Brackin outfishes field on Lake Okeechobee - Major League Fishing

Brackin outfishes field on Lake Okeechobee

Haystead gets co-angler win
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Boater Darrell Brackin of Okeechobee, Fla., won the May 16 BFL Everglades Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee to earn $3,021. Angler: Darrell Brackin.
May 16, 2009 • MLF • Archives

OKEECHOBEE CITY, Fla. – Darrell Brackin of Okeechobee, Fla., won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Everglades Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 26 pounds, 1 ounce. The victory earned Brackin $3,021 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Seminole Regional Championship in Bainbridge, Ga., Oct. 22-24, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.

Brackin said he caught the majority of his bass fishing a crankbait on ledges in the Kissimmee River.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Jim Hurlock, Jr. of Lake Worth, Fla. (five bass, 24-3, $1,511); Jason Council of Casselberry, Fla. (five bass, 20-15, $1,007); Jason Danes of Winter Haven, Fla. (five bass, 17-9, $705); and Jeff McMillan of Belle Glade, Fla. (five bass, 16-9, $604).

Brackin took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $345 for a 8-pound, 4-ounce bass.

John Haystead of Saint Cloud, Fla., earned $1,511 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five John Haystead of Saint Cloud, Fla., earned $1,511 as the co-angler winner of the May 16 BFL Everglades Division event.bass weighing 15 pounds, 3 ounces.

Haystead said he caught the majority of his bass on a cream and blue-back Rat-L-Trap on ledges in the Kissimmee River.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Clyde Arnold of Coconut Creek, Fla. (five bass, 13-7, $755); George Davis of Moore Haven, Fla. (five bass, 13-0, $504); David Hunter of Williston, Fla. (five bass, 12-9, $327); and James Trudel of Lighthouse Point, Fla. (five bass, 12-9, $327).

Dererk Savage of Port Saint Lucie, Fla., earned $172 as the co-angler Big Bass winner with a 9-pound, 5-ounce bass he caught on a June Bug-colored trick worm fished on a ledge in the Kissimmee River.

The next Everglades Division event, a two-day Super Tournament, will be held on the Kissimmee River in Lake Wales, Fla., Sept. 19-20.

The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFL’s 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee Regional Championship where boaters fish for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck and co-anglers fish for a new Ranger boat. Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers advancing through BFL competition.

The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American will advance to the no-entry-fee 2010 Forrest Wood Cup in Atlanta in 2010. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the most lucrative tournament in all of competitive bass fishing. In all, the BFL offers weekend anglers the opportunity to qualify for three no-entry-fee championships with total cash awards exceeding $3.5 million. Plus, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each BFL division may move up to the Stren Series for 2010 while All-American champions have the option to advance directly to the Walmart FLW Tour.

In BFL competition, boaters supply the boat and compete from the front deck against other boaters. Co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.

As the nation’s leading provider of affordable, close-to-home weekend tournaments, the BFL is widely credited with opening competitive bass fishing to the masses. It also serves as a steppingstone for anglers who wish to advance to the Stren Series and ultimately the FLW Tour – bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament circuit.

Total awards are based on a full field of 200 boats in every tournament.

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For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.