Mike Calloway decided to hang up his BFL veteran co-angler hat and put on his big boy pants and fish the circuit as a boater this year. In the Gator Division season opener at Lake Okeechobee on 1/14/2012 out of Roland Martin's Marina in Clewiston, his risk paid off as he sacked a 5 fish limit weighing 16 pounds 6 ounces to finish 20th in the 200 boat field earning him a $395 check for his efforts. Congratulations Mike! That's an excellent finish especially considering that it's his first event as a boater and I'm sure he was happy to better fellow competitor Mr. Jim Folks, but I doubt Mike is satisfied with that effort. The confidence he gained from this experience will just make him more hungry to win. Good luck in the remaining events!

Twelve boats launched from Overstreet's Landing at Lake Kissimmee on December 18th to compete in the LERA Bass Club's last tournament of 2011. A cold front that passed through the night before made for tough fishing on the Kissimmee Chain, but the team of Jimmy Blount and his son Ryan Blount, both of Rockledge, were not deterred by the weather conditions or battery problems with their boat. They sacked the only tournament limit of 5 fish to win the tournament with 9.82 pounds. Eric Amos and Gary Brill, both of Titusville, took second with 4 fish totaling 8.23 pounds. Alan Elder of Melbourne and Wayne Smith of Palm Bay weighed 4 fish totaling 8.10 pounds to finish a close third. Elder punctuated his effort with a 2.95 pounder that was good enough to claim the tournament's big bass prize.

Swarms of giant blood thirsty mosquitoes and high water greeted the eleven teams competing in LERA Bass Club's November 20th tournament at the Miami-Garcia Impoundment. The mosquitoes weren't the only thing biting as most competitors brought limits to the scales. After over 8 hours of competition, the top three were separated by less than a pound. Mike Hampton of Malabar and Tim Kopf of Melbourne topped the field with 15.20 pounds. Mike Calloway of Titusville and Cliff Semonski of Oak Hill earned second place with 14.73 pounds narrowly edging out Eric Amos and Gary Brill of Titusville who weighed 14.48 pounds to finish third. Amos' 4.35 pounder was the tournament's biggest fish.

Eleven boats competed in the LERA Bass Club's second tournament of the season. It was held at the Alligator Chain on the eve of Halloween, October 30th. The team of Jay and Jeff Martin, brothers from Melbourne, found better quality fish than the rest of the field to win the tournament with 4 fish totaling 9.05 pounds. The Martin brothers are club rookies who were competing in their second tournament and this was only the second time they had ever been to the Alligator Chain. Their winning catch was punctuated with a 3.38 pounder caught by Jay that was the biggest fish weighed. Second place was earned by Mike Calloway of Titusville and Cliff Semonski of Oak Hill who weighed 5 fish for 8.30 pounds. Mike Hampton of Malabar and Tim Kopf of Melbourne finished third with 8.02 pounds.

New season! New teams! New winners!

A swarm of hungry mosquitoes greeted the twelve teams competing in the LERA Bass Club's 2011-2012 season opening tournament at Lake Washington on September 25th. Leslie Hope of Rockledge and Clarence Jones of Cocoa started their rookie season with the club in stellar fashion by bringing a five fish limit weighing 17.20 pounds to the scales to win the tournament. Their catch included two fish over 4 pounds. Mike Calloway of Titusville and Cliff Semonski of Oak Hill earned second place with five fish weighing 16.36 pounds. Their catch included a 5.26 pounder by Calloway which was the biggest fish weighed at the event. Larry Cruce of Titusville and Tim Iler of Port St. John rounded out the top three with 9.75 pounds.

The LERA Bass Club held its annual Classic tournament at Lake Cypress on August 28th. The top 10 teams in regular season points competed in this invitation only tournament. The team of Mike Calloway and Gary Brill, both of Titusville, weighed a 5 fish limit totaling 12.87 pounds to win the tournament. Second place was earned by Larry Cruce of Titusville and Tim Iler of Port St. John who weighed 5 fish that totaled 11.06 pounds. Mike Hampton of Malabar and Tim Kopf of Melbourne took third with 5 fish weighing a total of 8.10 pounds.

Larry Cruce and Tim Iler finished the 2010-2011 LERA Bass Club season with the most points to win their third Bassmaters title with the club. Their point total of 370 was one point shy of the club's all time record. They missed the record by one fish which got away at the boat at the season finale at East Lake Tohopekaliga.

Dwayne Haga's 9.04 pound giant from Lake Cypress in January earned him Big Bass of the Year.

The LERA Bass Club held its final regular season tournament on July 31st at East Lake Tohopekaliga. The summertime heat was oppressive and the fish were mostly uncooperative, but as always seems to be the case, some of the competitors figured out how to catch them. Mike Calloway of Titusville, fishing with two handicaps, brought the only 5 fish limit of the tournament to the scales to win the event with a total of 11.48 pounds. This win is even more impressive because he fished without a partner and invited a fellow club member to fish out of his boat as a competing team. Calloway's catch included a 3.94 pounder that edged out two other competitors by a tenth of a pound or less to take big bass honors for the tournament. Second place was earned by the team of Larry Cruce of Titusville and Tim Iler of Port St. John who weighed 4 fish for a total of 10.56 pounds. Third place went to Bob Barnette of Port St. John and Dwayne Haga of Titusville with 4 fish for 7.72 pounds.

On June 6, 2011, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved a long term black bass management plan aimed at making Florida the undisputed bass fishing capital of the world. There are some interesting aspects to this plan that include hatchery and stocking activities as well as habitat management and a new TrophyCatch angler recognition program that documents and rewards anglers for releasing bass over 8 pounds with special categories for fish over 12 pounds. You can read all about this new plan at the FWC Website.

Eleven teams ventured onto the Kissimmee Chain to compete in the LERA Bass Club's June 26th tournament out of Whaley's Landing on Lake Tohopekaliga. Larry Cruce of Titusville and Tim Iler of Port St. John continued their hot streak in dominating fashion weighing a 5 fish limit that totaled 22.46 pounds to win the event. They had 2 fish over 6 pounds and one in the five pound class. This marks the fourth win out of the last five tournaments for the team and all but seals up their third seasonal points championship with the club.

Eric Amos and Gary Brill, both from Titusville, weighed a five fish limit of 16.49 pounds to finish second. Mike Calloway of Titusville and Jim Folks of Melbourne took third with 15.52 pounds.