The Space Coast Bass Finatics hauled their boats to Lake Cypress on April 28 for another round of competition along the way to determining the 2012/2013 Bassmasters. This time, the morning started out strange as we found ourselves among dozens of boats from another club. Due to the congestion, we voted to change our weigh-in from the typical 3:00pm to 4:00pm to avoid them come weigh-in time. The other guys were an interesting bunch. One of them managed to drive his rig into a ditch along side the road just prior to the ramp which resulted in his his trailer bottoming out with the boat on it. Another one of them managed to forget or otherwise lose his boat keys which would ultimately prove to be a smart move as he won their tournament with over 17 pounds caught by pitching the reeds near the boat ramp which was the only place he could go without use of his big motor.
Bob Barnette of Port St. John and Dwayne Haga of Titusville got caught up in the chaos at the launch ramp. Even though they arrived with plenty of time before sunrise, they were unable to launch their boat until 30 minutes after the rest of the club set off to catch fish. Despite the time handicap and contemplating going home instead of fishing due to their launch predicament and the extra hour of fishing time cutting into obligations at home, they set out onto the Kissimmee Chain and proceeded to lap the field. They caught an impressive 5 fish stringer totaling a stout 21.91 pounds including two fish over 5 pounds and the rest in the 3 to 4 pound range to win the tournament. Mike Calloway of Titusville and Cliff Semonski of Oak Hill brought 5 fish to the scales that weighed a hefty 17.68 pounds to earn 2nd place. Their bag included the tournament's biggest fish, a 7.92 pound giant caught by Calloway. Clyde and Raymond Taylor, both of Palm Bay, secured 3rd place with 5 fish that weighed in at 15.20 pounds.
Air Temperature: upper 60s to lower 80s
Water Temperature: mid 70s
Wind: ESE 5-15
Conditions: partly cloudy
The winners reported catching their fish using the following tricks:
- 1st Place: Zoom Trick Worms and Bitter's Naked Swimmers in Toho and Cypress
- 2rd Place & Big Bass: flipping Yum Dingers in Kissimmee
- 3rd Place: Zoom Super Flukes and flipping in Hatchineha
