Eleven boats launched onto the waters near the origin of the St. John's River at Lake Washington to kick-off the club's 2012-2013 season. Historically, this place has been the site of some of the toughest tournaments this club fishes, but something was different this time around. The team of Mike Hampton of Malabar and Tim Kopf of Melbourne amassed a 5 fish limit totaling 17.14 pounds to narrowly win the tournament. Jimmy Blount of Rockledge and his son Ryan Blount of Cocoa were right on their heels with their own 5 fish limit which tipped the scales at 17.09 pounds to finish a really close second. Their bag was punctuated with the biggest fish of the tournament, a 6.18 pound beauty that Jimmy caught. Clyde Taylor and his son Raymond Taylor of Palm Bay weren't far behind with 5 fish for a stout 15.99 pounds to earn third place.

So, it seems that anyone that volunteers their wife and friend to cook the club food wins the tournament this season. Anyone care to test that theory at Lake Poinsett?

Thanks to Mrs. Kopf and Clay Pudvah for preparing and providing the delicious post tournament barbeque!

Members in attendance voted to change the name of the club to Space Coast Bass Finatics. Expect to see LERA Bass Club on many club things for some time yet as it will be a gradual transition to the new name.

The LERA Bass Club held its annual invitation only Classic tournament out of Lake Cypress on August 26th amidst the arrival of Isaac's outer bands. The team of Larry Cruce of Titusville and Tim Iler of Port St. John bagged a 5 fish tournament limit for 13.08 pounds to win the tournament. Mike Hampton of Malabar and Tim Kopf of Melbourne earned second place with 4 fish for 11.12 pounds. Their bag included the tournament's biggest fish at 4.93 pounds caught by Hampton. Third place was secured by the father and son team of Clyde and Raymond Taylor of Palm Bay who weighed 4 fish for 10.47 pounds.

The new season starts at Lake Washington on September 30th. The full schedule will be announced on this site when available.

Mike Calloway and Cliff Semonski had a stellar regular season finishing 10 of the 11 tournaments in the top 3 to win the club's Bassmasters points championship. In case you were wondering, in that 11th tournament, they finished in 4th place. Don't blame Mike for that, he was out of town that month. Anyway, that kind of consistency is a really good way to run away with a points championship and challenge all time club records for total points and weight for a regular season. They fell a tiny bit short on both counts, but it was a fantastic and humbling effort for the rest of us nonetheless.

Mike Hampton and Tim Kopf finished second in the points standings and deserve an honorable mention for their effort this season. They weren't that far behind the ridiculous pace set by Calloway/Semonski. Hampton/Kopf had 6 top 3 finishes of their own including 2 wins this season. Good work gentlemen.

The LERA Bass Club held its final tournament of the 2011-2012 regular season tournament July 29th on East Lake Tohopekaliga. Larry Cruce of Titusville and Tim Iler of Port St. John sacked the biggest 5 fish limit tipping the scales at 14.46 pounds to win the tournament. Their catch included a 4.58 by Iler that was the tournament's biggest fish. Mike Calloway of Titusville and Cliff Semonski of Oak Hill earned second place with their own 5 fish limit weighing 13.89 pounds. Tim Kopf and Clay Pudvah both of Melbourne took third with 5 fish totaling 10.90 pounds.

For the second tournament in a row, LERA Bass Club competitors braved interesting conditions brought on by a tropical storm. This time around Tropical Storm Debby was stalled about 250 miles west of the Lake Tohopekaliga tournament site and produced constant, albeit of varying intensity, rains and gusty winds throughout the day. Ten boats accepted the challenge and launched onto Lake Tohopekaliga out of Whaley's Landing on June 24. Bob Barnette, of Port St. John, and Dwayne Haga, of Titusville, lobbied to shorten the tournament to 2 pm due to the inclement weather prior to the start of the event. Their request was denied and they would take advantage of that ruling more than anyone else. They sacked a five fish limit totaling 20.34 pounds to win the event. Their catch included an 8.87 pound lunker Haga caught around 2:45 pm which ended up being the tournament's biggest fish and propelling them to the win. Mike Hampton, of Malabar, and Tim Kopf, of Melbourne, took second with 5 fish totaling 16.05 pounds. Mike Calloway, of Titusville, and Cliff Semonski, of Oak Hill, finished third with 5 fish for 14.28 pounds.

