CLEWISTON, Fla. (Feb. 12, 2018) – Boater Ronnie Buck of Miami, Florida, caught five bass weighing 26 pounds, 1 ounce, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee. For his efforts, Buck took home $5,504. Buck said he spent the tournament fishing a 200-yard stretch of water in the Dyess Ditch area of the lake. He said he followed a similar pattern to what FLW Tour pro Tim Frederick did to win the FLW Tour event on Lake Okeechobee in January.
“I was basically in the same area (as Frederick). I found the fish in practice on Friday and I was able to go back and execute,” said Buck, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “There were isolated heads of grass with little stickups nearby, and the bigger ones were around the stickups.”
Buck said he used a Junebug-colored Gambler Fat Ace to catch four of five bass that he weighed, and a black and blue-colored Gambler Heavy Cover Southern Swim Jig with a Gambler Burner Craw trailer in the same color for his fifth. He said the first two hours of the day were spent with the swim jig, and the rest were spent using the Fat Ace.
“I’m not sure if they were bedding, or moving in and out. I was casting and pitching to them, and fishing as slow as I could,” said Buck.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Ronnie Buck, Miami, Fla., five bass, 26-1, $5,504
2nd: Robert Crosnoe, Inverness, Fla., five bass, 23-11, $2,752
3rd: Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., five bass, 23-0, $1,768
4th: Chad Van Slyke, Cicero, N.Y., five bass, 22-4, $1,238
5th: Jessie Mizell, Sarasota, Fla., five bass, 21-4, $1,061
6th: Richard Teschendorf, Palm Harbor, Fla., five bass, 20-2, $972
7th: Brianne McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., five bass, 19-13, $840
7th: Fred George, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 19-13, $840
9th: Mike Jackson, San Mateo, Fla., five bass, 19-4, $707
10th: Jeffery Swearingen, Albany, Ga., five bass, 18-13, $619