OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Feb. 20, 2012) – Bob Bostdorf of Apopka, Fla., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 26 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League Gator Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee. For his victory, Bostdorf earned $6,000.
“I’ve been trying to win one of these for 30 years,” said Bostdorf. “I’ve been close multiple times, just a pound or two away. I’m excited I finally got over the hump and won one! I just had one of those days where the fish that I had found on Friday afternoon stayed there and they didn’t disappear or shrink on me.
“We had a fog delay,” Bostdorf continued. “They finally let us go out around 8:40 a.m. We had to slow way down due to the fog, but once we got to my spot I basically never cranked the motor again. I had one stretch of cover that I fished the entire day that was about 100 to 150 yards long. I had a lot of company in the area, but nobody else was catching them. My main bait was a Zoom Fluke in watermelon red. I was fishing it weightless, real slow. When I mean slow, I mean dead-sticking. You just throw it out there and you don’t move the bait, you just let it sink. Most of my bites came on the initial cast as the bait would fall. It wasn’t fast and furious; I only caught seven keepers on the day, but was able to get three that were a little over 6 pounds. I’ll definitely be at Lake Toho in a few weeks.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Joseph Kremer, Osteen, Fla., five bass, 25-11, $3,000
3rd: Keith Fels, Ocala, Fla., five bass, 24-1, $2,000
4th: William Closson, Beverly Hills, Fla., five bass, 22-11, $1,400
5th: Richard Held, Lake Worth, Fla., five bass, 22-8, $1,200
6th: Timothy Feller, Coral Springs, Fla., five bass, 22-6, $1,100
7th: Val Osinski, Pompano Beach, Fla., five bass, 22-1, $1,000
8th: Brandon Medlock, Lake Placid, Fla., five bass, 21-3, $900
9th: Ronald Yurko, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 20-8, $800
10th: J. Nobel Willits, Altamonte Springs, Fla., five bass, 20-2, $700
Tony Martinez of Bunnell, Fla., weighed in four bass totaling 16 pounds, 4 ounces Saturday to win $3,006 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Dave Dickens, Sarasota, Fla., five bass, 16-2, $1,503
3rd: August Carnahan, Celebration, Fla., five bass, 14-8, $1,008
4th: Nik Kayler, Apopka, Fla., five bass, 14-7, $701
5th: Robert Turcotte, Naples, Fla., three bass, 14-4, $601
6th: Edwin Rivera, Orlando, Fla., five bass, 12-3, $551
7th: Christian Smith, Coral Springs, Fla., five bass, 11-13, $501
8th: Bo Boyles, Deltona, Fla., five bass, 11-12, $451
9th: Robert Hertzer, Tamarac, Fla., five bass, 11-10, $401
10th: Kenneth Bivins, Orlando, Fla., five bass, 11-7, $351
The next BFL Gator Division tournament is scheduled for March 10 on Lake Toho in Kissimmee, Fla. After the fifth Gator Division tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 4-6 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Ga. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 40 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for the BFL All-American. The 2012 BFL All-American is being held May 17 – 19 on the Potomac River in National Harbor, Md. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the FLW Tour.