The Space Coast Bass Finatics 9th Tournament was held May 19th at Lake Eustis, Tavares Fl. Buzzard Beach ramp seemed like the place to be as 5 different clubs were at the ramp. Thankfully everything went smoothly, and we were able to take-off right at safe light. The Club Officers held a vote prior to launch to change the weigh-in time to 3:30 instead of the usual 3pm. This helped cut out some congestion in the afternoon, a great decision! The water temperature ranged from 81 in the morning to 85 in the afternoon. With overcast skies in the morning the air temp stayed around 85 most of the day.
Wind and rain in the forecast seemed to keep some teams away and only 11 boats with 12 teams came out to fish. Mike Watson fished without his teammate Larry Cruce out of Alan Elder’s boat. Many of us know that Larry is going through some major health challenges and is not able to fish, please continue to keep him and his wife in your thoughts and prayers. Watson had originally planned to fish with Mike Hampton, but when Hampton showed up at the basin not feeling so great he decided to stay at the ramp for a bit and see if he could shake his stomach troubles. It was great to see the club step up and get Watson situated, thanks for taking a guy fishing Alan!
The Weather Man was only partly right as we did get a brief bout of thunderstorms around 7am but the front quickly passed. Westerly winds at 10-15mph persisted for most of the day. Thankfully, fishing in most areas on the Chain was manageable. Several teams caught quality fish and when the scales settled it was Clark Ford and Mikhal Moberg that had the right 5 to take first place with 17.04 lbs. In second place, fishing solo, was Fred Reid with 15.16 lbs. His partner John Kinchen was not feeling well and ended up staying behind at the hotel and rest. Third place honors went to Mike Calloway and Michael Morrison with 14.34 lbs. The top 3 teams reported using speed-worms and soft plastics. The big fish of the Day weighing 5.36 lbs was caught by Keith Braun on a stick bait right at the end of the day! Nice job Keith…
AOY Race is Tight. With only 2 regular tournaments left in the season the AOY battle has intensified. The team of Fred Reid and John Kinchen are in the lead with the team Mike Calloway and Michael Morrison trailing by a mere 2 points. Going into the Harris event they were tied for the title, but Fred managed to best them by beating Morrison and Calloway by one spot. The next 2 tournaments should be interesting to watch, word has it that Fred and John are Hammers on Blue Cypress, the very lake the club heads to next! Calloway and Morrison need to bring it if they hope to finish the season in the top spot!
Also coming to a close is the race for the Classic Wild Card spot. As of this tournament there are only 2 teams below tenth place in AOY points that are eligible for the Wild Card. Remember you have to have fished at least 9 regular tournaments for the year to be eligible. At the final regular season tournament at Washington, the highest placing team in that tournament of those teams eligible will be the Wild Card.
SO MANY BASS…..SO LITTLE TIME
