LAKE WALES, Fla. (Jan. 15, 2018) – Boater Robert Crosnoe of Inverness, Florida, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 7 ounces, Saturday to win the 2018 Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division tournament on the Kissimmee River. Crosnoe pocketed $4,920 for his victory. Crosnoe said he spent the event flipping a type of cover he called ‘mud mats’. He said his key stretch of water was 300 yards long and on the east side of Lake Kissimmee.
“When Hurricane Irma hit Florida, lily pads weren’t able to grow on Lake Kissimmee because the water was so high,” said Crosnoe, who logged his fourth career win as a boater in the BFL Gator division. “Eventually, their roots dislodged from the bottom and floated to the surface to form these mud islands, along with some grass.”
Crosnoe said he targeted bass who sought warmth in the mud mats.
“I flipped in 3 feet of water and had 15 bites throughout the day,” said Crosnoe.
Crosnoe said he caught his fish using a Hematoma-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver with a 1¼-ounce tungsten weight on a 7-foot, 6-inch Fitzgerald Titan HD rod with 70-pound-test Vursa braid line.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Robert Crosnoe, Inverness, Fla., five bass, 18-7, $4,920
2nd: Matthew Wieteha, Miami, Fla., five bass, 18-4, $2,460
3rd: Billy Carroll, Tavares, Fla., five bass, 17-0, $1,574
4th: Van Soles, Haines City, Fla., five bass, 16-6, $1,101
5th: Andrew Markham, Lake Placid, Fla., five bass, 16-1, $944
6th: Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., five bass, 15-14, $865
7th: Marlon Crowder, Tampa, Fla., five bass, 15-4, $787
8th: Preston Clark, Eagle Lake, Fla., five bass, 15-0, $708
9th: Neal Meadors, Vero Beach, Fla., five bass, 14-9, $629
10th: Raymond Guerra, Port Saint Lucie, Fla., five bass, 14-8, $551
Chuck Webb of Sarasota, Florida, caught a bass weighing 7 pounds, 14 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $695. Larry Branch of Kissimmee, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $2,707 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Larry Branch, Kissimmee, Fla., five bass, 17-5, $2,707
2nd: Michael Wiles, Perry, Fla., five bass, 14-2, $1,180
3rd: Dean Haughey, Babson Park, Fla., five bass, 13-12, $787
4th: Jim Topmiller, Orlando, Fla., five bass, 12-14, $751
5th: Jeff Claiborne, Pembroke Pines, Fla., five bass, 12-9, $472
6th: John Trudel, Lighthouse Point, Fla., five bass, 12-5, $483
7th: Marco Carbajal, Marshall, Texas, five bass, 11-4, $393
8th: Vince Owen, Coral Springs, Fla., four bass, 11-1, $354
9th: Mike Tucker, Yalaha, Fla., five bass, 10-10, $315
10th: Timothy Hibbs, Bradenton, Fla., five bass, 10-9, $275
Branch also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – an 11-pound, 1-ounce giant. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $347.