We went from a 20 pound slug fest at Garcia to this. It all started hopefully enough at East Lake Tohopekaliga's Lakefront Park on July 28th, but then, somewhere in the windless heat, endless seas of pepper grass, and encircling bugs, things just turned out all pathetic like. Making the best of a tough situation with a triumphant return from an unfun health predicament was Mr Tim Iler of Port St. John and his partner, Mr Larry Cruce of Titusville. Those two sacked the only 5 fish limit the tournament would see which made a whopping 8.82 pound impression on the scales. Congratulations and handshakes abounded as the rest of us were humbled.
Finishing second with 4 fish for 6.35 pounds were some guy named Tony Ciavarella of Melbourne and Daville Williams of Palm Bay. We worked really hard all day to give those 4 little green fish a boat ride. Okay, Mr Williams took a break from smoking cloves and downing Monsters somewhere in the middle to send an e-mail or three but the rest of the time was all effort. Mike Calloway of Titusville and Cliff Semonski of Oak Hill brought 3 fish to the scales for 5.22 pounds to earn third. Their bag included the biggest fish of the tournament, a 2.05 pound behemoth Cliff managed to horse near the boat while Calloway used both hands and got a sore back scooping the fish with the net. I'm sure Cliff took photos with this beauty for his collection, but he forgot to submit them to me so they aren't posted here. Rumor has it that he took precise measurements for a replica mount.
Air Temperature: lower 80s to lower 90s
Water Temperature: mid 80s
Wind: Calm to SSW 5
Conditions: mostly sunny with a cloud here or there
The winners reported catching their fish using the following tricks:
- 1st Place: Zoom Super Flukes, worms, and something with a paddle tail
- 2rd Place: fishing kissimmee grass on the east side of the lake with junebug colored Zoom Super Flukes. I also caught one on a gold nugget colored Berkley Havoc Sick Fish that was out in the middle around some pepper grass. When the silly green fish came up busting on shad, I tossed the sick fish on his head and he got confused.
- 3rd Place & Big Bass: Reaction Innovations Skinny Dippers (big bass), and Yamamoto Senkos