{"id":4936,"date":"2024-04-15T08:57:39","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T14:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanbassanglers.com\/news\/?p=4936"},"modified":"2024-04-15T09:07:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T15:07:06","slug":"branagh-wins-professional-league-on-lake-okeechobee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanbassanglers.com\/news\/index.php\/2024\/04\/15\/branagh-wins-professional-league-on-lake-okeechobee\/","title":{"rendered":"Branagh Wins Professional League on Lake Okeechobee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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ATHENS, Ala. \u2013 Robert Branagh won the 2024 American Bass Anglers Professional League, Presented by Caymas Boats, Florida South Division 7 tournament, held April 13th, 2024 on Lake Okeechobee. Running out of Scott Driver Park in Okeechobee, FL, the Malabar, FL angler caught five basses weighing 25.80 pounds, including a 6.15-pound kicker. For the Pro Division victory, Branagh took home a check for $3500 for his win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Branagh explained, \u201cWell, I found clean water to be honest my practice pretty much sucked. I didn’t catch a fish over 2 \u00bd pounds but I caught a bunch of fish so I knew I could basically get a limit that’s what I was shooting for. Maybe 12 – 15 pounds, and I just kept chunking and winding. The second fish I caught was a 5 \u00bd pounder, I said OK well this is what I’m gonna do all day. I was down by Monkey Box, where Monkey Box meets Moonshine, and I threw one bait all day. I had six rods on the deck, and I only ended up throwing one rod all day. I caught them all on the Bruiser Bait Bullet, every single fish with a spear point hook, and I’m telling you, if I didn’t have the spear point, I would have lost one of them because when that hook locks in, it locks the fish in the jaw pretty good. You know I kept making the same milk run and about an hour later I caught another twin sister 5 \u00bd pounder and got to another little pocket where I found a bunch of fish. I caught a 4 pounder and then looped back around and hit that first pocket that I got the first one and caught that 6 pounder. I’ll tell you, the ABA is definitely one of my favorite trails of fish. It’s no pressure, and it’s a fun trail to fish. \u201c Branagh said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Second, Ronnie Buck of Miami, FL landed a 5-bass limit weighing 22.56 pounds. He earned $1800 for his catch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, unfortunately I lost one that probably would\u2019ve won the tournament for me but you know that’s the way fishing goes. Everything I caught was on moving baits as well. Lots of chunking and winding. I think the winds have a lot to play in that but this has been the windiest year I can remember. I know a lot of things have changed; a lot of patterns change. I remember in April, in the past, I was always pitching and flipping. I’m not catching anything like that now, so the lake is forever evolving. You know there’s a lot of good fishermen on this lake. I really enjoy the ABA solos, not having a co- angler and not having that in the back of your mind allows you to fish freely and just focus on yourself. I fished further South today; I won’t give an exact area, but it was further South.\u201d Buck said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Matt Wieteha of Miami, FL took the third spot. He landed a 5-bass limit going 21.65 pounds. He earned $1200 for the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI stayed. I initially planned to go South eventually, but I honestly wasted too much time in the morning, so I committed to staying north, and around 1:00 pm, I had one fish that may have gone 1 pound. I saw some birds working so I went out in the middle start firing the trap around. I caught a 5 pounder and then didn’t get anything after that. I followed the wind into the grass and started firing a Jackhammer with a Gambler Little EZ on the back. Fish just start showing up, I probably caught 10 fish after I started fishing down the bank and it was it was a crazy afternoon. The wind switching directions middle of the day really helped me. I caught every single fish on a 7 foot 3 Scenko Stix glass cranking rod but I use it for throwing the chatterbait. It works perfect for that.\u201d Wieteha said<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The big bass award went to William \u201cBill\u201d Troyer of Sarasota, FL for a big bass that weighed 7.30 pounds. Troyer earned $450 for the big bass award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI caught that big bass on a wacky-worm around 9:00am. I was fishing it real slow.\u201d Troyer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top 25<\/p>\n

\n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n\n\n MemberID<\/th> MemberID2<\/th> Season<\/th> Circuit<\/th> Region<\/th> Division<\/th> Date<\/th> Date2<\/th> Location<\/th> AnglerType<\/th> Pl<\/th> Name<\/th> Service<\/th> F<\/th> FishReleased<\/th> Weight<\/th> Penalty<\/th> BB<\/th> Total<\/th> Pnts<\/th> Payout<\/th> <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n\n \n \n\n\n
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\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n
1.000.028.315<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n Robert W. Branagh<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 25,80<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 6.15<\/td>\n 25.80<\/td>\n 250<\/td>\n 3.500<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.032.239<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 2<\/td>\n Ronnie P. Buck<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 22,56<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 6.99<\/td>\n 22.56<\/td>\n 249<\/td>\n 1.800<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.026.424<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n Matthew Matt b. Wieteha<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 21,65<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 21.65<\/td>\n 248<\/td>\n 1.200<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.038.430<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 4<\/td>\n Myles T. Musser<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 21,44<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 6.92<\/td>\n 21.44<\/td>\n 247<\/td>\n 1.000<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
