OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Feb. 10, 2025) – Fishing in his first career tournament in MLF competition, 19-year-old boater Tanner Seabolt of Okeechobee, Florida, caught a five-bass limit weighing 31 pounds, 9 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Okeechobee. The tournament was the first event of the season for the BFL Gator Division. Seabolt earned $4,507 for his victory.
Seabolt, who works at Fast Break Bait & Tackle up on Okeechobee’s north end, is able to stay pretty dialed in on what’s happening at his home lake.
“I found a spot up there on the north end – cattails with some bedded fish around them,” he said. “I was just throwing a worm at them. It was pretty consistent all day. I had my bag by around 12:30ish and then just kept on throwing a bigger worm for a big one.
“I found these fish two weeks ago. I didn’t really catch anything great off it, but I caught some solid fish. I guess they pulled in there either last night or today.”
After 12:30, Seabolt made one nice cull, tossing back a 4-pounder for a 5 1/2. His biggest fish weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces.
What’s wild about the spot where Seabolt caught his fish is that, according to Seabolt, another local tournament was also won there on Saturday, and it took 30-plus to win that one, too.
Seabolt spent the tournament working down one key stretch, pitching a Gambler Ace in black and blue on a 7-foot, 2-inch Scenko Stix custom rod. Seabolt wasn’t sight-fishing, but he was fishing his Texas rig slowly, knowing that the fish were setting up on beds. Most of his bass came in little clusters.
For Seabolt, this is win No. 1 with Major League Fishing.
“I went into this tournament thinking that if they were there I could catch them really good,” he said. “So I just went into the tournament praying. Honestly, it (winning this event) means everything to me.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Tanner Seabolt, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 31-9, $4,507
2nd: Dylan Quilatan, Windermere, Fla., five bass, 24-15, $2,253
3rd: Roger Gonzalez, Coco, Fla., five bass, 24-5, $1,502
4th: Finn Taylor, Lake Placid, Fla., five bass, 23-15, $1,052
5th: Casey Warren, Myrtle Beach, S.C., five bass, 23-11, $901
6th: Fred Chivington Jr., San Mateo, Fla., five bass, 21-2, $826
7th: Richard Newberry, Pinellas Park, Fla., five bass, 20-14, $1,251
8th: Brandon St. Pierre, Lehigh Acres, Fla., five bass, 19-10, $638
8th: Ben Harris, Haines City, Fla., five bass, 19-10, $1,293
10th: Eric Morgan, Royal Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 18-5, $526
Ben Harris of Haines City, Florida, caught a bass that weighed 10 pounds, 4 ounces, and earned the Big Bass Boater award of $655.
Anthony Valachovic of Coral Springs, Florida, and Evrett Hunter of Nokomis, Florida, tied for the win in the co-angler division Saturday, after each bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 16 pounds, 2 ounces. Valachovic earned $2,017, including the $327 Big Bass co-angler award, which he received for catching the biggest fish of the day in the co-angler division – a 10-pound, 5-ounce bass. Hunter earned $1,690 for his share of the victory money.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Anthony Valachovic, Coral Springs, Fla., three bass, 16-2, $2,017
1st: Evrett Hunter, Nokomis, Fla., three bass, 16-2, $1,690
3rd: Chuck Crow, Windermere, Fla., three bass, 14-5, $638
3rd: Shannon Pike, Sarasota, Fla., three bass, 14-5, $638
5th: David Lane, Orlando, Fla., three bass, 13-14, $451
6th: Dean Bligh, Heddon Heights, N.J., three bass, 12-14, $413
7th: Michael Ryan, Mount Dora, Fla., three bass, 11-7, $376
8th: Tyler Nekolny, Coral Springs, Fla., three bass, 10-10, $319
8th: Jeremy Bouldin, Kings Mountan, N.C., three bass, 10-10, $319
10th: Scott Hopping, Port Saint Lucie, Fla., three bass, 10-8, $263
In addition to earning the win, Tanner Seabolt of Okeechobee, Florida, has the early lead in the Fishing Clash Gator Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 250 points, while Anthony Valachovic of Coral Springs, Florida, and Evrett Hunter of Nokomis, Florida, are tied for the lead in the Fishing Clash Gator Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 250 points apiece.
The next event for BFL Gator Division anglers will be held March 8, at Lake Toho out of Kissimmee, Florida.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-okeechobee-21025.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News