OKEECHOBEE, Fla. —
Boater
Rick
Burton of
Wellington earned
$4,050 Saturday as
winner of the Wal-Mart
Bass Fishing League
Everglades Division
event on Lake
Okeechobee. The
tournament was the
third of five
regular-season
Everglades Division
events and featured
130 boaters vying for
the win, which earned
Burton 200 points in
the Boater Division.
Burton’s winning catch
of five bass weighed
29 pounds, 10 ounces.
He caught his bass in
the Bell Glade area
while flipping a black
and blue Berkley power
craw. Burton won an
additional $650 as the
big bass award winner
with a 9-pound,
10-ounce bass.
Finishing second was
Chris Rand
of Ft.
Lauderdale with five
bass weighing 28
pounds, 4 ounces that
earned him $2,025.
Rand earned an
additional $750 as
winner of the Ranger
Cup award and the
Powered by Yamaha
award. John Peters of
Boynton Beach claimed
$1,325 as the
third-place finisher
thanks to five bass
weighing 27 pounds, 7
ounces. In fourth was
Juan Ruiz of West Palm
Beach with five bass
weighing 23 pounds, 3
ounces worth $1,031,
and finishing fifth
and earning $847 was
Jeff Simms of Punta Gorda with five bass
weighing 22 pounds, 15
ounces.
Greg Caldwell of
Okeechobee bested 130
Co-angler Division
competitors to earn
$2,025 as the
co-angler winner,
thanks to five bass
weighing 20 pounds, 6
ounces that he caught
on a Gambler junebug
worm.
Rounding out the top
five co-anglers are
Virginia Ford of
Okeechobee (five bass,
16 pounds, 12 ounces,
$1,012); Henry Clay
Samples of
Dawsonville, Ga. (five
bass, 15 pounds, 14
ounces, $663); Bryan
Carter of Royal Palm
Beach (five bass, 14
pounds, 5 ounces,
$515); and Craig
Lovely of Fort Myers
(four bass, 13 pounds,
$423).
Lovely and Caldwell
each earned an
additional $162 as the
co-angler big-bass
award winners. Both
co-anglers caught a
7-pound, 13-ounce
bass.
The Everglades
Division’s next event
will be held April 16
on Lake Okeechobee
near Okeechobee. The
Everglades Division
will wrap up its
regular season Oct.
1-2 with a two-day
Super Tournament on
Lake Okeechobee near
Clewiston.
Following the regular
season, the Everglades
Division boater with
the most points will
earn $1,000 as the
Yamaha “Be the Best”
points champion. The
co-angler amassing the
most points will earn
$500 as the Yamaha “Be
the Best” points
champion in the
Co-angler Division.
