The club was met with about everything that a lake can offer on Saturday and Sunday. There was Federation tournament at the ramp on Saturday for their two day event and there were two more on Sunday. The ABA/AFT Harris Division 20 and the Harris Open were there on Sunday which made for a crowd at the ramp and in the parking lot. The take-off and the weigh-in times were discussed between the participants and all was worked out to the satisfaction of everyone. The results were evident as both days went off without a hitch between the clubs. The only problem was the unbelievable actions of the people who just cannot understand the simple logic and courtesy at the boat ramp and on the water. The lake's seemed to be the playground for the clueless party boat operator's as they stayed as close to the grass line as possible even if there was a lowly bass boat fishing nearby. They were making as big of a wake as they could while smiling and waving happily. The heat added to the woes of those 12 teams who made the long journey over to Eustis to try and score a big win for their team. There were some who did not make it through the whole weekend and there were some who just plain forgot it was a two day event and showed up on Sunday but that was still not as bad as him forgetting about his anniversary on Thursday. The weekend was a success for almost everyone even if you didn't catch a limit or even if you got lost a time or two.
The first place team of Mike Calloway and William Flood recovered from a slow day one to post a two day total of 26.02 pounds. Flippin the grass lines on Lake Dora and Big Harris with a Yum Dinger and proved to be the best way to catch their limit on both days. The second day's 5.05 pound big bass by Mike solidified their win by a mere pound.
Clark Ford and Mikhal Moberg made an even bigger come back on Sunday by weighing in the largest single day bag of the tournament at 16.29 pounds which propelled them to a second place finish with a two day total of 25.07 pounds. The Senko was the right bait on both days and their big bass each day was 4.15 and 4.58 pounds respectively.
Third place was narrowly taken by Brian Cole and Bill Groseclose who after leading day one with 14.76 pounds fell on on hard times on day two and ended up with a two day total of 20.91 pounds, narrowly edging out the team of John Kinchen and Fred Reid. Bill landed the day one Big Bass at 5.41 pounds on his second cast of the day using his brand new Devil Horse top water lure.
The Big Bass of the second day and for the whole weekend tournament was landed by Larry Cruce early in the morning. The Devil Horse top water lure again accounted for the 5.83 pound big one but unfortunately she did not survive the trip back to the launch ramp. The number of dead fish was high for the club as there were 3 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday. The heat had a lot to do with that but we must try to take good care of the bass we catch as they could be the one's you need next time.
The President wrapped up the long and hard weekend with the drawing for two $25.00 gift certificates from our benefactor Shawn Mecchella at Strike Zone of Melbourne. Alan Elder happily accepted them making his weekend and tournament just a little bit better. The next tournament will be on Beautiful Blue Cypress Lake on June 25, 2023.
The club received some sad news about a long time past member , Bob Barnett, who is battling cancer again. He has fished 159 tournaments and claimed 17 wins while fishing with us. His reputation of being a big stick on the St. John's River and it's lake's was well deserved as he was hard to beat anywhere or on any lake. The smile and laid back attitude was always present no matter what happened during the day. Please take a moment to reflect on the benefit to the club he has been and help him in his fight against cancer. Good Luck Bob !
