Bass angler Ed Prather is the winner of a $40,000 Phoenix Bass Boat as part of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) TrophyCatch program.
Prather was chosen randomly from 11,230 individuals, who registered free-of-charge at TrophyCatchFlorida.com. The final drawing was held during Bartow Ford’s Winter Wonderland event.
TrophyCatch is the FWC’s citizen-science, conservation rewards program for anglers who catch, document and release largemouth bass greater than 8 pounds. Each season they have a drawing from among registered anglers for a boat.
Industry partners donate the boat and other TrophyCatch prizes at no cost to the FWC, to help encourage conservation and citizen-science.
The Phoenix 619 Pro bass boat and trailer came with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard, MotorGuide trolling motor and Power-Pole anchoring system.
This year, Bartow Ford added a surprise gift of $1,000 towards the purchase of one of their vehicles to pull the boat.
Prather had a 10-pound, 4-ounce bass from Rodman Reservoir approved in 2015.
source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission