OKEECHOBEE — This past December Big O Teen Anglers held the 2023 banquet to award our top anglers with some really great gear provided by our local tackle shops.

The 2023 Angler of the Year in the 14-19 age group went to Kobey Hare and 9-13 age group to Baylee Stephens.

Big Fish for the year was awarded to Tanner Seabolt in the older age group with a 7.35 lbs. bass and Katie Fender in the younger age group with a 7.84 lbs. bass. 

Big O Teen Anglers are very proud of the youth anglers in that out of 451 bass caught, there were only seven casualties. Keep up the great work anglers.

Kobey Hare was awarded Angler of the Year for the 14-19 age group at the banquet in December of 2023.

The new year has begun and the Big O Teen Anglers are starting their season off strong with 32 members so far.

Twenty-seven anglers were in attendance for the first tournament of the season on Jan. 27 and some really nice bass were caught. The largest bass caught was a 9.29 lbs. lunker brought in by Kylar Koedam of the 14-19 age group with five fish and a combined weight of 19.68 lbs., which put him in first place for the older age group. Way to go Kylar!

Kylar Koedam won first place at the January tournament with a weight of 19.68 lbs. Kylar also caught the largest bass at 9.29 lbs.

Mason Fender placed second in the 14-19 age group in the January tournament with a weight of 15.35 lbs.

Will Neswick placed second in the 9-13 age group in the January tournament with a weight of 3.78 lbs.

Previous Next

Also from the older age group, Mason Fender came in second with a nice bag weighing in at 15.35 lbs. and third place went to Kobey Hare with 3.40 lbs. caught. In the 9-13 age group Hank Scott, a new member, weighed 7.26 lbs. for first place. Nice start Hank! Second place went to Will Neswick with 3.78 lbs. and third Place to Jeremy Llorens with 3.71 lbs. Big Fish went to Raylan Ferrell weighing in at 3.465 lbs. What a great day of fishing!

Newcomer Hank Scott took first place for the 9-13 age group in the January tournament with a weight of 7.26 lbs.

Kobey Hare placed third for the 14-19 age group in the January tournament with a weight of 3.4 lbs.

Previous Next

This is going to be an exciting year with many tournaments, activities, community givebacks and fun to be had by all. So far, the kids have assisted Mike with OFHQ with Customer Appreciation Day and the weigh-in/raffle sales at the George Parker Memorial Tournament. On Feb. 18, some of our anglers will be on hand to help with the David Daniel Memorial Tournament which provides scholarships to our local youth.

On March 18, we will be offering a FREE Car Wash to anyone in the community as a thank you for the many years of support for this club. This will be held at Garrards Bait & Tackle from 8 a.m. to noon. It’s a lot of work, so we hope to see you there!

We continue to be thankful for our sponsors: Pogey’s Family Restaurant, Garrards Bait & Tackle, Okeechobee Fishing Headquarters (OFHQ), Fast Break, Triton Drywall, Inc., Impact Landscaping & Irrigation, Yellowfin Builders, EnvirAG Land Services, David Daniel Cattle, Tri County Demolition & Construction, Cam’s Mobile Marine, Lakeshore Marine, Okeechobee Fish Co., Eli’s Western Wear, and Grow Logic Spreader Service. New sponsors for this year include Lake & Trail USA and American Baitworks, Xtreme Property Services, Ferrell’s Market and Home Front Electric, Security & Sound.

Spread the word and if you would like to be a boat captain or know of any 9-19 year olds that would like to become part of a great community club, please reach out to Danielle DeWitt at 561 436-8491 (text is preferred) or send an email to bota.danielle@gmail.com