Eady Plucked Prespawners from Grass - Major League Fishing

Eady Plucked Prespawners from Grass

Simmons takes co-angler title on Toho
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Don Eady of Orlando, Fla., won the March 5 Gator Division event on Lake Toho with a 26-pound, 6-ounce limit to cash a check worth over $8,600.
March 7, 2016 • MLF • Archives

Don Eady of Orlando, Florida, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 26 pounds, 6 ounces, Saturday to win the third FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division tournament of 2016 on Lake Toho. For his victory, Eady took home $8,668.

Eady says he caught nearly 25 keepers over the course of the day using an unnamed purple swimbait.

“I focused on submerged hydrilla and Kissimmee grass in less than 4 feet of water on the north end,” says Eady, who earned his first career win in FLW competition. “I fished the bait really slow. I made sure that it came right over the grass and touched it from time to time.”

The Florida hit four different stretches of hydrilla and Kissimmee grass, but only two were needed to produce his winning stringer.

“My biggest fish hadn’t spawned yet and were in the grass waiting to go to the beds,” says Eady. “That was a huge factor in my pattern.”

Eady credited his knowledge of the lake and the recent weather patterns for helping him get the win.

“A lot of competitors were out looking for beds, but I wasn’t,” explains Eady. “In fact, I didn’t see a bed all day. This lake is very shallow, so it doesn’t take much of a cold front to scatter fish. With the weather we’ve had, I knew there wouldn’t be anything left on the beds.”

The top 10 boaters:

1st:          Don Eady, Orlando, Fla., five bass, 26-6, $6,668 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus

2nd:         Ronald Yentz, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., five bass, 24-1, $2,744

3rd:          Kyle Walters, Grant Valkaria, Fla., five bass, 23-4, $1,829

4th:          Donny Bass, Naples, Fla., five bass, 20-4, $1,281

5th:          Trevor Hamlin, Cape Coral, Fla., five bass, 20-3, $1,098

6th:          Raymond Trudeau, Saint Cloud, Fla., five bass, 20-2, $1,006

7th:          Sandy Melvin, Boca Grande, Fla., five bass, 19-14, $915

8th:          Benny Townend, Boynton Beach, Fla., five bass, 19-6, $823

9th:          Craig Mathews, Punta Gorda, Fla., five bass, 18-2, $732

10th:        Joseph Kremer, Osteen, Fla., five bass, 16-9, $640

Complete results can be found here.

Eady also caught a 9-pound, 7-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $880.

 

Co-angler Rodney Simmons of Alva, Fla., won the March 5 Gator Division event on Lake Toho with a 19-pound, 7-ounce limit and took home over $2,700 in winnings.

Simmons wins co-angler title

Rodney Simmons of Alva, Florida, weighed in five bass totaling 19 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to earn $2,744 and win the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1st:          Rodney Simmons , Alva, Fla., five bass, 19-7, $2,744

2nd:         Delfin Pernas, Miami, Fla., four bass, 16-15, $1,372

3rd:          James Brown, Margate, Fla., five bass, 15-13, $917

4th:          Matthew Wolfe Jr., Casstown, Ohio, five bass, 15-12, $640

5th:          Charles Tucker, Eustis, Fla., four bass, 14-5, $989

6th:          Randy Paquette, Sarasota, Fla., five bass, 14-3, $503

7th:          Joseph Solenski, West Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 14-0, $457

8th:          Nik Kayler, Apopka, Fla., five bass, 13-9, $412

9th:          Loel Brandstrom, Jensen Beach, Fla., two bass, 12-8, $366

10th:        William Carpenella, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., five bass, 12-4, $320

Tucker caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 9 pounds, 8 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $440.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 13-15 Regional Championship on Lake Seminole in Bainbridge, 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.