Eleven boats competed in the LERA Bass Club's second tournament of the season. It was held at the Alligator Chain on the eve of Halloween, October 30th. The team of Jay and Jeff Martin, brothers from Melbourne, found better quality fish than the rest of the field to win the tournament with 4 fish totaling 9.05 pounds. The Martin brothers are club rookies who were competing in their second tournament and this was only the second time they had ever been to the Alligator Chain. Their winning catch was punctuated with a 3.38 pounder caught by Jay that was the biggest fish weighed. Second place was earned by Mike Calloway of Titusville and Cliff Semonski of Oak Hill who weighed 5 fish for 8.30 pounds. Mike Hampton of Malabar and Tim Kopf of Melbourne finished third with 8.02 pounds.
Air Temperature: upper 50s to lower 70s
Wind: ENE 10-25 gusting to 30+
Water Temperature: 69 degrees
It wasn't any particular location or tactic that was key at this event. The competitors that did best seemed to be junk fishing and covering lots of water. The winners reported catching their fish using the following tricks:
- 1st Place & Big Bass: crainkbaits, topwater frogs, and Super Flukes
- 2nd Place: speed worms and Rat-l-traps
- 3rd Place: spinnerbaits, senkos, and frogs