Brown wins FLW AFS on Okeechobee

3/1/2010 10:05:49 AM

Share This Story!

Marty Brown of Dalton, Ga., caught a five-bass limit weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday to win the FLW American Fishing Series Southeast tournament on Lake Okeechobee with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 52 pounds, 1 ounce. For his victory, Brown earned $24,680.

“I was lucky enough to find a transition area where the fish were moving in and out,” Brown said. “I was here during the FLW Eastern Series event a few weeks ago, and I knew there was a spawn then. With the full moon coming again, I knew another spawn was coming. I just basically fished the same location all week long, which was the east wall area, knowing that I would have to work it [repeatedly] until I caught my fish. It was loaded. The only challenge was being able to come up with the kickers which were few and far between due to the cold front.

“I had my limit today by about 10 a.m. and was able to cull a few times, but I never really did find that one big kicker. I caught all my fish flipping a Black Zoom 6-inch Lizard on a Castaway flipping stick.

Rounding out the top-10 pros were:

2nd: Jeff McMillan, Belle Glade, Fla., 15 bass, 46-6, $8,391
3rd: Don Demott, Boca Raton, Fla., 15 bass, 46-5, $5,923
4th: Jeff Fitts, Keystone Heights, Fla., 15 bass, 45-14, $4,936
5th: Dwayne Horton, Knoxville, Tenn., 15 bass, 45-8, $4,442
6th: Koby Kreiger, Okeechobee, Fla., 15 bass, 44-11, $3,949
7th: Kevin Long, Clewiston, Fla., 15 bass, 42-15, $3,455
8th: Roger Gonzalez, Hialeah Gardens, Fla., 11 bass, 40-7, $2,962
9th: Aymon Wilcox, Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., 15 bass, 38-13, $2,468
10th: Ronnie Watts, Florence, S.C., 13 bass, 36-15, $1,974

Jesse Steadham of Florence, Miss., won the Co-angler Division and $9,882 cash, with a three-day total of 15-bass weighing 33 pounds, 4 ounces.

“I am still shaking all over,” said Steadham who is fishing with FLW for his second year. “I caught all my fish using Reaction Innovation Skinny Dippers in grass fields about 4 to 5 feet deep. The bite was not as good today, and the fish were definitely smaller. I thought I was going to finish in third place.

“Fishing was definitely a lot more difficult today. I had a 5-pounder break my line early in the day, and I didn’t get my kicker until the last 20 minutes of the tournament. That 4 1/2-pound fish was the one that definitely won it for me.”

Steadham caught five bass weighing 14-12 Thursday while fishing with pro Dale Walker of Miami, Fla., to open the tournament in sixth place. On Friday he added five more bass weighing 9 pounds to make the top-10 cut in fifth place while fishing with pro Rick Marsh of High Point, N.C. Finally, on Saturday, he sealed the win with five bass weighing 9-8 while fishing with Aymon Wilcox of Lauderdale Lakes, Fla.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers were:

2nd: Kevin Thomas, Miramar, Fla., 15 bass, 32-15, $3,953
3rd: Bucky Helms, Dallas, N.C., 11 bass, 30-11, $1,976
4th: Brent Houlihan, Naples, Fla., 15 bass, 30-11, $1,729
5th: Robert Wood, Jupiter, Fla., 11 bass, 30-4, $1,482
6th: Danny Shelton, Davie, Fla., 13 bass, 30-2, $1,235
7th: Mitch Reynolds, Petal, Miss., 9 bass, 27-14, $988
8th: Darren Jeter, Marshall, N.C., 12 bass, 27-3, $889
9th: Ron Buck, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 14 bass, 25-14, $791
10th: George Kapiton, Inverness, Fla., 15 bass, 25-12, $692