Twelve teams competed in the LERA Bass Club's May 27th tournament at Lake Kissimmee. Tournament participants had an extra variable to deal with as Tropical Storm Beryl was about 200 miles north of the event. The storm produced a windy afternoon with 2-4 foot swells on the lake and passing showers around weigh-in time. The team of Jimmy Blount of Rockledge and his son Ryan Blount of Cocoa were not dismayed or thrown off their game. They sacked a tournament limit of 5 fish that weighed a total of 13.90 pounds to win the event. Larry Cruce of Titusville caught his own 5 fish limit weighing a total of 11.38 pounds to earn a second place finish without a partner. Mike Calloway of Titusville and Cliff Semonski of Oak Hill weighed 4 fish for a total of 10.77 pounds to finish third. Raymond Taylor of Palm Bay caught a 5.75 pounder earning him Big Bass honors with the tournament's biggest fish.

Cliff Semonski picked the wrong month to be out of town for work.

Nine teams made the trek to the massive and plentiful waters of the fabled Lake Okeechobee to compete in LERA Bass Club's April 28-29 event out of Harney Pond Canal. The lake did not disappoint as competitors brought seventeen five fish limits to the scales including five bags over twenty pounds and ten fish over six pounds.

Mike Calloway and David Moore, both of Titusville, caught 25.97 pounds the first day and 21.50 pounds the second day to win the event. Their two day total of 47.47 pounds broke a 9 year old all-time club record for total weight by a little less than a pound. Their first day weight of 25.97 was the heaviest bag of the tournament and ranks 4th all-time for heaviest single day total weight at any LERA Bass Club tournament.

Mike Hampton of Malabar and Tim Kopf of Melbourne earned second place with a two day total of 41.48 pounds. Leslie "Cork" Hope of Rockledge and Bill Bryant of Melbourne made a tremendous comeback on day two to finish third with a two day total of 30.14 pounds. Hope/Bryant weighed the heaviest bag on the second day, 21.54 pounds, which included two fish over six pounds.

The biggest fish of the tournament was a 7.50 pound lunker caught by Daville Williams of Palm Bay on the first day. David Moore's 6.70 pounder was the biggest fish of the second day.

Twelve boats launched onto the pea soup colored waters of the Harris Chain's Lake Eustis to compete in LERA Bass Club's March 25th tournament. As often happens on this chain of lakes, it was feast or famine for the competitors. It appeared as though Mr Calloway and Mr Semonski got tired of second place, a place they've found themselves in 4 times this season. Determined to not let that happen again, Titusville's Mike Calloway and Oak Hill's Cliff Semonski reigned supreme with a 5 fish limit weighing a whopping 20.44 pounds. Alan Elder of Melbourne and Daville Williams of Palm Bay earned second place with 4 fish totaling 15.94 pounds. Their total was punctuated by Elder's 7.03 pound bucket mouth which was the biggest fish weighed at the event. Eric Amos and Gary Brill both of Titusville took third with 5 fish totaling 12.68 pounds.

Winter Haven's The News Chief newspaper recently ran a lengthy article about the FWC's efforts to control hydrilla on the Kissimmee Chain. The story has some history about the weed's presence on the chain and what FWC has been doing about it lately. The article discusses some of the reasoning behind the FWC's strategy. It's an interesting read if you what to know what's going on. Check out the full article on The New Chief's website.

Ten boats launched onto Lake Cypress on the Kissimmee Chain to compete in the LERA Bass Club's February 26th tournament. A passing warm front produced an increasing ENE wind and cloudy skies which presided over the event with a delightful ominousness that seemed to foreshadow the interesting day two of the top three teams would have. The team of Mike Hampton of Malabar and Tim Kopf of Melbourne out classed the field amassing a whopping 21.46 pound 5 fish limit which included a 7.4 pound lunker by Hampton. Mike Calloway of Titusville and Cliff Semonski of Oak Hill weren't far behind with an 18.55 pound 5 fish limit of their own to take 2nd place. Third place went to Tony Ciavarella of Viera who managed to only bring 4 fish to the scales for 15.21 pounds, but one was a giant 9.90 pounder which was the biggest of the event and the season so far.