The second tournament of the season occurred on October 29th with 14 teams eager to compete. We launched from Big Toho Marina at first light for what was expected to be moderate temperatures with winds picking up throughout the day from the northeast. Mother nature certainly gave us what was forecasted. By 11AM, winds were over 15 knots which made some of the fishing locations a little uncomfortable for sure. Air temperatures were in the mid 80’s mid-day, and the water temperatures were in the mid 70’s. Fall fishing can be a challenge before the bass return to their shallower spots inside the grass line. This tournament was no different for this time of year. Few, if any teams were reported to have caught many bass in the shallow portions of the lake. The key was to locate bait fish. Large schools of baitfish were located around submerged vegetation in deeper portions of the lake, and this proved to be where the bass were waiting to snatch up an easy meal. Most teams chose to stay in Lake Toho, but at least one team locked thru and fished Lake Cypress. Dwayne Haga and David Fitts was that team to choose Lake Cypress over Toho and was able to secure a third-place finish with a bag weight of 15.4 lbs. Their big bass was almost 6 lbs. weighing in a 5.97lbs. Second-place went to Bill Groseclose and Brian Cole. They secured a bag weight of 16.51 lbs., which included the big bass for the day at 7.16 lbs. The big bass was caught by Brian Cole. First-place went to Clark Ford and Mikhal Moberg. Their bag was weighed in at 18.07 lbs. with a big bass at 5.09 lbs. The winning team chose to focus on grass flats with pronounced open pockets. Moving baits were worked through the grass and into these pockets where bass were waiting to pounce. This strategy was successful until mid-day where the bite seemed to turn off. Thirteen out of the fourteen boats were to weigh in a full bag.
Congratulations to all the teams that were able to “get a check”! After weigh-in, a random chip was selected from those attending (less the top three) for a gift card. Mike Calloway and Mike Morrison received the prize of two $25 gift cards from our longtime sponsor StrikeZone of Melbourne.
The turnout for this event was 14 boats, which was 1 less than last month, so we are still a little low in membership. Hopefully more teams will join in for all the great fun and competition that tournament bass fishing provides. The club did have one new club member, Mike Watson who joined Larry Cruce as his season fishing partner. We welcome him and hope they have a great season.
After the tournament, members stayed for a short meeting where Mike announced that the next event would have a guest from GEICO Insurance. They will present a short presentation for anyone interested. GEICO will award a $100 gift card at the Poinsett Tournament. Mike encourages attendance (and for us to be on our best behavior ). The short presentation will be after weigh-in and will not take long.
SO MANY BASS ……. SO LITTLE TIME
