Walters Wins Walmart Bass Fishing League Gator Division on Lake Toho
OutdoorHub 04.02.12
Kyle Walters of Grant Valkaria, Fla., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 1 ounce Saturday to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Gator Division event on Lake Toho. For his victory, Walters earned $6,652.
“My day was very good,” said Walters. “I’m very familiar with this area, so I ended up fishing down on Lake Kissimmee. It’s about a 45-minute run after you get through the locks. The weather was pretty cloudy, so I started out throwing a Vibratron spinnerbait and had some luck. When the sun finally did come out, the fish cleared and went and hid under the mats. I switched up my strategy and went flipping with a Gambler Mega Daddy. It worked out real well for me.
“I was fishing from 3 to 5 feet deep,” Walters continued. “I caught around eight fish throughout the entire day. The key to my victory was really the big 8-pound, 12-ounce bass that I got while flipping.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros were:
2nd: Eric Conant, Lakeland, Fla., five bass, 21-9, $2,326
3rd: Juan Ruiz, West Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 20-6, $1,551
4th: Ron Veale, Clewiston, Fla., five bass, 19-4, $1,086
5th: Joseph Kremer, Osteen, Fla., five bass, 18-1, $930
6th: Darrell Cranor, Lakeland, Fla., five bass, 17-13, $853
7th: Jeremy Smith, Plant City, Fla., five bass, 17-6, $775
8th: Greg Harp, Vero Beach, Fla., five bass, 17-5, $698
9th: Brandon Medlock, Lake Placid, Fla., five bass, 16-8, $620
10th: Bryan Honnerlaw, Moore Haven, Fla., five bass, 16-7, $543
Complete results can be found at FLWOutdoors.com.
Trevor Hamlin of Cape Coral, Fla., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 6 ounces Saturday to win $2,326 in the co-angler division.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers were:
2nd: Michael Wiles, Perry, Fla., five bass, 20-5, $1,163
3rd: Jason Eilertsen, Orlando, Fla., five bass, 20-0, $777
4th: Michael Clements, Cocoa, Fla., four bass, 16-4, $543
5th: Ricky Timmerman, Umatilla, Fla., five bass, 16-0, $465
6th: Mike Foster, Lehigh Acres, Fla., four bass, 14-5, $426
7th: Andrew Pulliam, Tampa, Fla., five bass, 13-7, $388
8th: Robert Wood, Jupiter, Fla., five bass, 13-6, $349
9th: Wayne Sprayberry, Williston, Fla., five bass, 13-5, $310
10th: Dennis Sprayberry, Lehigh Acres, Fla., five bass, 12-11, $271
The next BFL Gator Division tournament is scheduled for Sept. 15-16 on Lake Okeechobee in Okeechobee, Fla. After the fifth Gator Division tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 4-6 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, Ga. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 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 40 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 presented by Chevy. The 2012 BFL All-American is being held May 17 – 19 on the Potomac River in National Harbor, Md. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the EverStart Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
