There was not much you can say about the Space Coast Bass Finatics tournament last Sunday the 27th of January on West Lake Toho that would make you smile except that it is over. The eighteen teams that braved the rainy and windy weather knew it was gong to be a tough day on the water and even harder to catch a limit and it certainly was. There were some good excuses for not fishing by the missing members and maybe they were right but they did miss some things that may not come by again. There was the crowded launch ramp with all the MLF pros fishing for their upcoming event, some loose boats that came into contact with other boats, the inevitable ramp altercation and the question of why did we pick this day to fish. Several of the members got to talk with some very nice pros that were more than happy to spend time at the ramp under cover of the canopy, especially Paul Elias who was more cordial and very friendly. A couple of the members even got in on the picture taking by the MLF photographer who was really nice to everyone. Check out the MLF website for proof. The take off was slow, as some team members were reluctant to leave the safety of the porch canopy at first light, but eventually all teams got off to a good start except for one. Just to make things a little bit worse, Keith Braun decided it would be better to be completely wet by 9:30 am so he fell in while saving a fishing rod from going over board. Nice move Keith! He still fished all day without changing his clothes. There were some teams that returned with a limit (6 total) and some did not even fish the entire day, like Jimmy and Jack who decided that 1'o'clock was a good time to call it quits for the day.
Brian Wical of West Melbourne and Craig Cashion of Palm Bay returned with a good limit weighing 10.85 pounds to take first place. They used a lot of different baits, like a rattle trap, speed worm, top water and chatter bait. Their bag was anchored by a 5.03 pounder that turned out to be the big bass for the tournament and was caught on a chatter bait. Craig also started off the day by getting drenched by the bilge pump as he got out of the truck and walked by the discharge outlet at just the wrong time.
Jimmy Blunt and Jack Berry both from Rockledge claimed second place with a bag that weight 10.83 pounds , only 0.02 pounds behind the first place team. Maybe you should have stayed out and culled that small bass instead of drying out in the truck. Jimmy and Jack caught most of their bass on their favorite speed worm .
Rick Jenkins of Rockledge and Joe Jenkins of Merritt Island claimed third place with a nice limit weighing 8.97 pounds all of which came on a sinko. Their limit narrowly beat out Buddy and Matt Byrd whose limit came in at 8.67 pounds and also came on sinko's. Their 4th place finish was rewarded with another nice gift certificate from our sponsor at Strike Zone of Melbourne, Shawn Mecchella. He wanted to remind everyone that their tournament trail will be starting on the first weekend in February, so get your registration form in now.
The small creel award goes to Mike Calloway and VP William Flood who weighed in a 0.78 pound big bass that is now the smallest bass to be weighed in this year. They also claimed a nice gift certificate from Strike Zone of Melbourne and an additional gift certificate from Bob Steele Chevrolet in Cocoa.
President Bill thanked everyone for their participation and sent everyone home as soon as he could with a reminder that the next tournament will be at Lake Kissimmee out of the Overstreet Launch Ramp.
