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

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (April 20, 2015) – Joshua Morfis of Cape Coral, Florida, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 34 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday to win the fourth Walmart Bass Fishing League Gator Division tournament of 2015 on Lake Okeechobee. For his victory, Morfis earned $6,336.

“It feels great to win a tournament,” said Morfis. “I love fishing on Lake Okeechobee and to see all of my hard work finally pay off is really nice.”

Morfis said that he headed 35 miles south to his first spot where he targeted fish that were moving in shallow to spawn.

“I flipped the Kissimmee grass and bulrushes where the fish were sitting in 4 to 5 feet of water,” Morfis said. “I used a green pumpkin-colored Gambler Otter with a black and blue-colored Eco Pro Honey Badger Punch Skirt.

“On my third cast I caught a 9-pound fish,” Morfis continued. “After that the bite slowed down.”

After filling out his five-bass limit with smaller fish, Morfis said that he knew he’d need more weight to win. He decided to make a move to his second spot where he stuck an 8-pounder shortly after arriving.

“Five minutes after the 8-pounder, I caught a 7-pound fish and then a 6-pounder just ten minutes later,” Morfis said. “I got eight big bites in the second spot and put seven of them in the boat.”

Morfis went on to say he caught approximately 25 to 30 fish during the course of the tournament.

“The key for me was stumbling on those prespawn fish while searching for the postspawn fish,” Morfis said. “I knew my two spots I targeted had the potential to produce a top-10 finish so I put my hat down, grinded it out and it worked out for me.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Joshua Morfis, Cape Coral, Fla., five bass, 34-14, $5,336 + $1,000 Mercury Bonus

2^nd:         Donny Bass, Naples, Fla., five bass, 28-3, $2,668

3^rd:          Justin Morgan, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 25-9, $1,780

4^th:          Greg Hughes, Inverness, Fla., five bass, 23-15, $1,245

5^th:          Terry Oliver, Belleview, Fla., five bass, 21-9, $1,067

6^th:          Anthony Ford, New Smyrna, Fla., five bass, 21-2, $978

7^th:          Buck Durrance, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 21-1, $844

7^th:          Jeremy Hobson, Plant City, Fla., five bass, 21-1, $844

9^th:          Mark Lundgren, Cocoa, Fla., five bass, 20-7, $712

10^th:        Bruce Carter, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 20-4, $591

10^th:        Fred George, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 20-4, $591

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Hunter Abowd of Clewiston, Florida, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division – a monster weighing 11 pounds, 10 ounces – and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $840.

Jessey Rudolph of Deltona, Florida, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 8 ounces Saturday to win $2,668 in the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Jessey Rudolph, Deltona, Fla., five bass, 21-8, $2,668

2^nd:         Phillip Ford, Clewiston, Fla., five bass, 17-10, $1,334

3^rd:          Scott Kirsch, Edgewater, Fla., five bass, 17-3, $888

4^th:          Jose Luis Gallardo, Belle Glade, Fla., five bass, 15-12, $623

5^th:          Nick Ahearn, Tampa, Fla., five bass, 15-9, $534

6^th:          Albert Winter, Boca Raton, Fla., five bass, 15-2, $489

7^th:          Robert Branagh, Palm Bay, Fla., five bass, 15-1, $422

7^th:          Brian Cole, Sebastian, Fla., five bass, 15-1, $422

9^th:          Jeff Peterson, Lake Worth, Fla., five bass, 14-7, $356

10^th:        Joshua Kelting, Port Saint Lucie, Fla., five bass, 14-5, $311

Ahearn caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $420.

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.