The conditions were perfect on Sunday morning for a great day of fishing; full moon, high clouds, light winds out of the northwest, 61 degree air temperature and a beautiful red sunrise. This is how bass fishing tournaments should always start, right. The Overstreet Launch Ramp was unusually crowded with the remainders of the King of the River air boat fest, held on Friday and Saturday, which I'm sure we made enough noise to wake them up way before they wanted too. Lloyd and Jennifer showed up with a large tray of donuts to get everyone started with a boost of energy, Rick and Joe Jenkins finally made it to the check-in by speeding thru the parking lot and Mike Calloway could not use his big motor because it was still broken from the Okeechobee tournament.
The record breaking day began as the clubs twenty-three boats made their way out on to the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in single file. The water was mostly dirty and ranged from 61 degrees to 71 degrees with little or no hydrilla to be found but the lily pads and Kissimmee grass was green and growing. There were seven bass weighed in over 22" with a couple more just under and twenty-one teams returned with a limit. Darrell Hough recorded his largest bass ever at 3.24 pounds to round out a nice limit with his partner and Dad, Bubba, who recently returned from submarine duty. Way to go Darrell ! The club also set a new record for the most fish weighed in a single day at 109, up three, and total weight for for a single day at 324 pounds which was 41 pounds higher than before. Not to mention a new mark for the Big Bass of the Year at 10.18 pounds up by more than a pound from the mark set by Dwayne Haga at Lake Poinsett. The only thing that went wrong was a single dead fish brought back by our own, President Bill.
Brian Wical and Craig Cashion shook off the hex placed on them by Jack Berry to return with a mega bag limit weighing 20.73 pounds to claim first place. Their limit was anchored by a huge 10.18 pound giant bass caught by Brian and takes the lead in the Big Bass for the Year race by more than a pound. They reported that flippin the outside edges of the Kissimmee grass with a jig and throwing a chatter bait accounted for their limit which could have been even larger if they could have landed another giant bass which was hooked by Craig just as Brian was placing his big bass in the livewell but came unbuttoned before it could be netted.
Only ounces behind were Alan and Justin Hough with their mega bag limit of 20.66 pounds to take second place. Their limit of nice Kissimmee bass was anchored by 6.07 pounder and another 6.06 pound twin along with a few three pounders for good measure. They used sinkos and jigs to find the bass in the grass and around lily pads. All this was made even better for Alan as his grandson ,Darrell, weighed in the biggest bass he ever caught.
Third place went to President Bill Groseclose and partner Fred Reid who weighed in another limit at 19.01 pounds even with a dead fish penalty. Their bag was capped off by a nice 7.02 pound big bass and they reported that magnum speed worms was their best bait. This also keeps the streak alive for weighing in a limit this year which stands at 10 and now gives them thirty-three limits in a row for the past two and a half years.
Karl Kearcher and Jay Stein followed in fourth place with a nice limit of 18.80 pounds and received a nice gift certificate from our friends at Strike Zone. Buddy Perry and Preston Humphries took home the other Strike Zone gift certificate for the small creel award. Don Hinman and Ken Winter also picked up another gift certificate from Strike Zone as a raffle prize. Be sure you go by and visit Shawn Mecchella at Strike Zone of Melbourne to show the clubs appreciation for all he does to help our tournaments go better.
President Bill would like to thank everyone for a great tournament and all the participation at the weigh-in. As the year is coming to the end the points race for the top ten teams for the Classic is still in doubt and AOY race is even tighter. The next three tournaments are going to be even more important so keep up the good work and see you at the City Ramp at West Lake Toho on May 20th.
