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:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10th:        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:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10th:        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.

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