmin for using Garmin electronics during the event.
Finishing second was Allan Cagle of Deltona with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 3 ounces that earned him $2,500. Rick Ankenbauer of Clearwater claimed $1,700 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 17 pounds, 6 ounces. Tied for fourth were Bobby Lane of Lakeland (four bass) and Bob Decker of Clermont (three bass). Both men caught 16 pounds, 1 ounce worth of bass that earned each of them $1,200.
Lane took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $1,000 for a 9-pound, 8-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a Senko.
Robert Peifer of Lake Placid bested 200 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $2,500 as the co-angler winner, thanks to three bass weighing 14 pounds, 3 ounces that he caught on a 7-inch Gambler worm.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Brian Stahl of Wesley Chapel (four bass, 12 pounds, 11 ounces, $1,250); Matthew Beck of Inverness (two bass, 9 pounds, 2 ounces, $850); James Trudel of Lighthouse Point (three bass, 8 pounds, 7 ounces, $650); and Frank Mitchem of Orlando (three bass, 7 pounds, 14 ounces, $550).
Peifer also earned $500 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 7-pound, 6-ounce bass.