73.286<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n Brandon Medlock<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 16,53<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 16.53<\/td>\n 246<\/td>\n 900<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.025.607<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 6<\/td>\n Nicholas R. Hoinig<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 16,14<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 16.14<\/td>\n 245<\/td>\n 575<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.028.374<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 6<\/td>\n William L. Troyer<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 16,14<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 7.30<\/td>\n 16.14<\/td>\n 245<\/td>\n 1.025<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.038.367<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 8<\/td>\n Robert Rob W. Kleabir<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 15,97<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 6.35<\/td>\n 15.97<\/td>\n 243<\/td>\n 400<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.037.712<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 9<\/td>\n Ryan E. Martin<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 15,58<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 15.58<\/td>\n 242<\/td>\n 300<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.034.371<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 10<\/td>\n Tyler Nekolny<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 13,58<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 13.58<\/td>\n 241<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.032.207<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 11<\/td>\n Cody L. Farnham<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 13,52<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 6.68<\/td>\n 13.52<\/td>\n 240<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
73.830<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 12<\/td>\n David L. Sheffield<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 12,71<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 12.71<\/td>\n 239<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
0<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 13<\/td>\n Charles T. Coleman Jr<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 12,39<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 12.39<\/td>\n 238<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.026.187<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 14<\/td>\n Val Osinski<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 12,28<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 12.28<\/td>\n 237<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.030.472<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 15<\/td>\n Robert H. Nelson<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 11,83<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 11.83<\/td>\n 236<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
0<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 16<\/td>\n James Jim A. Gestwicki<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 11,78<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 11.78<\/td>\n 235<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.036.841<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 17<\/td>\n David A. Bradford<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 10,70<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 10.70<\/td>\n 234<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.032.233<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 18<\/td>\n Jason P. Blair<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 4<\/td>\n 4<\/td>\n 10,33<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 10.33<\/td>\n 233<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.032.225<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 19<\/td>\n Trevor M. Hamlin<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 10,27<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 10.27<\/td>\n 232<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.030.161<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 20<\/td>\n Matthew D. Sparks<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 9,96<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 9.96<\/td>\n 231<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.037.768<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 21<\/td>\n Benny J. Townend<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 9,69<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 9.69<\/td>\n 230<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.028.722<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 22<\/td>\n Dillon M. McMillan<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 9,48<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 9.48<\/td>\n 229<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.036.762<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 23<\/td>\n Steve H. Burlington<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 9,12<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 9.12<\/td>\n 228<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.026.278<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 24<\/td>\n John W. Adkinson<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 4<\/td>\n 4<\/td>\n 8,84<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 8.84<\/td>\n 227<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
1.000.023.207<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 2.024<\/td>\n ProLeague<\/td>\n R1<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n 04\/13\/2024<\/td>\n Okeechobee<\/td>\n P<\/td>\n 25<\/td>\n Cameron Cam Matthews<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n 8,13<\/td>\n 0,00<\/td>\n 0.00<\/td>\n 8.13<\/td>\n 226<\/td>\n 0<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n <\/tbody> \n\n \n \n \n <\/table>\n\n<\/div>