Cape Coral’s Littich Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Lake Okeechobee
Bradenton’s Hibbs Wins Co-angler Division
CLEWISTON, Fla. – Boater Thomas Littich of Cape Coral, Florida, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 23 pounds, 14 ounces to win the 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine event at Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston, Florida. For his victory, Littich earned a total of $7,220, including a $2,500 FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency award.
The tournament was the second of five events in the Gator Division presented by A.R.E. Truck Caps.
“I’ve fished these tournaments for six years, and this is the first time that I’ve gotten to hold one of these fancy winner trophies up,” said Littich, who was fishing in his 36th career Bass Fishing League event. “The feeling that I got when I knew I had the win was absolutely awesome.
“I started my day up north, near the Monkey Box area, then I ended up around Observation Shoal,” Littich continued. “Those were the two main areas that I fished. I bounced to one spot about halfway down the shoal, then came back in at the end of the day.”
Littich said that he caught his fish on a variety of baits. His first bass – a 7-pounder – came on a Z-Man ChatterBait. An hour and a half later, Littich boated a 6-pounder on a black and blue-colored Yamamoto Senko. Another key bite came late in the day flipping a Gambler Burner Craw with a 3/8-ounce weight.
“The key was not getting out of my own head,” Littich went on to say. “It was a very slow bite this morning, so I had to take my time and not get worried.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:
1st: Thomas Littich of Cape Coral, Fla., five bass, 23-14, $7,220
2nd: Jerry Stalvey Jr. of Palatka, Fla., five bass, 22-15, $3,055
3rd: Jared McMillan of Belle Glade, Fla., five bass, 19-7, $1,574
4th: Mike Vititoe of Lakeworth, Fla., five bass, 17-3, $1,101
5th: Mike Davis of Alachua, Fla., five bass, 17-0, $944
6th: Alex Terescenko of West Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 15-14, $865
7th: Christopher Hunter of Hilliard, Fla., five bass, 15-11, $787
8th: Garrett Thomas of Mulberry, Fla., five bass, 15-0, $708
9th: Jared Howell of Hilliard, Fla., five bass, 14-13, $629
10th: Cedric Perry of Cross City, Fla., five bass, 14-12, $551
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Stalvey Jr. brought an 8-pound, 13-ounce bass to the scale to win the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $695.
Littich took home an extra $2,500 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.
Timothy Hibbs of Bradenton, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $2,510 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:
1st: Timothy Hibbs of Bradenton, Fla., five bass, 15-7, $2,510
2nd: Moses Wilson of Clewiston, Fla., five bass, 13-13, $1,180
3rd: Brandon Prophitt of Orlando, Fla., five bass, 12-13, $787
4th: Bryan Ray of Lake Leelanau, Mich., five bass, 12-12, $551
5th: Scott Farnham of Port St. Lucie, Fla., five bass, 10-5, $472
6th: Jay McNamara of Issaquah, Wash., five bass, 9-14, $433
7th: David Wickham of Fruitland Park, Fla., five bass, 9-13, $373
7th: Jason Gonzalez of Loxahatchee, Fla., five bass, 9-13, $473
9th: Joshua Tackett of Orange City, Fla., five bass, 9-9, $295
9th: Sean Wiggins of Pinellas Park, Fla., five bass, 9-9, $295
Vidal Melendrez of Miami, Florida caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $347.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on Lake Okeechobee was hosted by the Hendry County Tourism Development Council.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Gator Division presented by A.R.E. based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 22-24 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia, hosted by the Gainesville Convention & Visitors Bureau. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they 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 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American.
The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American will be held April 30 through May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina and is hosted by Visit Anderson. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers plus tournament winners from each Phoenix Bass Fishing League division earn priority entry into the FLW Series, the pathway to the FLW Pro Circuit and ultimately the MLF Bass Pro Tour, where top pros compete with no entry fees.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, FLW and its partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Zimbabwe.
FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show while Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. Acquired by Major League Fishing in late 2019, FLW is expanding its programming in 2020 to the Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel as well as on-demand at MyOutdoorTV (MOTV).
For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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