GEORGE WINS WALMART BASS FISHING LEAGUE GATOR DIVISION EVENT ON LAKE OKEECHOBEE

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OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2015) – Fred George of Okeechobee, Florida, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the third Walmart Bass Fishing League Gator Division tournament of 2015 on Lake Okeechobee. For his victory, King earned $6,011.

“I was excited as could be,” said George of his first career win. “I’ve fished a few BFL tournaments before but this one ended up going my way.”

Though George reeled in over 22 pounds of fish, the day didn’t start off like he wanted. Due to cold water, George’s primary and secondary fishing spots weren’t producing the amount of weight needed to win the tournament.

“I only caught two fish in the first spot,” said George. “They were keepers, but I knew I needed more.”

Around noon, the Florida angler made the move to a third location in hopes of capping off a winning stringer. He settled on a rim ditch with some rocky piles at the north end of the lake. There, George used a Rat-L-Trap, crankbait and a Carolina-rigged Junebug-colored Zoom Trick Worm to net 15 fish.

“Out of the first six fish I caught, five of them came to weigh-in,” George said. “I knew I could catch at least five fish off of those rocks, but not the 4-pounders I ended up with. They loved the Trick Worm.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:           Fred George, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 22-7, $6,011

2^nd:          Norris Newhouse, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 21-7, $3,006

3^rd:          Ken Fitton, Loxahatchee, Fla., five bass, 20-0, $2,001

4^th:           Brian Christy, Media, Pa., five bass, 18-12, $1,403

5^th:           Val Osinski, Pompano Beach, Fla., five bass, 18-8, $1,202

6^th:           Brian Divito, Saint Petersburg, Fla., five bass, 18-3, $1,102

7^th:           Donald Locke, Loxahatchee, Fla., five bass, 17-14, $1,002

8^th:           Steven Stinson, Pickering, Ontario, Canada, five bass, 17-10, $902

9^th:           Ronald Yentz, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., five bass, 17-3, $802

10^th:        Mike Keyso Jr., North Port, Fla., five bass, 17-2, $701

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Jason Pike of Greenacres, Florida, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 2 ounces Saturday to win $3,006 in the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:           Jason Pike, Greenacres, Fla., five bass, 19-2, $3,006

2^nd:          James Hatch, Gainesville, Fla., five bass, 17-13, $1,503

3^rd:          Shannon Pitts, Vero Beach, Fla., five bass, 16-9, $1,008

4^th:           Robert Power, Clewiston, Fla., five bass, 16-8, $701

5^th:           Charles Tucker, Eustis, Fla., five bass, 15-7, $601

6^th:           Brandon Bartlett, Hollywood, Fla., five bass, 15-1, $551

7^th:           James Ryba, West Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 14-14, $501

8^th:           Adam Trott, Sarasota, Fla., five bass, 13-4, $451

9^th:           James Sloan, Cooper City, Fla., five bass, 12-9, $401

10^th:        Ernie Thompson, Anthony, Fla., five bass, 12-8, $351

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 8-10 Regional Championship on Lake Sinclair in Milledgeville, 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 compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.