Mizell Wins Bass Fishing League Tournament on Lake Okeechobee

April 24, 2017
BFL News Archive

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (April 24, 2017) – Jessie Mizell of Sarasota, Florida, won the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 30 pounds, 4 ounces. For his win, Mizell took home $5,122.

“I began the day at my frogging hole and caught two 6-pounders,” said Mizell, who also won a Gator Division event held on Lake Okeechobee last month, for a total of three career-wins. “That’s where I caught them when I won last month, but I hadn’t been back there since.”

Mizell said his hole was a 100- by 100-yard cove on the North Shore of the lake. He said it protected bass from the wind and had a good mix of lilypads and hydrilla.

“I was actually targeting the pad clumps,” said Mizell. “I used the same frog the entire day to catch my limit.”

Mizell said his frog was a natural-colored Spro Dean Rojas Bronzeye Poppin’ 60. Around 9:30 a.m., Mizell said he originally planned on burning through some nearby schooling fish to fill out the remainder of his limit, but was unable to get anything going by 11 a.m.

“When my original plan failed, I went with Plan B and it worked,” said Mizell. “I returned to the frogging hole, and within five casts I put an 8-pound, 10-ounce bass in the boat. I had to sit down and take a drink of water because I was shaking like a leaf. It was a giant.”

The Florida stalwart said he added an additional 4- and 5-pounder to his livewell within another 20 casts.

“My 13 Fishing Envy Black Rod had the backbone I needed to pull them out of that cover,” said Mizell. “Without it, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to boat-flip them.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Jessie Mizell, Sarasota, Fla., five bass, 30-4, $5,122

               2nd:         Fred George, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 27-9, $2,236

               3rd:          Allen Walls, Loxahatchee, Fla., five bass, 27-3, $1,492

               4th:          Ronald Yentz, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., five bass, 26-7, $1,043

               5th:          Nicholas Hoinig, Delray Beach, Fla., five bass, 21-15, $1,094

               6th:          Brianne McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., five bass, 18-13, $820

               7th:          Charles Bass, Felda, Fla., five bass, 18-5, $845

               8th:          Steve Broughton, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., five bass, 17-9, $671

               9th:          Donny Bass, Naples, Fla., five bass, 17-8, $596

               10th:        Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., five bass, 17-7, $796

               10th:        Doug Garner, Port St. Lucie, Fla., five bass, 17-7, $496

Mizell’s 8-pound, 10-ounce largemouth – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – also earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $650. Christopher Jerdan of Cape Coral, Florida, won $2,561 and the Co-angler Division title Saturday after weighing five bass totaling 26 pounds even. 

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          Christopher Jerdan, Cape Coral, Fla., five bass, 26-0, $2,561

               2nd:         Jay Trudel, Boca Raton, Fla., five bass, 17-10, $1,118

               3rd:          Shawn York, Sarasota, Fla., five bass, 16-10, $845

               4th:          Grant Lasseter, Plantation, Fla., five bass, 15-10, $522

               5th:          Martin Gainsbrugh, Miami, Fla., five bass, 15-1, $447

               6th:          Jarrod Stroud, Orlando, Fla., five bass, 14-15, $410

               7th:          David DiMauro, Longwood, Fla., five bass, 14-13, $373

               8th:          Edward Wertepny Sr., Tampa, Fla., three bass, 14-12, $335

               9th:          James Brown, Margate, Fla., five bass, 14-6, $298

               10th:        Mike Morse, Plant City, Fla., five bass, 14-1, $261

Jerdan also caught the biggest bass among Co-angler Division anglers, a lunker bass weighing 8 pounds, 14 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $325.