The Space Coast Bass Finatics headed to Mullet Lake Park on the St. Johns River for their second to last tournament of the 2013-2014 season. The team of Alan Elder of Melbourne and Wayne Smith of Palm Bay weighed 5 fish for 13.84 pounds to win the tournament. Mike Neal of Sorrento and his son Justin Neal of West Melbourne were on the quality bite weighing 3 fish for 10.49 pounds to finish second. Justin's 4.97 pounder was the tournament's biggest fish. Mike Calloway of Titusville and Cliff Semonski of Oak Hill took third with 5 fish for 10.18 pounds.

Matt Hinman and Andrew Lee caught a staggering 39.65 pound 5 fish limit including an 11.00 pound behemoth at the Xtreme Bass Series event on the Kissimmee Chain on June 8, 2014. In that same tournament, 3 other teams had over 29 pounds, and 5 others had over 20 pounds. 5 fish over 7 pounds were weighed in. There were only 20 boats! Wow. Check out the full results, more photos, and the story, on their website.

The Space Coast Bass Finatics brought their monthly tournament series to the Miami-Garcia Impoundment on May 18th. The team of Tim Iler of Port St. John and Larry Cruce of Titusville brought 5 fish to the scales for a whopping 29.86 pounds to win the tournament and set a new all time club record for Miami-Garcia Impoundment. They had to cull a fish measuring over 22 inches due to a state regulation or they would have had well over 30 pounds. It was a team effort as the duo outdid one another for their biggest fish all day with Iler catching the team's biggest fish after Cruce gave him one of the junebug Zoom speed worms he'd been using all day. Iler's 8.63 pounder was the tournament's biggest fish.

The team of Jake and Gary Hinman of Palm Bay finished second with 5 fish totaling 21.57 pounds which also eclipsed the old all time club record for the Miami-Garcia Impoundment. Mike Calloway of Titusville and Cliff Semonski of Oak Hill took third with 5 fish for 20.90 pounds.

Another freaking story about practice? I know. I don't know what's going on. It's crazy out there at central Florida lakes right now!

It's not 15 fish for 110 pounds at Lake Fork, but it's in the neighborhood, for 1 day at least. SCBF veteran and perennial big stick, Mr Mike Calloway was perfishing for tomorrow's Garcia tournament on Friday 5/16/2014 and he caught 5 fish that he won't soon forget.

Please consider taking the survey and be sure read the background information before jumping to conclusions about whether or not this is a good idea.

From Tom Champeau, Director of the FWC Division of Freshwater Fisheries Management:

Here is your chance to provide input about potential Florida bass management ideas. You are receiving this because you are signed up to receive updates on potential freshwater fisheries rule changes. We encourage you to read the additional information about the draft proposal and to complete a new survey.

Two stories about practice for our Kissimmee tournament with one that didn't get posted until over a week after the damn tournament? What kind of insanity is this? Keep calm and read on. It's all about the photograph Jack Berry took after having to put both hands in her mouth to get her into the boat.

Space Coast Bass Finatics veteran Jimmy Blount hooked into a monster during his practice for our Kissimmee tournament. That fish he's holding up registered at 12 pounds on his scale. Wow! Look at the picture. Notice Jimmy is not holding the fish out, she's right up next to his torso so you can get a better idea of just how big she is. It looks like Jimmy could have stuck his head in her mouth. That girl is huge! What a fish! I'm giddy just looking at the photograph, to catch her must have been sublime. Way to go Jimmy!

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will hold a public meeting to discuss a possible rule change for largemouth bass. The meeting will offer the public a chance to hear from freshwater fisheries biologists about the science behind managing bass fisheries, as well as public input that has led to consideration of a possible statewide rule change.

Participants will be encouraged to provide input on the proposal for a statewide five-fish daily bag limit, only one of which could be 16 inches total length or longer. In other words, four of the five largemouths would have to be less than 16 inches total length.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 7, from 6 to 8 p.m. It will take place at the Round Administration Building, 315 W. Main St. in Tavares, upstairs in the Lake County Board Chambers.

