Gentry tops co-angler field

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Feb. 13, 2017) – Bryan Honnerlaw of Moore Haven, Florida, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 5 ounces, Saturday to win the second T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee presented by Navionics. For his efforts, Honnerlaw earned the top award of $5,612.

 

“I saw some bass in practice that were chasing shad, so that told me what I needed to be focusing on for the tournament,” said Honnerlaw, who notched his first career win in BFL competition. “We fished the North Shore, specifically a hole in the grass with a shell bed.”

Honnerlaw said he used a variety of baits during the event, but relied heavily on a 3/8-ounce green-pumpkin-colored ChatterBait to catch his fish.

“I pulled up to the area and on my second cast I caught one,” said Honnerlaw. “I fished the ChatterBait with a slow retrieve. We just came off of a cold front, so they didn’t want to chase anything faster than that.”

Honnerlaw said he caught around 60 bass throughout his day.

“There weren’t a lot of big ones, but I did catch one close to 6 pounds,” said Honnerlaw. “I’m just glad that the bass I found in practice stayed put for more than a day.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Bryan Honnerlaw, Moore Haven, Fla., five bass, 21-5, $5,612

2^nd:         Anthony Ford, New Smyrna, Fla., five bass, 19-15, $2,706

3^rd:          Nathan Thomas, Weirsdale, Fla., five bass, 19-10, $1,899

4^th:          Mikey Keyso Jr., North Port, Fla., five bass, 19-1, $1,263

5^th:          Richard Sasina, Port Saint Lucie, Fla., five bass, 18-0, $1,082

6^th:          Kyle Monti, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 17-15, $992

7^th:          Greg Schultz, Naples, Fla., five bass, 17-10, $1,202

8^th:          Norman Pellegrini, Windermere, Fla., five bass, 17-9, $1,672

9^th:          Fred George, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 17-5, $722

10^th:        Kyle Walters, Grant-Valkaria, Fla., five bass, 17-4, $599

10^th:        Bradley MacQueen, West Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 17-4, $599

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Pellegrini caught an 8-pound, 13-ounce largemouth – the largest of the event – which earned him the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $860.

Roy Gentry of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, weighed in five bass totaling 22 pounds, 9 ounces Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $3,136.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Roy Gentry, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., five bass, 22-9, $3,136

2^nd:         Bill Wight, Punta Gorda, Fla., five bass, 17-13, $1,353

3^rd:          Junior Iriban, Lantana, Fla., five bass, 17-8, $905

4^th:          Steve Smith, Jacksonville, Fla., five bass, 17-6, $631

5^th:          Anthony Valachovic, Coral Springs, Fla., five bass, 15-3, $741

6^th:          Adam Hernandez, Miami, Fla., five bass, 14-7, $496

7^th:          Chris Baker, Wesley Chapel, Fla., five bass, 14-0, $501

8^th:          Jai Hunter Jr., Deland, Fla., five bass, 13-12, $406

9^th:          Nik Kayler, Apopka, Fla., five bass, 13-6, $361

10^th:        Kenneth Guy, Miramar, Fla., five bass, 13-5, $316

Gentry also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces, and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $430.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 19-21 BFL Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard.

The 2017 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the BFL on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.