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.
Air Temperature: upper 60s to mid 80s
Water Temperature: low 70s to mid 80s
Day 1:
Wind: E 5-10
Conditions: mostly sunny skies
Day 2:
Wind: ENE 5-20
Conditions: mostly cloudy skies with a few passing afternoon showers
The winners reported catching their fish using the following tricks:
- 1st Place: Zoom Speed Worms and Rat-l-traps
- 2nd Place: white Zoom Swimming Super Flukes
- 3rd Place: swimming worms
- Day 1 Big Bass: junebug Zoom Horny Toad in two feet of water on the edge of a line of lily pads mixed with eel grass and hydrilla in Fish Eating Bay
- Day 2 Big Bass: Zoom Speed Worm
That's David Moore (left) and Mike Calloway (right) with 25.97 pounds of bass they hauled out of Lake Okeechobee. They reported catching them on zoom uv speed worms and rat-l-traps. (Photo by Tim Kopf)
Mike Calloway (left) and David Moore (right) with 21.50 pounds of Okeechobee bass they caught. They reported catching them on zoom uv speed worms and rat-l-traps. (Photo by Jay Martin)
Tim Kopf showing off the three biggest of a 20.78 bag he and Mike Hampton weighed on the first day of the Okeechobee tournament. The biggest is a 6.74 pounder with another 6+ and a 4+. They reported catching them on white swimming flukes.
That's Daville Williams with his personal best 7.5 pound beauty he caught in Lake Okeechobee. The fish was caught on a junebug zoom horny toad in 2 feet of water on the edge of a lily pad flat mixed with eel grass and hydrilla in Fish Eating Bay. (Photo by Alan Elder)