Crosnoe Flips Up Fourth Win

Kicker lands co-angler Branch on top

Boater Robert Crosnoe of Inverness, Florida, caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 7 ounces, Saturday to win the 2018 T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Gator Division opener on the Kissimmee River. Crosnoe pocketed $4,920 for his victory.

Crosnoe says he spent the event flipping a type of cover he called ‘mud mats’. His key stretch of water was 300 yards long and on the east side of Lake Kissimmee.

“When Hurricane Irma hit Florida, lily pads weren’t able to grow on Lake Kissimmee because the water was so high,” says Crosnoe, who logged his fourth career win as a boater in the BFL Gator division. “Eventually, their roots dislodged from the bottom and floated to the surface to form these mud islands, along with some grass.”

Crosnoe targeted bass who sought warmth in the mud mats.

“I flipped in 3 feet of water and had 15 bites throughout the day,” says Crosnoe.

Crosnoe caught his fish using a Hematoma-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver with a 1¼-ounce tungsten weight on a 7-foot, 6-inch Fitzgerald Titan HD rod with 70-pound-test Vursa braid line.

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Robert Crosnoe, Inverness, Fla., five bass, 18-7, $4,920

2^nd:         Matthew Wieteha, Miami, Fla., five bass, 18-4, $2,460

3^rd:          Billy Carroll, Tavares, Fla., five bass, 17-0, $1,574

4^th:          Van Soles, Haines City, Fla., five bass, 16-6, $1,101

5^th:          Andrew Markham, Lake Placid, Fla., five bass, 16-1, $944

6^th:          Jared McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., five bass, 15-14, $865

7^th:          Marlon Crowder, Tampa, Fla., five bass, 15-4, $787

8^th:          Preston Clark, Eagle Lake, Fla., five bass, 15-0, $708

9^th:          Neal Meadors, Vero Beach, Fla., five bass, 14-9, $629

10^th:        Raymond Guerra, Port Saint Lucie, Fla., five bass, 14-8, $551

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Chuck Webb of Sarasota, Florida, caught a bass weighing 7 pounds, 14 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $695.

Branch wins co-angler title

Larry Branch of Kissimmee, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $2,707 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 17 pounds, 5 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Larry Branch, Kissimmee, Fla., five bass, 17-5, $2,707

2^nd:         Michael Wiles, Perry, Fla., five bass, 14-2, $1,180

3^rd:          Dean Haughey, Babson Park, Fla., five bass, 13-12, $787

4^th:          Jim Topmiller, Orlando, Fla., five bass, 12-14, $751

5^th:          Jeff Claiborne, Pembroke Pines, Fla., five bass, 12-9, $472

6^th:          John Trudel, Lighthouse Point, Fla., five bass, 12-5, $483

7^th:          Marco Carbajal, Marshall, Texas, five bass, 11-4, $393

8^th:          Vince Owen, Coral Springs, Fla., four bass, 11-1, $354

9^th:          Mike Tucker, Yalaha, Fla., five bass, 10-10, $315

10^th:        Timothy Hibbs, Bradenton, Fla., five bass, 10-9, $275

Branch also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – an 11-pound, 1-ounce giant. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $347.

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.