Inverness’ Crosnoe wins FLW Bass Fishing League Gator Division Finale on Lake Okeechobee

CLEWISTON, Fla. – 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:

                1^st:           Robert Crosnoe, Inverness, Fla., 10 bass, 43-13, $8,254

                2^nd:          George Kapiton, Inverness, Fla., 10 bass, 37-9, $3,627

                3^rd:          Fred George, Okeechobee, Fla., 10 bass, 36-5, $2,417

                4^th:           Kyle Monti, Okeechobee, Fla., 10 bass, 36-4, $1,693

                5^th:           Mason Boylan, Melbourne, Fla., 10 bass, 34-1, $1,451

                6^th:           Gary Milicevic, Labelle, Fla., 10 bass, 33-13, $2,625

                7^th:           Tony Bennett, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 10 bass, 32-12, $1,209

                8^th:           Brian Divito, Saint Petersburg, Fla., 10 bass, 32-6, $1,188

                9^th:           Cedric Perry, Cross City, Fla., 10 bass, 31-7, $967

                10^th:        Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., 10 bass, 31-7, $1,146

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com. 

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:

                1^st:           Rick Gunter, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., 10 bass, 25-14, $3,627

                2^nd:          Greg Hervey, Cape Coral, Fla., 10 bass, 25-7, $2,013

                3^rd:          Charles Kilgore, Cape Canaveral, Fla., 10 bass, 23-11, $1,209

                4^th:           Kevin Bermejo, Altamonte Springs, Fla., 10 bass, 23-4, $846

                5^th:           Nik Kayler, Apopka, Fla., 10 bass, 22-14, $775

                6^th:           Adam Trieschmann, Wellington, Fla., eight bass, 22-8, $665

                7^th:           David DiMauro, Longwood, Fla., 10 bass, 22-0, $604

                8^th:           Jackie Barber, Cocoa, Fla., 10 bass, 21-8, $544

                9^th:           Robert Lauffer, Clermont, Fla., eight bass, 20-15, $1,031

                10^th:        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.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 13-15 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C 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 50 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat: @FLWFishing.

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