PALATKA, Fla. - 12.Feb.2005 - Boater Bryan Hudgins of Orange Park earned $3,698 Saturday as winner of the Bass Fishing League Seminole Division bass fishing tournament on the St. John's River. The tournament was the first of five regular-season Seminole Division events and featured 115 boaters vying for the win, which earned Hudgins 200 points in the Boater Division. Hudgins also won the Ranger Cup award worth $1,000.
Hudgin's winning catch of five bass weighed 28 pounds, 3 ounces. Hudgins was flipping beds with a Peter Allen Fire Claw and a Zoom Cross Craw trick worm.
Finishing second was Mike Jackson of Interlachen with five bass weighing 20 pounds, 13 ounces that earned him $1,849. Chad Dorland of Ocala claimed $1,211 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 14 pounds, 15 ounces. In fourth was Fred Chivington Jr. of Welaka with five bass weighing 14 pounds, 10 ounces worth $941, and finishing fifth and earning $773 was Ron Klys of Gainesville with five bass weighing 13 pounds, 14 ounces.
Dorland took the Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $575 for a 9-pound, 4-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a BB craw.
Brooks Haisten of Lake City won the Co-angler Division to earn $1,649, thanks to three bass weighing 8 pounds, 3 ounces that he caught on a Carolina-rig.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Marty Gunter of Gainesville (four bass, 8 pounds, $825); Billy Coleman of Holly Hill and Brad Bedgood of Ocala tied for third place with two bass and four bass weighing 6 pounds, 4 ounces, respectively. Both anglers won $478. Rusty Berry of Lake City finished fifth (one bass, 6 pounds, 3 ounces, $345).
Berry earned $243 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with his 6-pound, 3-ounce bass he caught on a spinnerbait.
The Seminole Division's next event will be held March 5 on Harris Chain Lakes near Tavares, followed by an event on Lake Apalachicola near Wewahitchka, April 23. The third event will be held on Lake Seminole near Bainbridge, Ga., June 4. The Seminole Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 17-18 with a two-day Super Tournament on the St. John's River near Palatka.