LAKE WALES, Fla. (March 21, 2005) - Boater Jeremy Smith of Plant City earned $4,027 Saturday as winner of the Bass Fishing League Gator Division bass fishing tournament on Kissimmee Lake. The tournament was the second of five regular-season Gator Division events and featured 128 boaters vying for the win, which earned Smith 200 points in the Boater Division.
Smith's winning catch of five bass weighed 21 pounds, 4 ounces. Smith caught his bass while flipping a brush hog around lily pads on the south end of the lake.
Finishing second was John Cox of Debary with five bass weighing 20 pounds, 6 ounces that earned him $2,014. Robbie Johnson of Plant City claimed $1,319 as the third-place finisher thanks to five bass weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces. In fourth was Lee Cepero of Thonotosassa with five bass weighing 19 pounds, 5 ounces worth $1,025, and finishing fifth and earning $842 was Wayne Swindle of Orlando with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 13 ounces.
Swindle also took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $640 for a 9-pound, 14-ounce bass. He caught his big bass on a plastic worm.
Tommy Hatfield of Kissimmee earned $500 as the Ranger Cup award winner.
Shaun Lambert of Melbourne earned $1,940 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 16 pounds, 13 ounces that he caught on a watermelon red Zoom Speedworm.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jerold Kremer of Apoka (five bass, 14 pounds, 10 ounces, $970); Jamie Thompson of Ochlocknee, Ga. (five bass, 14 pounds, 5 ounces, $632); Mike Moore of Sebring (four bass, 14 pounds, 3 ounces, $494); and Larry Cruce of Cocoa (five bass, 14 pounds, 1 ounce, $406).
Moore earned an additional $305 as the co-angler big-bass award winner with a 9-pound, 4-ounce bass he caught on a junebug creature bait.
The Gator Division's next event will be held April 9 on the Harris Chain of Lakes near Tavares, followed by an event on Kissimmee Lake near Lake Wales April 23. The Gator Division will wrap up its regular season Sept. 24-25 with a two-day Super Tournament on Lake Toho near Kissimmee, Fla.