CLEWISTON, Fla. (Sept. 19, 2016) – Robert Crosnoe of Inverness, Florida, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 9 ounces, Sunday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division Super Tournament on Lake Okeechobee, with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 43 pounds, 13 ounces. For his win, Crosnoe took home $8,254.
“I caught all of my fish flipping a Hematoma-colored Reaction Innovations Kinky Beaver,” said Crosnoe, who earned his third career BFL win as a boater in FLW competition. “I had it rigged with a 1½-ounce tungsten weight on a 7’8” Fitzgerald Titan HD rod. I was also using PermaLine Braid Paint from Fitzgerald Fishing. I was painting my braid from the hook to 4 feet up the line, camouflaging my line. I believe the Braid Paint was the difference maker.”
Crosnoe said that he flipped super heavy cover in several areas at the very back of Harney Pond. He estimated that he caught around 40 fish throughout the two-day event but only one area produced his bigger fish. Crosnoe caught four 7-pounders from the same spot.
“I caught two 7-pounders on Saturday and two more on Sunday,” Crosnoe said. “It was a ¼-mile stretch of the muddiest, slimiest, deadest water that you could find. There was some hyacinth that had recently been sprayed and was blown in. The bluegill were popping in the hyacinth and the big bass were there eating the bluegill.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Robert Crosnoe, Inverness, Fla., 10 bass, 43-13, $8,254
2nd: George Kapiton, Inverness, Fla., 10 bass, 37-9, $3,627
3rd: Fred George, Okeechobee, Fla., 10 bass, 36-5, $2,417
4th: Kyle Monti, Okeechobee, Fla., 10 bass, 36-4, $1,693
5th: Mason Boylan, Melbourne, Fla., 10 bass, 34-1, $1,451
6th: Gary Milicevic, Labelle, Fla., 10 bass, 33-13, $2,625
7th: Tony Bennett, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 10 bass, 32-12, $1,209
8th: Brian Divito, Saint Petersburg, Fla., 10 bass, 32-6, $1,188
9th: Cedric Perry, Cross City, Fla., 10 bass, 31-7, $967
10th: Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., 10 bass, 31-7, $1,146
Milicevic caught a bass weighing 8 pounds, 5 ounces – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the Boater Big Bass award of $1,095. Rick Gunter of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, won the co-angler division and earned $3,627 with a two-day cumulative catch of 10 bass weighing 25 pounds, 14 ounces. The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Rick Gunter, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., 10 bass, 25-14, $3,627
2nd: Greg Hervey, Cape Coral, Fla., 10 bass, 25-7, $2,013
3rd: Charles Kilgore, Cape Canaveral, Fla., 10 bass, 23-11, $1,209
4th: Kevin Bermejo, Altamonte Springs, Fla., 10 bass, 23-4, $846
5th: Nik Kayler, Apopka, Fla., 10 bass, 22-14, $775
6th: Adam Trieschmann, Wellington, Fla., eight bass, 22-8, $665
7th: David DiMauro, Longwood, Fla., 10 bass, 22-0, $604
8th: Jackie Barber, Cocoa, Fla., 10 bass, 21-8, $544
9th: Robert Lauffer, Clermont, Fla., eight bass, 20-15, $1,031
10th: Kyle Stafford, Lakeland, Fla., 10 bass, 20-11, $423
Lauffer caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces, and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $547.