The last tournament of the season for SCBF, was held Sunday on Lake Washington, with a a lot on the line for the twenty-one teams who put up with the mosquitoes, high water, little to no wind, heavy rain showers and a lack of vegetation offered by the lake. The question of who would be in the top ten in points and who would make the eleventh place wild card for the "Classic" , along with the Angler's of the Year, was up for grabs. The full moon and days of practice would not be much help as the weather and lake levels were rapidly changing. As in all bass tournaments, someone will figure it out and make the right choices to take the top spots leaving others to wonder what should or could have been.
The launch ramp was busy as all teams, except for some teams who arrived just before daylight, got in the water without incident, many helping others to get their boat in a place without hitting rocks and some even helping people fill their gas tank with a generous donation. The members of the club are very helpful to anyone that needs it especially if they are club members.
President Bill began the morning meeting with his usual take charge and get it done way of doing things, by reminding everyone of the value of being safe on the water and some areas where passing in the canals and St. John's River would not be permitted. H e explained that we would have a BBQ, officer selection and lake selection after the weigh-in was complete, along with a discussion of proposed rule changes to be voted on at the September tournament. He reminder everyone that participation is very important for the entire club and even more for the "Classic" teams as they will select the lake to be used for the event on August 26th.
Dwayne Haga of Sanford and Dave Metzler of Debary took the first place prize with a limit weighing 14.93 pounds which included a nice 5.28 pound big bass which turned out to be the second largest bass of the day by a mere 0.49 pounds. This moved them into third place in the AOY points race and gave them 2 wins, three top three finishes and one big bass honor for the year. They reported that working a Zoom Magnum Finesse worm around the lily pads and sparse grass at the mouth of a canal worked best. Fishing slow and having patient was the key to their success.
Second place went to the Anglers of the Year team of Brian Wical of West Melbourne and Craig Cashion of Melbourne who only weighed in four bass for 12.82 pounds. Their bag was topped off with a Lake Washington giant weighing 5.77 pounds which took the Big Bass honors for the tournament. Fishing mostly in the Sarno flats area, and using skinny dippers and speed worms, proved to be the right choice. This easily secured their place in the AOY points championship and completed a year that included two wins, four big bass honors and six top three finishes. All this was capped off with Brian's claim on the Biggest Bass for the Year trophy with a giant Lake Kissimmee largemouth weighing 10.18 pounds. Congratulation's on a great year.
Buddy Byrd of Palm Bay and Matt Byrd of Melbourne returned with a nice limit weighing 11.30 pounds including a three pound kicker fish. Their fish all came on a black and blue senko's, fished around the mouth of a canal. This rounded out a solid year with two wins, two big bass honors and three top three finishes, along with fifth place in the AOY points race. Great year !
Fourth place finishers, Bill Groseclose of Melbourne and Fred Reid of Palm Bay who's limit of 11.23 pounds narrowly missed out of third, reported that a mix of speed worms and senko's in the canals worked best. This added to their record breaking year, which included a second place finish in the AOY points race, one win and six top three finishes with another club record of 12 straight limits which brings their total to 36 straight regular season limits brought to the scales over the past three years. Great Job !!
The fishing and weigh-in completed, the club end of year business was conducted over a delicious feast prepared by Chef Kevin of Mr. "K" BBQ with soul ! The voting tabulation proceeded for club officers for the 2018-2019 year along with the lake selection, with the results as follows:
President--------Bill Groseclose
Vice-President--William Flood
Treasurer-------Jack Berry
Secretary-------Mike Hampton
The lake selection and dates for the tournaments will be posted as soon as the officers complete their discussions of the results which will then be posted to the website.
The "Classic" lake selection proceeded and after some discussion and comments the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes was selected by a wide margin. The discussion continued with a motion to make the chain of lakes off limits prior to the date. It was decided by the "Classic" participants that the lake would be off limits from Sunday the 19th at midnight to daylight on Sunday the 26th of August. The sight of the launch will be the Overstreet Landings ramp on August 26th. Congratulations to the eleven teams who made this years "Classic Showdown".
The following teams have qualified for the "Classic Tournament on Kissimmee Chain of Lakes:
1. Brian Wical and Craig Cashion-------------------------------------------321 points
2. Bill Groseclose and Fred Reid--------------------------------------------307 points
3. Dwayne Haga and Dave Metzler-----------------------------------------277 points
4. Karl Kearcher and Jay Stein----------------------------------------------276 points
5. Buddy Byrd and Matt Byrd-----------------------------------------------275 points
6. Jimmy Blount and Jack Berry--------------------------------------------262 points
7. Mike Calloway and William Flood----------------------------------------256 points
8. Don Hinman and Ken Winter--------------------------------------------250 points
9. Cliff Semonski and Keith Braun-----------------------------------------230 points
10.Rick Jenkins and Joe Jenkins-------------------------------------------222 points
11.Wild Card Buddy Perry and Preston Humphries-----------------------(most weight at last tournament)
Good luck to all the teams!
