Twenty-one teams made the trek to East Lake Toho at Ralph V. Chisholm Park for the first SCBF tournament of the new season with all members hoping for good weather and cooperative fish. With new check-in and weigh-in procedures in place, overall the tournament went fairly well with a few minor glitches that have been addressed and will be fixed by our next tournament at Lake Kissimmee Oct 30 at Overstreet ramp. I appreciate everyone’s patience with our new procedures and to those who suggested a different process, thank you. Your input is welcomed.
It appears we got lucky by having the tournament on the 25th as we escaped the wrath of Hurricane Ian with it’s monsoon rains and devastating winds he unleashed on the Sunshine State the following week. Hopefully everyone and their families weathered the storm and did not sustain any serious damage.
As Jack Berry and Adam Brandes had the honor of having the highest boat number, Jack sent everyone on their way at safe light. Next tournament will have a megaphone so everyone will be able to hear their number called. With the air temp ranging from 75 to 85 degrees and the wind from the N to ENE at 5 to 10 mph during the day, it was fairly pleasant depending on your location on the lake. Water temps ranged from 83 to 87 degrees.
For the team of Tom and Tommy Gates the weather and conditions seemed to be to their liking as they took the win with a limit weighing 13.17 lbs. caught on worms. In 2nd place with a 5 bass limit totaling 11.73 lbs. were Keith Braun and Cliff Semonski. They reported catching their fish on Horny Toads and swim baits. In a close third place was the team of Mike Calloway and William Flood, also with a limit weighing 11.14 lbs. after a .5 lb. dead fish penalty. Their fish were caught on spinner baits and speed worms. Mr. Flood came within .05 lbs. of capturing big bass of the day with a 4.54 lb. bass, but Dwayne Haga said “NO WAY” by weighing a 4.59 lb. fish for Big Bass of the tournament. Congrats Dwayne. Also congratulations to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place teams for a great start to a new season.
And to those teams that encountered difficulties to start the year, stay safe and carry plenty of water. Jack and Adam overheated on the way to the tournament, but were rescued by a club member who brought them enough water to get to the ramp. However, on the way home they broke down again on Nova Rd and were assisted by another individual (big thanks to Andrew Lee), who carried Adam back to get his truck and a tow truck to get Jack’s truck back home. Jack finally made it home about 9:30. Hope the repairs go smoothly, Jack.
Another team experienced a few issues as Bill Groseclose took a couple of tumbles during the day and broke at least one rod. Thankfully, he said he wasn’t hurt, but a band-aid won’t fix the rod. Better the rod than you, Bill.
And finally, after weigh-in concluded, it was determined two different teams had broken club rules with one team DQ’d and the other losing their 5 “show up” points. The team of Craig Mira and Lee Kallop released fish at the ramp instead of weighing in, which violated club rule V.L.3, thereby incurring a 5 point penalty. The team of Mike and Zander Hampton were DQ’d per rule V.D.10 for bringing 6 fish to the scales. They also lost all points per rule VI.C.5. This should be a reminder to all members…..read the rules and become familiar with them. As I stated when elected President, club rules will be followed as written and voted on by club members. I will say this, I didn’t enjoy enforcing those penalties, but I will do it, no matter who it is…..even if it’s me being penalized.
After weigh-in was completed, Classic trophies were presented to Roger and Aaron Marek who won last season’s Classic at Garcia with 21.96 lbs. with a 7.63 kicker by Roger. Congratulations again to the Marek’s on an outstanding year. Also of note, club member Dwayne Haga’s 10.10 lb. bass he caught at the club tournament at West Lake Toho in Feb. was accepted into the FWC Trophy Catch Program. Congrats Dwayne and if you haven’t joined the Trophy Catch Program, you should. Not only do you get the recognition, but you also get some nice discounts and BPS gift cards depending on the category of your catch.
Also during the meeting, a vote on club rule changes was held with several rules being either revised or new ones added as follows:
II.B.2 Each team may have a max of 3 alternate partners during the year…
Vote 19-Y
0-N
V.B.12 Air boats or fan boats are prohibited. Mud (duck) boats are allowed as long as they have a functional live well capable of maintaining a limit of bass.
Vote 25-Y
2-N
V.E.1 Fishing hours will be safe light until 3:00 P.M. but may be amended by club vote at the preceding tournament. Night/evening tournaments TBD by club vote.
Vote 12-Y
5-N
V.F.5 The lake selected for the Classic will be off limits to all participants from the prior Sunday at sunset to safe light on Sunday the day of the tournament.
Vote 23-Y
0-N
V.L.2 added...and the largest fish will be weighed for the tie breaker. All fish approaching 22” will be measured, weighed and recorded for FWC report.
Vote 25-Y
0-N
V.O.2 Anyone participating in a club tournament that breaks or is ticketed for breaking a state law will be disqualified from that tournament.
One other item submitted for a club vote was the Harris Chain tournament in May. It was suggested it be a 2 day versus a 1 day tournament, which the members present, approved by a vote of 13 Yes and 9 No. Therefore, the tournament will now be May 20 and 21 2023.
Again, thanks for a good and safe tournament and I appreciate everyone’s patience with the new check-in and weigh-in procedures. Things will continue to improve as we all get familiar with doings things a different way. The officers thank you and we look forward to a great year and hopefully more broken records. Until Kissimmee “Tight Lines and Big Bass”.
SO MANY BASS------SO LITTLE TIME
