The tenth tournament of the season occurred on June 30th on Lake Blue Cypress. The event forecast was for hot and cloudy conditions with a high chance for rain mid-day. The likelihood for thunderstorms was high as well. This forecast proved to be accurate. The rains came in droves shortly after take-off accompanied by close proximity lightning strikes sending many teams back to the ramp early. Those who decided to weather the storm soon realized they may have made a mistake. The author was one of those only securing the fourth keeper at the time. Water temperatures were in the mid to high 80s with stained water conditions.
Ten out of the fourteen teams were able to secure a limit, but all caught fish. The first place bag was caught by Fred Reid and John Kinchen. They had 15.20 lbs. but did have one dead fish reducing the total down to 14.7 lbs. Second place went to Roger Averill and Dustin Beard with a bag 13.07 lbs. Dustin also secured the Big Bass for the event with a 6.39 lbs. lunker. Third place went to Don Hinman and Ken Winter. They brought in a 11.95 lbs. bag.
Congratulations to all team participants who chose to endure the heat and rainy weather. Blue Cypress seems to fish far different than other lakes in Florida. Our club has had many years of experience on this lake since it almost always shows up on the tournament schedule. Some anglers in the club have developed strategies for Blue Cypress that help locate the fish. Driving around the lake reveals what seems to be almost identical cover around the perimeter … and it all looks awesome with cypress trees, Kissimmee grass and Lilypad patches. There are a few small creeks that also offer inflows after heavy rain as well as the fact that Blue Cypress can be considered the headwaters of the St. Johns River.
There were three StrikeZone gift cards awarded during this event. Two $10 gift cards were won by the team of Greg Pugesik and Alt Logan Leto. Brian Cole secured the individual random draw for the $25 gift card. Thank you, Sean Mechella, and StrikeZone for your support and long-time sponsorship.
The club would like to thank all participants for a low dead bass count of only two fish out of 63 weighed for this event. We consider proper stewardship as a high priority. Thanks to all for continuing to properly care for the bass we weigh in for our events. Stats show that we had a 97% survival rate for the bass that were weighed. Last year we voted to change our weigh time from 3:00 to 2:00 for our June and July tournaments to help reduce stress on the fish.
The next event will be on July 28th at Lake Washington, and this will be the last event before the Classic. There will be subs and chips after the weigh in where the club will nominate officers for the next season. The AOY and BB for the year winners will be crowned along with the top 10 and wild card being decided at this tournament. The Classic site will then be picked by those 11 teams. Please make sure that nominee and lake vote forms are turned in at registration. Club members are requested to contact Mike Calloway with a count of participants including family members. There will be a charge of $8 per head that will be collected at event registration. If you plan to include any family members, please let Mike know so the food procurement can be properly planned.
SO MANY BASS ……. SO LITTLE TIME
