OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (April 24, 2006) - Boater John Pemberton Jr. of Blairsville, Ga., earned $3,804 Saturday as winner of the Bass Fishing League Everglades Division bass fishing tournament on Lake Okeechobee. The tournament was the fourth of five regular-season Everglades Division events and earned Pemberton 200 points in the Boater Division.
Pemberton's winning catch of five bass weighed 18 pounds, 8 ounces. He flipped a Gambler 4-inch craw in the of Tin House Cove area and landed eight keepers before 8:30 a.m.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Jim Hurlock Jr. of Lake Worth, Fla., (five bass, 15 pounds, 11 ounces, $1,902); Mark Lamb of West Palm Beach, Fla., (five bass, 14 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,077); Robert Moore of Pinellas Park, Fla., (five bass, 14 pounds, 12 ounces, $1,077) and Ronald Roker of Naples, Fla., (five bass, 14 pounds, 8 ounces, $761).
Hurlock took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $505 for a 7-pound, 3-ounce bass.
Barry Scott of North Ft. Myers, Fla., earned $1,902 as the co-angler winner, thanks to five bass weighing 16 pounds, 9 ounces that he caught while fishing a shallow-diving crankbait in Moonshine Bay.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Anthony Valachovic of Coral Springs, Fla., (five bass, 14 pounds, 15 ounces, $951); Troy Woodham of Okeechobee (five bass, 14 pounds, 13 ounces, $634); Alan Retter of Margate, Fla., (two bass, 14 pounds, 6 ounces, $444) and David Sterling of Okeechobee (five bass, 14 pounds, 4 ounces, $380).
Bart Brown of Indialantic, Fla., earned $252 as the co-angler big-bass award winner, thanks to an 8-pound, 10-ounce bass.
The Everglades Division's final event of the regular season will be a two-day Super Tournament held Sept. 30 on Lake Okeechobee launching out of Okee-Tantie Resort.