Labelle’s Milicevic Wins T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Gator Division Finale on Lake Okeechobee

Palm Spring’s Panozzo Takes Co-angler Title

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. – Boater Gary Milicevic of Labelle, Florida, won the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee Sunday with a two-day cumulative catch of 10 bass weighing 53 pounds, 2 ounces. For his win, Milicevic earned $8,374.

Milicevic was unable to be reached for details, but according to post-tournament reports he caught his fish near Harney Pond, flipping a Medlock Jig in the cloudy and rainy conditions to catch his limits.

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

               1st:          Gary Milicevic, Labelle, Fla., 10 bass, 53-2, $6,374 + $2,000 Ranger Cup

               2nd:         Larry Cahan, East Palatka, Fla., 10 bass, 48-0, $2,937

               3rd:          Bryan Honnerlaw, Moore Haven, Fla., 10 bass, 45-10, $2,057

               4th:          Donny Bass, Naples, Fla., 10 bass, 40-14, $1,371

               5th:          Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., 10 bass, 40-7, $1,175

               6th:          Fred Chivington Jr., Welaka, Fla., 10 bass, 40-3, $1,077

               7th:          Chuck Webb, Sarasota, Fla., 10 bass, 39-12, $979

               8th:          Jim Joseph, Oakland Park, Fla., 10 bass, 39-1, $881

               9th:          Chris Keith, Gainesville, Fla., 10 bass, 36-13, $783

               10th:        Mason Boylan, Melbourne, Fla., 10 bass, 36-3, $685

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.  

Steve Broughton of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, caught a largemouth weighing 8 pounds, 11 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division. The catch earned him the Boater Big Bass award of $780.

John Panozzo of Palm Springs, Florida, caught a two-day total of nine bass weighing 36 pounds even to win the Co-angler Division and $2,937.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

               1st:          John Panozzo, Palm Springs, Fla., nine bass, 36-0, $2,937

               2nd:         James Bullard, Glen Saint Mary, Fla., nine bass, 33-1, $1,568

               3rd:          Vince Owen, Coral Springs, Fla., nine bass, 29-12, $979

               4th:          Christian Greico, Tampa, Fla., 10 bass, 27-0, $685

               5th:          Jackie Barber, Cocoa, Fla., nine bass, 24-7, $587

               6th:          Christopher Gardner, Leesburg, Fla., nine bass, 23-0, $538

               7th:          Alex Mut, Miami, Fla., seven bass, 23-0, $929

               8th:          Cody Farnham, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 10 bass, 21-15, $441

               9th:          General Johnson, Fort Myers, Fla., eight bass, 20-13, $392

               10th:        Moses Wilson, Clewiston, Fla., 10 bass, 20-10, $343

Mut caught the largest largemouth bass in the Co-angler Division weighing 8 pounds, 15 ounces – and earned the Co-angler Big Bass award of $390.

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. 11-13 BFL Regional Championship on the St. Johns River in Palatka, Florida. 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 2018 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. The 2019 BFL All-American will take place May 30-June 1 on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2018 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct 286 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.

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