LEESBURG, Fla. (April 13, 2026) – Boater Dylan Quilatan of Windermere, Florida, brought a five-bass limit to the scale weighing 34 pounds, 7 ounces, to win the MLF Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on the Harris Chain of Lake. The tournament was the fourth of five events of the season for the BFL Gator Division. Quilatan earned $4,590 for his victory. Quilatan said his day began with a clear plan to lean on his electronics and target fish actively feeding on bait.
“I caught them with my ‘scope on,” he said. “I threw a Z-Man Jerk ShadZ and also a 1/2-ounce (Z-Man EverGreen) Jack Hammer, gold shiner color, whenever I’d see them on the bottom chasing bait.”
The Florida angler covered water across multiple fisheries to assemble his winning bag, targeting fish in four different lakes throughout the day.
“I got my fish out of four different lakes – Apopka, Dora, Beauclair and Eustis,” Quilatan said. “I started running new stuff with about an hour and 20 minutes left to scope, and I caught two of the fish right away doing that.”
After a season filled with near-misses, Quilatan said the win was especially rewarding.
“I’ve had a lot of close calls this year – like 50-50 decisions where I make the wrong one,” he said. “This is the first time in a while it all came together. With that three-hour forward-facing sonar rule, it’s so stressful because you have to make the right decision before you even launch, but today I made it work and it feels really good.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament:
1st: Dylan Quilatan, Windermere, Fla., five bass, 34-7, $4,590
2nd: Paul Vanzant, Umatilla, Fla., five bass, 23-4, $2,130
3rd: Sean Wooten, Umatilla, Fla., five bass, 23-3, $1,050
4th: Joey Bloom, Winter Springs, Fla., five bass, 20-4, $1,330 (includes $500 Phoenix bonus)
5th: Connor MacDougall, Cape Coral, Fla., five bass, 18-9, $720
6th: John Kremer, Orange City, Fla., five bass, 17-5, $620
7th: Ronnie Byrd, Williston, Fla., five bass, 17-2, $590
8th: Eric Panzironi, Longwood, Fla., five bass, 17-1, $560
9th: Geoffrey Corah, Tavares, Fla., five bass, 16-9, $540
10th: Dustin Payton, Douglas, Ga., five bass, 16-4, $510
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Quilatan also earned the Big Bass Boater award after landing a 9-pound, 7-ouncer, worth $200. Michael Robel of Bradenton, Florida, won the co-angler division and the top prize of $2,145 Saturday after bringing three bass to the scale that totaled 11 pounds, 14 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers finished:
1st: Michael Robel, Bradenton, Fla., three bass, 11-14, $2,145
2nd: Aleksander Rak, Jacksonville, Fla., three bass, 9-8, $1,065
3rd: William Lewis, Jacksonville, Fla., three bass, 9-6, $525
4th: Marlei Hunt, Wesley Chapel, Fla., three bass, 9-5, $415
5th: Phillip Ford, Clewiston, Fla., three bass, 8-15, $460
6th: Aymon Wilcox, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., three bass, 8-7, $310
7th: Shannon Bryson, Merritt Island, Fla., three bass, 8-5, $300
8th: James Hanson, Yulan, N.Y., three bass, 8-4, $280
9th: Travis Clark, Lakeland, Fla., three bass, 8-3, $370
10th: Blaine Feagan, Port Richey, Fla., three bass, 7-15, $255
Jarod Shelton of Centralia, Missouri, earned the Berkley Big Bass co-angler award after landing a 5-pound, 10-ounce bass worth $100.
After four events, Dylan Quilatan of Windermere, Florida, now leads the 7 Brew Gator Division Angler of the Year (AOY) race with 972 points, while William Lewis of Jacksonville, Florida, leads the Gator Division Co-Angler of the Year race with 925 points.
https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bfl-harris-41326.html
Bass Fishing League (BFL) News