Space Coast Bass Finatics

While everybody was preparing for the holidays the club met a couple weeks early to avoid interfering with people's plans. It was a beautiful day on the lake and plenty of fish caught with a total of twenty two limits out of twenty three participating teams.

First place went to the team of Greg Clark and alternate Santos Solis Jr. with a solid bag weighing 17.50 pounds. Their bag was anchored with a hefty Largemouth weighing 5.21 pounds and falling just shy of Big Bass Honors.

As the Space Coast Bass Finatics returned to the Harris Chain of Lakes, sixteen teams ventured the long journey to compete for the honors of holding the winning bag after tackling the massive acreage across the seven different lakes to choose from. Some teams chose to turn the trip into a little vacation by staying in town days prior to the tournament and enjoying some time away from all the stress during these trying times we live in today. The club had plenty of company on the water that day with multiple other tournaments underway including a one hundred and fifty boat Bass Nation Jr./Sr.

As the club gathered for it's second tournament of the year twenty teams ventured out to Lake Poinsett in what was expected to be a tough day on the water but instead turned into a pretty decent day on the water for some with thirteen teams in the double digits and eleven teams catching their five bass limit.

First place went to the team of Tom Southwick and alternate Bob Barnette weighing in a full bag of studs averaging 4.36 pounds and anchored by a solid 6.87 pound bass bringing their total weight to 21.57 and fetching them a decent $320 payday.

As the Space Coast Bass Finatics kicked off a new season twenty five returning teams plus two new additional teams showed up bright and early Sunday morning to give it their best on East Lake Tohopekaliga. The morning went as smooth as can be expected considering the limited parking and even more limited spots to tie off your boat launching from Ralph V. Chisholm Park.

As another season has come to an end the top ten teams plus one wild card team gathered together to compete in our annual Classic championship. The day got off to a nice start with our club being the only one at the ramp leaving everybody plenty of room for parking and to stand around and swap big fish stories before safely launching right before sunrise.

Space Coast Bass Finatics regular season ended on Lake Washington Sunday the 26th of July. It's all over except for the what if's, the maybe's, and the almost could have been's for the club members who traveled to good old Lake Washington. The heat, nor the water conditions, nor the lack of anything green in the lake was going to stop this last attempt to make or break the season for the club members.

The day was hot when we started and just got hotter as the club completed the tenth tournament of the season. Twenty-four teams arrived at Blue Cypress Recreational Area or Miami-Garcia Impoundment to find the water level acceptable and the vegetation growth high but the morning temperature was 79' and climbing which was totally unacceptable. President Karl quickly got everyone started with his usual to the point instructions about safety at the take-off and boat separation in the canals.

West Lake Toho was heating up in more ways than one on Sunday May 31st. Twenty-nine teams finally arrived to try to figure out the pattern on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. The club points lead and the top ten classic qualifiers are on the line with only three tournaments left in the season. President Karl made the decision to give the club members all the fishing time that he could by moving the weigh-in to three thirty to accommodate another bass club tournament, but most of us were WELL DONE by the end of a 98 degree tournament day. Some of us were done a lot sooner!

The decision to move this months tournament to Lake Kissimmee worked out for the best as twenty-six teams arrived at Overstreet Landings launch ramp to find a much better lake level than Miami-Garcia. The check-in procedure was a little different as the teams tried to keep the social-distancing mandates from FWC. President Karl and V-P President Buddy did their best to inform each team as to the new weigh-in procedures and time check without the need for a formal pre-launch meeting prior to the start.

Space Coast Bass Finatics paid a visit to the Big "O" this month amid much uncertainty and apprehension about these trying times. Twenty-three teams made the long trip down to Glades County, at Harney Pond Canal Ramp to see what the lake had to offer and see what the changes were from last year. The water level was falling as expected and there was a definite lack of vegetation from the constant chemical spraying and last years storm damage. Conditions were a lot different from last year as the current national emergency has caused many shutdowns and cut backs on operations.