The twenty teams that showed up at Harney Pond Canal Ramp on Saturday and Sunday were greeted by windy conditions, muddy water and belligerent guides and a busy launch ramp. The water level was low as expected, but the lake was full of bass beds and bass if you could find them. Saturday proved to be the hardest day for most teams with 20 plus mph winds and many other boats to deal with as over 150 boats were in the BFL tournament out of Clewiston and another tournament from Orlando using the same ramp as we were and weighing in at the same time. After some verbal pushing and shoving at the ramp with a local guide and some northern Yankee visitors the club launched at 7:05am , except a couple of teams with boat malfunctions.
We were happy to see Lloyd and Jennifer Hamilton carrying up a large box of breakfast sweets to get everyone off on a sugar high which we all appreciated greatly. Wayne Smith and Michael Cunningham were fishing by themselves and experienced equipment problems to make things tougher but still fished the entire weekend. Buddy and Matt Byrd fished the BFL on Saturday and had a rough ride back to Clewiston losing some boat equipment to a wave over the bow. We were glad to see Jack Spradlin back after some medical problems and have a good day with partner Gary Hinman.
Day 1 saw President Dwayne and VP Dave bring in a solid limit of 15.22 pounds to lead the tournament followed closely by Mike Hampton/Tim Kopf and Jimmy Blount/Jack Berry who landed the big bass of the day and the tournament at 8.07 pounds. Jack caught the big Okeechobee female on a speed worm out in the open water near North Shore. Fortunes did an about face for most teams on Sunday as the weather improved and fishing became enjoyable again. Don Hinman and Ken Winter registered the biggest turnaround as they weighed in the largest bag of the tournament at 18.95 pounds and included the day two largest bass at 8.01 pounds.
Consistency was the path to victory as Karl Kearcher and John Dickinson weighed in a good day one of 12.56 pounds and a better day two with 17.22 pounds to claim first place totaling 29.79 pounds. Using white spinner baits and sinkos, with their largest bass weighing only 4.81 pounds but most of their other fish were not much smaller, the team proved that consistency does get the job done.
White spinner baits and Houdini flukes were the ticket for Mike Calloway and William Flood who came in second place with 27.40 pounds. As usual Mike got into an altercation at the ramp with a local guide about ramp protocol and boat parking but Rick and Joe Jenkins had a talk with him to resolve the problem.
Tim Kopf and Mike Hampton was the most consistent as they fished near the Monkey Box both days bringing in almost the same weight each day for a total of 26.41 pounds and third place finish. Watermelon flukes with a small weight and 10" junebug ribbon tail worms worked best in clean water 2 to 3 feet deep inside the reed lines.
The small creel prize was generously donated by Rosner Chevrolet and included a free oil/filter change, wash and wax, vacuum the interior and clean the glass and tires. This fabulous prize was won both days by Wayne Smith who was very pleased.
This was by far the best turnout the club has ever had at Lake Okeechobee and resulted in the club record for two days being broken for the most fish weigh in which now stands at 165 bass beating the old mark by 30 fish. The Big Bass for the year now is in Jack Berry's hands with his 8.07 pounder.
The club also vote to change the April 30th tournament from Miami-Garcia to the Harris Chain of Lakes and we will be launching out of Buzzard Beach Ramp in Tavares.
GOOD LUCK and SEE YOU THERE
