Two of the club teams competed in the first Florida Sate Tournament Championship on the Kissimmee Chain of lakes out of the Big Toho Marina and both turned in respectable finishes. The tournament was dominated by clubs from the Kissimmee area as was expected but the weather did not cooperate as the wind made the lake very tough to navigate. Jack Berry and Jimmy Blount caught fish both days but could not seem to find that one or two big fish to make a ok day into a good day.

Team type tournaments are usually dominated by good team fisherman, both contributing to success in tournament competition but Larry Cruce of Titusville proved that one man can be better than two at the two day event held on March 19th-20th in Lake Okeechobee out of Harney Pond Canal ramp. The first day was plagued with rain showers then sheets of rain accompanied by wind and finally capped off with a torrential down pour and lightning at the end. The pavilion near the ramp came in very handy during the weigh-in.

The change in time also brings back the Monday Nite Tournament on Lake Washington. The first will take place on March 14 and I believe the start time is still 5.15 pm and you can fish until the dark or mosquitos get the best of you. good luck.

There is also the new two man team Extreme Tournament on Miami-Garcia which is now in progress on the second Sunday of each month.

The club discussed our upcoming Lake Okeechobee two day event on March 19-20 which we will be launching both days out of the Harney Pond Canal ramp. If anyone needs info on accomodations, call or e-mail and we can give you some local numbers for rooms that are good for boat parking.

Whaley's Landing was a crowded place Sunday morning as approximately twenty-five boats from two bass clubs where there to find Toho's biggest and best bass. The conditions were not ideal, but the morning sunrise and cloud pattern were spectacular as the two photos from Tim Kopf proves. The thirteen teams from SCBF were eager to get started in the cool morning weather but they would be soon be enjoying the feel of the warm Florida sun as the day progressed.

On February 11,2016 the FWC approved the revision to the black bass length that can be possessed. Starting on July 1, 2016 you can only possess one bass over 16" long in a five bass limit. This will eliminate the one bass over 22" long. This will also make it almost mandatory that a permit will need to be acquired prior to each tournament. We will need to revise our by-laws to reflect this new requlation. All new regulations including this one can be reviewed on the FWC web site under new regulations.

Club Member News

It was 15 years ago the other day, January 17, 2001 in fact, that Dean Rojas had a magical life altering day during a Top 150 Bassmaster event at Lake Toho where he laid an epic 45 pound 2 ounce 5 fish limit on the scales of history. After all this time, I still look upon that photo with a giant smile and childlike awe. Mr Rojas still remembers that day with vivid detail and you can read all about it in a wonderful two part article by Todd Ceisner on BassFan. part 1 part 2

The club visited beautiful Blue Cypress Lake on Sunday the 13th of December and were met by almost every condition possible. Starting the mourning off with a star filled night sky accented with some very bright meteors and a lot of very hunger mosquitoes. Miss Middleton provided lake information drinks, coffee, and all the plastic baits you could need or use. Sunrise arrived with wind out of the northeast at 10 mph and continued to increase all day until it started to rain about two pm and during the weigh-in right up until we were leaving Middleton's parking lot. Then a beautiful double rainbow over the lake wished us fair well good bye. How nice it was and what a day for the thirteen teams who made the long trip down to highway 60.

Past LERA member and Strike Zone connection Jim Folks caps off the nine tournament series by winning four Toho tournaments and the division championship on Lake Okeechobee with a two day total of 53.24 pounds including a 9.18 big bass honors. Congratulations from SCBF. Read more on the Florida Today sports news by Bill Sargent