Ten boats launched onto Lake Cypress on the Kissimmee Chain to compete in the LERA Bass Club's February 26th tournament. A passing warm front produced an increasing ENE wind and cloudy skies which presided over the event with a delightful ominousness that seemed to foreshadow the interesting day two of the top three teams would have. The team of Mike Hampton of Malabar and Tim Kopf of Melbourne out classed the field amassing a whopping 21.46 pound 5 fish limit which included a 7.4 pound lunker by Hampton. Mike Calloway of Titusville and Cliff Semonski of Oak Hill weren't far behind with an 18.55 pound 5 fish limit of their own to take 2nd place. Third place went to Tony Ciavarella of Viera who managed to only bring 4 fish to the scales for 15.21 pounds, but one was a giant 9.90 pounder which was the biggest of the event and the season so far.
Now that we've discussed the official particulars, let's cover that interesting business I mentioned earlier. After catching most of the winning sack, Mr. Kopf received a phone call mid-day from his frantic employer that required him leave the water for a few hours to go fix something important in Melbourne. He spent much more time driving than it took him to fix whatever it was that broke and he returned just in time for the weigh-in. That kind of dedication should earn Mr. Kopf a raise. His partner, Mr. Hampton had an interesting experience during the day too. He had the misfortune of breaking his line with a good fish hooked. That's not interesting in and of itself, but later in the day, he hooked a familiar fish. After getting it in the boat, he found his other bait with broken line still attached. He caught the same fish twice on the same bait in the same day!
I caught a damn 9.90 pounder so humor me for a bit while I discuss how that happened. You might find it amusing, but don't expect to learn anything useful unless you've been wondering where the golf cart at the Toho lock went. You see, the biggest fish I've ever caught in my life was a product of the worst game plan ever. Last month at Lake Toho, I got skunked. I was determined to not embarrass myself again this month. Did I spend every waking non-working hour on the water practicing? No, I was too busy fixing various parts of my damn boat. Did I line up a ringer to fish with me? No, I'm too antisocial for that. Did I spend hours formulating a game plan based on past history, weather conditions, the seasonal pattern, and the latest fishing reports? No, I wouldn't know where to start with that kind of nonsense. Instead, I decided to ignore the voice in my head and start looking around Cypress. My favorite spots suffered the wrath of the FWC hydrilla hit squad except for one on the west side but there were several boats in there by the time I showed up. The voice in my head got too loud to ignore and I decided to listen to its madness. I pointed my damn sinking boat toward the lock to go back to the same damn spot in Toho and throw the same damn baits that produced zero bites in 6 hours last month. Brilliant! Waiting for the lock provides one with ample opportunity to question one's sanity with a plan like this especially since their golf cart died. Upon emerging from the lock, I traveled to my spot and there were no boats in sight. Within an hour, I had the 9.9 in the tank. I can't recommend the worst game plan ever, but it did work for me. In case you were wondering, I asked the lockmaster on the way back about the fate of their beloved golf cart. The batteries died, the charger wouldn't charge it, and he also mumbled something about the solenoid incoherently. So it seems lock patrons will have to wait for the lockmaster to walk for the foreseeable future.
Air Temperature: mid 50s to low 70s
Wind: ENE 5-20
Conditions: Cloudy Skies (passing warm front)
Water Temperature: 59 degrees
The winners reported catching their fish using the following tricks:
- 1st Place: Zoom Super Flukes in Cypress
- 2nd Place: Zoom Super Flukes in Kissimmee
- 3rd Place: two different swimbaits over submerged hydrilla in 6 ft of clear water offshore in Toho
- Big Bass: Bass Pro Shops Squirmin' Swim Shad (they don't make or sell these any more)