To learn more about largemouth bass and the FWC’s current regulation, go to MyFWC.com/Fishing, and visit the “Black Bass Management” and “Regulations” links under “Freshwater Fishing.”

The Space Coast Bass Finatics showed up hopeful at Lake Kissimmee on April 27, 2014 after practice rumors of big fish permeated the pretournament conversation. When it was all said and done, every competing team would weigh a 5 fish limit, at least 8 fish over 4 pounds would be weighed, and the big bass of the season, Jackie Barber's seeming insurmountable 9.4 from Okeechobee, would be eclipsed twice.

The father and son team of Clyde and Raymond Taylor of Palm bay reigned supreme with a total of 24.10 pounds. They reported fishing swimbaits over grass in Lake Hatchineha and Lake Cypress. They culled several 2.5 to 3 pound fish along the way. Clyde anchored their big weight with a 9.43 pound giant female that would be the big bass of the tournament and season, at least for a few minutes. Also, the Taylor's chip ended up at the bottom of the lake so we had to penalize them 5 points for littering. Hopefully that won't come back to haunt them.

Tim Iler of Port St John and Larry Cruce of Titusville worked jerkbaits in Lake Kissimmee to earn second place with a total of 18.64 pounds. Tim casted out his jerkbait and then took a few minutes to stretch a sore muscle in his neck and back leaving his bait motionless for several minutes. Refocusing on fishing, he thought he was hung up in the grass until it started moving. A long fight ensued with the fish busting the surface a few times and going into some heavy grass. Eventually, the fish ran out of energy and Tim was able to get it near enough for Larry to scoop the fish into the net. She tipped the scales at 10.49 pounds and is the tournament's biggest fish and the leading contender for big bass of the year.

Mike Hampton of Malabar and Tim Kopf of Melbourne flipped Yum Dingers to the grass lines near the Overstreet takeoff ramp to catch 15.71 pounds to take third. One of Mike's trailer lights shook loose on the rough Overstreet road on the way to the ramp, but he spotted it on the way out and retrieved it undamaged.

This month's small creel award, a nice "Gone Fishing" wall sign donated by Ronda L. Thorne of Showcase Property Management, was earned by BJ Biles and Jackie Barber for 5 fish at 9.39 pounds. If you need a realtor, give Ronda a call at 321-783-5000. Thanks Ronda!

I don't write many stores on pre-fishing, but sometimes things happen that justify it. This is one of those times. SCBF veteran and big stick Mike Calloway was practicing on Lake Kissimmee on April 24, 2014 when he caught not 1 but 2 giants. One weighed in at 9 pounds and 10 ounces and the other tipped the scales at 7 pounds and 4 ounces. He reported a best 5 for the day at 24-4.

Another SCBF veteran, Jimmy Blount, reportedly caught a 12 pounder that same day during practice. If a photo surfaces of that one, it will be posted here.

Stop reading this nonsense and look at the pictures of Calloway's big ladies already!

We hauled our gear to Lake Okeechobee for a two day event March 22-23 that launched out of the Harney Pond Canal. The weights from our club were down from recent years in general. However, as usual, some competitors figured out the secret to catching bigger fish. BJ Biles of Palm Bay and Jackie Barber of Cocoa caught the two biggest five fish limits of the tournament at 17.67 pounds on the first day and 22.09 pounds the second day to win the event by over 9 pounds with a total of 39.76. Jackie Barber anchored their Sunday catch with a 9.4 pound lunker that was the tournament's biggest fish and is the biggest fish caught at any SCBF tournament this season.

Tim Iler of Port St. John and Larry Cruce of Titusville earned second place with a two day total of 30.54 pounds. Mike Calloway of Titusville and Bill Rucker of Okeechobee sacked a two day total of 28.25 pounds to take 3rd. Calloway's 7.04 pounder was the biggest fish on the first day of the event.

Building Management Systems, Inc generously provided scratch off lottery tickets this time as the small creel award. Mike Hubbard and I were unlucky enough to win them the first day and Alan Elder earned them on day 2. If you need something designed, built, or such get a bid from BMS.