OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (March 18, 2019) – Boater Alex Terescenko of West Palm Beach, Florida, brought five bass to the scale weighing 20 pounds, 8 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee. For his win, Terescenko pocketed $3,792.
“The lake has dropped 6 inches in the past week, so I was pretty much in open water casting to the outside grass line on the north end near the Tin House area. The cleaner water drew me to the area,” said Terescenko, who notched his first career win in FLW competition. “I fished a 60-yard stretch. During practice I fished through a lot of water, and the rule of thumb on the lake is finding where the dirtier water meets the clean water, and that stretch was where it happened.”
Terescenko said he caught his fish on a Texas-rigged, Ice Breaker-colored Gambler Lures Big EZ swimbait on a 5/0-sized Gamakatsu SuperLine EWG Offset Hook and Gambler Lures Hollow Point. He also used a Texas-rigged, Gold Rush-colored Gambler EZ Vibez Swimbait on the same Gamakatsu hook, but 4/0-sized, and a Hawgtech 3/8-ounce tungsten weight with a black and blue-colored punch skirt. He added that he caught all of his fish on a custom MHX MB904 rod.
“The first thing in the morning I heard fish busting on top eating shad, so I ran the Big EZ over the top of the grass,” said Terescenko. “After they stopped showing on top, I switched to the Vibez swimmer and slow-rolled it just below the surface. I prefer this over a swim jig in heavier grass because the swimbait is Texas-rigged, making it more weedless than a swim jig. Also, the punch skirt from Gambler gives the same flair effect of a swim jig.”
At 11 a.m., Terescenko let the area rest. He said he ran to some spots that he’d had some success at recently, but found them to be unproductive and ended up returning. In all, the Florida boater caught about 12 keepers throughout the tournament.
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Alex Terescenko, West Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 20-8, $3,792
2nd: David Anderson, Fort Myers, Fla., five bass, 19-1, $1,796
3rd: John Adkinson, Winter Haven, Fla., five bass, 18-15, $1,301
4th: Clay Batson, Bradenton, Fla., five bass, 18-9, $838
5th: Eric Johnson, Millis, Mass., five bass, 18-0, $718
6th: Chris McBeath, Bradenton, Fla., five bass, 17-13, $629
6th: Brett Cannon, Parkland, Fla., five bass, 17-13, $629
8th: Bradley MacQueen, West Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 17-7, $789
9th: Lionel Botha, Malabar, Fla., five bass, 17-4, $449
9th: Nicholas Hoinig, Port St. Lucie, Fla., five bass, 17-4, $449
Dean Meckes of Clayton, New York, caught a 7-pound, 11-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $460. Chad Schroeder of Zephyrhills, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $2,176 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 18 pounds, 9 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Chad Schroeder, Zephyrhills, Fla., five bass, 18-9, $2,176
2nd: Ernie Johnson, Okeechobee, Fla., four bass, 15-8, $1,098
3rd: Shannon Pitts, Vero Beach, Fla., five bass, 14-15, $648
4th: Brad Ballard, Winona, Minn., five bass, 14-9, $419
5th: Dana Bass, Miami, Fla., five bass, 14-7, $359
6th: Shannon Bryson, Merritt Island, Fla., three bass, 13-5, $314
6th: William House, Davie, Fla., five bass, 13-5, $314
8th: Jeff Peterson, Lake Worth, Fla., five bass, 12-14, $269
9th: Donald Frank, Fridley, Minn., five bass, 12-9, $239
10th: Cody Farnham, Port St Lucie, Fla., five bass, 12-8, $199
10th: Jason Nantz, Valrico, Fla., five bass, 12-8, $199
Schroeder also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 9 pounds even. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $230.