CLEWISTON, Fla. (Jan. 28, 2019) – Boater David Anderson of Fort Myers, Florida, caught five bass Saturday weighing 18 pounds, 1 ounce, to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Okeechobee. For his win, Anderson earned $4,479. Anderson said he spent his day on the north end of the lake fishing the outside of the Kissimmee grass line and dragging baits through beds.
“I was pretty much around bedding fish – they were either coming in or going out,” said Anderson, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “I worked the outside before I went into the middle ground. It rained a little bit and was windy and cold, so the weather made me go to the middle ground instead of me cutting off the fish as they came and went. It was so windy that I had to primarily concentrate on fish that were bedding.”
He said his two key dragging baits were a black and blue Gambler Fat Ace with a 3/8-ounce Flat Out tungsten weight on 20-pound-test fluorocarbon line and a black and blue Bass Addiction Gear Boss Craw with a ½-ounce Flat Out tungsten weight on 50-pound Goat Rope braid line.
“I was fishing blind with both baits, just dragging them through beds. I used the lighter bait when there wasn’t much wind,” said Anderson.
Anderson said he caught his fish between 1 p.m. and 2:45 p.m., citing his 7-foot, 3-inch medium-heavy Reaper rod as especially helpful in feeling the bites.
“My Reaper let me feel those critical sensitive bites, which is important when you’re fishing blind. The fish only pick the bait up and move it for a few seconds, and I needed to be able to feel that in the wind.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: David Anderson, Fort Myers, Fla., five bass, 18-1, $4,479
2nd: Larry Cahan, East Palatka, Fla., five bass, 17-13, $2,140
3rd: Brian MacDougal, La Belle, Fla., five bass, 16-1, $1,426
4th: Chuck Webb, Sarasota, Fla., five bass, 15-6, $998
5th: William Schmitt, West Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 15-0, $856
6th: Sandy Melvin, Boca Grande, Fla., five bass, 14-8, $785
7th: Timothy Feller, Coral Springs, Fla., five bass, 14-0, $713
8th: Mark Lundgren, Saint Cloud, Fla., five bass, 13-7, $642
9th: Ben Cox, Andrews, S.C., five bass, 12-14, $571
10th: Jody Gardner, Tippecanoe, Ohio, five bass, 12-11, $599
Rodney Marks of Apopka, Florida, caught a 9-pound, 3-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $605. Timothy Hibbs of Bradenton, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $2,140 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 14 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Timothy Hibbs, Bradenton, Fla., four bass, 14-15, $2,140
2nd: Ernie Johnson, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 13-7, $1,170
3rd: Mitch Avant, Johnsonville, S.C., five bass, 12-6, $712
4th: Matthew May, North Fort Myers, Fla., four bass, 12-0, $549
5th: Brandon St. Pierre, Lehigh Acres, Fla., five bass, 11-10, $428
6th: Randy Paquette, Sarasota, Fla., five bass, 10-7, $392
7th: Wayman Mobley, Miami, Fla., five bass, 9-11, $339
7th: Kenneth Hunnicutt, Jacksonville, Fla., five bass, 9-11, $339
9th: Tony Kromke, La Crosse, Wis., three bass, 9-10, $267
9th: Chris Mitchell, Cocoa, Fla., five bass, 9-10, $267
Charles Kilgore of Titusville, Florida, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 8 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $302.