Written by Mike Hampton
Typical day for November at Garcia, nice sunrise, crowded launch ramp and parking, abundant mosquitoes, no breeze, temperatures around 59 to 60 degrees and a crescent moon hanging in the eastern sky, water temperature at 65^. Perfect conditions for the third tournament of the season. Boats were squeezed in and around the ramp and the air boat pavilion as best as you could, even with the arrival of another club from Fort Lauderdale with 6 boats. They were very accommodating and let us get going and timed their weigh-in at 2 pm so we would not be on top of each other. Thanks gentlemen. So with the sun approaching Alan Elder proceeded to get the 14 club boats out on the water as quickly as possible.
First Place easily went to William Flood and Raymond Taylor with an unusually large bag weighing 21.85 pounds, including a monster Garcia gorilla girl weighing 9.08 pounds to make a clean sweep of the tournament honors. Raymond landed the Big Bass using a Senko bait. Way to go but you did not need to kick our butts so hard to win. Dad Clyde will be so proud.
The killer Bees of Brian Cole and Brian Davidson landed second with a very good bag for the day totaling 13.21 pounds. They failed to turn in a chip and incurred a 5 point penalty which you will need in the AOY race.
Third place was taken by the Lone Ranger, Dwayne Haga , who refused to go more than 300 yards from the launch ramp. He landed 11.11 pounds and used almost no fuel except for the 2 ½ hr drive from Sanford to get there .
Fred Reid and Dan Keyes not only came in fourth in the tournament but also won the Strike Zone gift Certificates generously donated by Shean Mechella.
It was good to see past member Matt Byrd ( alt.) come out to fish with Erick Pickton who did very well in the standing and also old member Clyde Taylor who came to check up on his boys and talk about old times. Greg Clark also picked up his 2024-25 BIG BASS of the Year trophy ( 9.22 lbs Lake Okeechobee). Good to see you guys!
Thank you Mike Hampton for the great write up, Photos, support of the SCBF Club, Officers & Members.
