Florida’s Littich Wins Phoenix Bass Fishing League Event on Lake Okeechobee

Bradenton’s Hibbs Wins Co-angler Division

CLEWISTON, Fla. (Feb. 10, 2020) – Boater Thomas Littich of Cape Coral, Florida, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 23 pounds, 14 ounces to win the 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine event at Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston, Florida. For his victory, Littich earned a total of $7,220, including a $2,500 FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency award.

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The tournament was the second of five events in the Gator Division presented by A.R.E. Truck Caps.

“I’ve fished these tournaments for six years, and this is the first time that I’ve gotten to hold one of these fancy winner trophies up,” said Littich, who was fishing in his 36^th career Bass Fishing League event. “The feeling that I got when I knew I had the win was absolutely awesome.

“I started my day up north, near the Monkey Box area, then I ended up around Observation Shoal,” Littich continued. “Those were the two main areas that I fished. I bounced to one spot about halfway down the shoal, then came back in at the end of the day.”

Littich said that he caught his fish on a variety of baits. His first bass – a 7-pounder – came on a Z-Man ChatterBait. An hour and a half later, Littich boated a 6-pounder on a black and blue-colored Yamamoto Senko. Another key bite came late in the day flipping a Gambler Burner Craw with a 3/8-ounce weight.

“The key was not getting out of my own head,” Littich went on to say. “It was a very slow bite this morning, so I had to take my time and not get worried.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament as follows:

            1^st:        Thomas Littich of Cape Coral, Fla., five bass, 23-14, $7,220

            2^nd:       Jerry Stalvey Jr. of Palatka, Fla., five bass, 22-15, $3,055

            3^rd:       Jared McMillan of Belle Glade, Fla., five bass, 19-7, $1,574

            4^th:       Mike Vititoe of Lakeworth, Fla., five bass, 17-3, $1,101

            5^th:       Mike Davis of Alachua, Fla., five bass, 17-0, $944

            6^th:       Alex Terescenko of West Palm Beach, Fla., five bass, 15-14, $865

            7^th:       Christopher Hunter of Hilliard, Fla., five bass, 15-11, $787

            8^th:       Garrett Thomas of Mulberry, Fla., five bass, 15-0, $708

            9^th:       Jared Howell of Hilliard, Fla., five bass, 14-13, $629

            10^th:      Cedric Perry of Cross City, Fla., five bass, 14-12, $551

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Stalvey Jr. brought an 8-pound, 13-ounce bass to the scale to win the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $695.

Littich took home an extra $2,500 as the highest finishing FLW PHOENIX BONUS member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $7,000 per event in each Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the FLW PHOENIX BONUS contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.

Timothy Hibbs of Bradenton, Florida, won the Co-angler Division and $2,510 Saturday after catching a five-bass limit weighing 15 pounds, 7 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers finished as follows:

            1^st:        Timothy Hibbs of Bradenton, Fla., five bass, 15-7, $2,510

            2^nd:       Moses Wilson of Clewiston, Fla., five bass, 13-13, $1,180

            3^rd:       Brandon Prophitt of Orlando, Fla., five bass, 12-13, $787

            4^th:       Bryan Ray of Lake Leelanau, Mich., five bass, 12-12, $551

            5^th:       Scott Farnham of Port St. Lucie, Fla., five bass, 10-5, $472

            6^th:       Jay McNamara of Issaquah, Wash., five bass, 9-14, $433

            7^th:       David Wickham of Fruitland Park, Fla., five bass, 9-13, $373

            7^th:       Jason Gonzalez of Loxahatchee, Fla., five bass, 9-13, $473

            9^th:       Joshua Tackett of Orange City, Fla., five bass, 9-9, $295

            9^th:       Sean Wiggins of Pinellas Park, Fla., five bass, 9-9, $295

Vidal Melendrez of Miami, Florida caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $347.

The 2020 Phoenix Bass Fishing League presented by T-H Marine on Lake Okeechobee was hosted by the Hendry County Tourism Development Council.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the Gator Division presented by A.R.E. based on point standings, along with the five winners of each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 22-24 Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Georgia, hosted by the Gainesville Convention & Visitors Bureau. Boaters will compete for a $60,000 prize package, including a new Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and $10,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new 18-foot Phoenix bass boat with a 200-horsepower outboard.