Nix Flips Reeds on Big O
Trudel takes Gator Division co-angler title
Neil Nix of Okeechobee, Florida, brought five bass to the scale Saturday weighing 21 pounds, 11 ounces, to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee. For his victory, Nix earned $5,641.
“I fished the North Shore area of the lake around scattered reed clumps. It’s a spawning area and during the spawn they get on those isolated clumps,” says Nix, who earned his second career win in FLW competition. “I caught most of my good fish early before 8:30 [a.m.], and one good one – a 4-pounder – around 11.”
Nix used a Texas-rigged, black and blue-colored Gambler Fat Ace with a 3/16-ounce weight to catch his fish on Saturday.
“I ended up catching more than 20 keepers during the tournament,” says Neil. “I also caught a couple flipping in Observation Shoals with a Texas-rigged [black and blue-colored Reaction Innovations] Sweet Beaver, but didn’t end up weighing any of those fish.”
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Neil Nix, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 21-11, $3,641 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Santos Solis, Vero Beach, Fla., five bass, 21-3, $1,820
3rd: William Schmitt, West Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 19-14, $1,032
3rd: Robert Crosnoe, Inverness, Fla., five bass, 19-14, $1,032
5th: Mikey Keyso Jr., North Port, Fla., five bass, 18-4, $728
6th: Jim Hurlock Jr., West Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 17-9, $668
7th: Mike Davis, Alachua, Fla., five bass, 16-15, $1,082
8th: Jonathan Lecrone, Orlando, Fla., five bass, 16-5, $546
9th: Brett Cannon, Parkland, Fla., five bass, 15-8, $455
9th: Rick Mitchell, Naples, Fla., five bass, 15-8, $455
Complete results can be found at FLWFishi/ng.com.
Davis caught a largemouth weighing 9 pounds even – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $475.
Trudel wins co-angler title
Jay Trudel of Boca Raton, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $1,920 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 19 pounds, 13 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Jay Trudel, Boca Raton, Fla., five bass, 19-13, $1,920
2nd: Robert Turcotte, Naples, Fla., five bass, 16-0, $1,028
3rd: Moses Wilson, Clewiston, Fla., five bass, 15-9, $607
4th: Bryce Goff, Haines City, Fla., five bass, 13-1, $425
5th: Bryan Lefebvre, Pompano Beach, Fla. five bass, 12-5, $364
6th: Jesse Forthun, Saint James City, Fla., four bass, 11-13, $334
7th: Dana Bass, Miami, Fla., five bass, 11-9, $303
8th: Michael Robel, Bradenton, Fla., four bass, 11-6, $323
9th: Kevin Thomas, Miramar, Fla., five bass, 11-3, $243
10th: Steve Smith, Jacksonville, Fla., five bass, 10-11, $212
Larry Branch of Kissimmee, Florida, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 7 pounds, 5 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $118.
The tournament was hosted by Roland & Mary Ann Martin's Marina & Resort.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 10-12 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.