TAVARES, Fla. (Feb. 18, 2008) - Boater Leonard Jones of Mims, Fla., won the Bass Fishing League Gator Division bass fishing tournament on Harris Chain of Lakes Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 21 pounds, 5 ounces. The victory earned Jones $4,169 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Murray Regional Championship in Columbia, S.C., Oct. 23-25, where he could ultimately win a new 198VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Jones caught his bass flipping a worm.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Jeff Fitts of Keystone Heights, Fla. (five bass, 18-09, $2,453); Dennis Diminich of Altamonte Springs, Fla. (five bass, 18-00, $1,635); Kyle Fox of Lakeland, Fla. (five bass, 17-14, $1,145) and Todd Casidy of Kissimmee, Fla. (five bass, 16-04, $981).
Fitts took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $740 for a 8-pound, 2-ounce bass.
Rick Shaver of Clermont, Fla., earned $2,453 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces that he caught on a worm flipping grass.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Matthew Rhoden of Glen Saint Mary, Fla. (three bass, 15-00, $1,226); Arthur Divi of Tampa, Fla. (four bass, 11-09, $816); Ken Willits of Mt. Dora, Fla. (five bass, 10-14, $572) and Chad Dorland of Dunnellon, Fla. (five bass, 10-11, $491).
Divi earned $370 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 8-pound, 2-ounce bass he caught on a worm flipping grass.
Gator Division anglers will visit Lake Kissimmee in Lake Wales, Fla., March 8 for their third regular-season event. The division's fourth qualifying event will be held on Harris Chain of Lakes in Tavares, April 5. A two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event, will be held on the St. John's River in Patatka, Fla., Sept. 20-21.