TAVARES, Fla. (Feb. 16, 2009) - Boater Wyatt Boyd of Winter Haven, Fla., won the Bass Fishing League Gator Division bass fishing tournament on the Harris Chain of Lakes Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 27 pounds, 9 ounces. The victory earned Boyd $4,163 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Clarks Hill Lake Regional Championship in Appling, Ga., Oct. 15-17, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Lee McCracken of Ocala, Fla. (five bass, 21-10, $2,082); Trevor Fitzgerald of Ocklawaha, Fla. (five bass, 19-9, $1,387); Timmy Givens of Keystone Heights, Fla. (five bass, 19-7, $971) and Vernon Kemp of Umatilla, Fla. (five bass, 19-6, $798).
McCracken took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $580 for a 9-pound, 12-ounce bass he caught.
Adam Trott of Lakeland, Fla., earned $2,064as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 20 pounds, 10 ounces.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Terry Free of Mount Dora, Fla. (five bass, 18-4, $1,032); Richard Carlson of Inverness, Fla. (five bass, 16-9, $688); Robert Dice of Perry, Fla. (five bass, 15-0, $482); and Richard West of Astatula, Fla. (five bass, 12-9, $413).
Trott earned $287 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching an 8-pound, 7-ounce bass.
The next Gator Division event will be held on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Tavares, Fla., April 4.
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFL's 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee Regional Championship where boaters fish for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck and co-anglers fish for a new Ranger boat. Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee Walmart BFL All-American, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers advancing through BFL competition.
In BFL competition, boaters supply the boat and compete from the front deck against other boaters. Co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.