Much fog, a strange absence of drama, and the unsettling sounds of peacocks and alligators greeted us at the Lake Cypress boat ramp on February 23rd. The start of the tournament was more of a crawl than a blast off due to the fog which must have made the run to Kissimmee interesting for the several boats that opted to take their chances there.
This month's small creel prize went to the father and son team of Mike and Justin Neal who brought 1 fish for 2.50 pounds to the scales. They won a fillet knife generously donated by Paul and Kevin Parker who own the Palm Bay, Palm Bay West, and West Melbourne Ace Hardware stores. Drop by any of those Ace locations to supply your next project. Thanks Paul and Kevin!
Mr Hubbard and I started off in Cypress fishing a few spots near the boat ramp that didn't pan out and then promptly headed to the eel grass flat between the canals to Lake Hatchineha and Lake Toho. The fish were biting my Skinny Dipper knockoff swimbaits over there until the fog disintegrated and the sun started shining. With only 3 fish including a 4.73, we headed through the lock to the south end of Lake Toho for the same kissimmee grass and reed line we fished last month with hopes of filling out our limit. As luck would have it, the two pounders of last month seemed to have grown up to three pounders and Mr Hubbard promptly loaded the boat with them gleefully tossing my two smaller Cypress fish overboard. At the end of the day, we had more than I thought, tipping the scales at 16.19 pounds to win the tournament.
Mark Burt and his son Sean Burt made the trek to Kissimmee to fish lily pads with 11" worms, a pattern that yielded 20+ pound best 5 more than once in practice for them. They brought 5 fish for 16.02 pounds to the scales to finish a really close 2nd. Sean caught a stout 6.42 pounder that was the tournament's biggest fish.
Dwayne Haga and Bob Barnette opted to lock to Lake Toho where they tossed senkos to catch a five fish limit of nearly the same sized fish for a total of 15.05 to earn 3rd place.
Air Temperature: Upper 60s to mid 80s
Water Temperature: mid to upper 60s
Wind: mostly calm but there was a slight west wind 0-5 with a short gust or two to 10
Conditions: foggy clearing to mostly sunny with a late cloud or two
The winners reported catching their fish using the following tricks:
- 1st Place: houdini and majestic perch colored Bass Pro Shops Sassy Sally Swimbaits in submerged eel grass in Lake Cypress, and pitching texas rigged 8" blackberry colored Mann's Jelly Worms and Okeechobee Craw colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beavers to the outside edge of kissimmee grass and reeds between the lock and Friars Cove on the south east part of Toho
- 2nd Place & Big Bass: 11" junebug worms around lily pads in Lake Kissimmee
- 3rd Place: Yamamoto Senkos in Lake Toho
