CLEWISTON, Fla. (April 16, 2018) – Boater Jason Reed of Hollister, Florida, caught five bass Saturday weighing 28 pounds, 2 ounces, to take top honors at the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division event on Lake Okeechobee. Reed earned $4,246 for his win.
Reed said he picked apart scattered eel grass in 3 feet of water in the Harney Pond area of the lake. He said he used a black and blue-colored Gambler Heavy Cover Southern Swim Jig with a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper trailer of the same color and caught around 40 keepers throughout the day.
“I found a big wave of fish that was moving in there to spawn during practice on Thursday and they were still there on Saturday,” said Reed, who earned his first career victory in BFL competition. “I fished the same two-acre area all day long and really caught them.”
Reed said the bite was slow in the morning, but picked up as soon as the sun rose higher and the wind started blowing.
“I think my fluorocarbon line helped me get more bites,” said Reed. “I had a lot of boats around me, but everyone was throwing braided line. I think that was my edge out there.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Jason Reed, Hollister, Fla., five bass, 28-2, $4,246
2nd: Dillon McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., five bass, 27-7, $2,423
3rd: Greg Harp, Vero Beach, Fla., five bass, 26-7, $1,348
4th: Nicholas Hoinig, Delray Beach, Fla., five bass, 25-5, $944
5th: Mikey Keyso Jr., North Port, Fla., five bass, 24-11, $809
6th: Jim Hurlock Jr., West Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 22-6, $742
7th: Clay Batson, Bradenton, Fla., five bass, 21-3, $674
8th: Justin Morgan, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 20-8, $573
8th: Chris Crow, Lake Placid, Fla., five bass, 20-8, $573
10th: Mike Jackson, San Mateo, Fla., five bass, 19-10, $472
Donald Dunnam of Okeechobee, Florida, brought a 9-pound, 8-ounce bass to the scale – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $555. Alex Mut of Miami, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $2,223 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 19 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Alex Mut, Miami, Fla., five bass, 19-15, $2,223
2nd: Kenneth Hunnicutt, Jacksonville, Fla., five bass, 19-4, $1,288
3rd: Brian Malys, Bartow, Fla., five bass, 18-13, $724
4th: Dana Bass, Miami, Fla., five bass, 13-1, $472
5th: Jeff Claiborne, Pembroke Pines, Fla., five bass, 12-9, $388
5th: Jerry Heaton, Webster, Fla., five bass, 12-9, $388
7th: Shannon Bryson, Merritt Island, Fla., five bass, 12-6, $337
8th: Clyde Arnold, Coconut Creek, Fla., four bass, 11-13, $303
9th: Anthony Cilladi, Orlando, Fla., five bass, 11-12, $270
10th: Timothy Hibbs, Bradenton, Fla., five bass, 11-11, $236
Hunnicutt caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division weighing in at 8 pounds, 7 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $277.