Yet another LERA Bass Club tournament of the 2009/2010 season involved an impending weather front. This time, the Harris Chain bass seemed to have read the manual on how they are supposed to be gorging themselves and very active during prefrontal conditions. Three teams managed to weigh double digit limits of bass and three bass over 5 pounds were brought to the scales. Gaining a decisive upper hand was the team of Mike Calloway and Lloyd Griffin, both of Titusville, who sacked 16.10 pounds to win the tournament. Second place was claimed by the team of Ralph Litton of Vero Beach and Steve Bistarkey of Palm Bay who weighed 13.35 pounds. Third place was earned by Mike Hampton of Malabar who managed a hefty 12.90 pounds fishing by himself. The big bass of the tournament went to Eric Amos of Titusville who tricked a 6.25 pound lunker first thing in the morning on a top water bait.
Some unfortunate pleasure boater inadvertently backed their brand new looking Chevrolet Silverado into the lake at the boat ramp on Lake Eustis just as tournament boats were arriving for the weigh in. The trunk sank to the bottom and was completely submerged for about an hour and a half before a tow truck managed to pull it from the lake. Everyone was okay, but that truck will never be the same, one husband now has some powerful ammunition if his wife starts giving him a hard time ever again, and one family's pleasure boat outing turned into something else entirely. If you step out of the truck while trailering a boat, double and triple check that it isn't in reverse prior to taking your foot off the brake and getting out of the vehicle!
Rumor has it the winning weight was caught flipping. Rat-L-Traps, flukes, skinny dippers, and even a bang-o-lure were reported as productive baits for other top teams. Two of the top three weights came from Lake Dora and the other came from Lake Harris. The big bass of the tournament came from Lake Eustis.
This photo shows a shiny new looking Chevrolet Silverado, that was in perfect working order an hour and a half prior to this picture being taken, emerging from the depths at the Lake Eustis public ramp on 441. This is not a LERA Bass Club member's truck, but it went for a swim in Lake Eustis around 2:30pm just as the first early quitters were returning to the boat ramp for weigh-in.
A woman was backing a boat trailer down to the lake to trailer the family pleasure boat. When the trailer was in position, it appeared that she exited the vehicle while it was still in reverse. She wasn't able to react in time to prevent the truck from entering the lake. By the time she got back in the truck, it was already floating and she had to get out immediately before she was pulled under with the truck. Seeing her impending danger, her husband jumped into the lake to help her to safety. It did not appear that anyone suffered any physical injury as a result of this ordeal, although I'm sure that poor woman's ego suffered permanent damage. The truck was under water for about an hour and a half at which point a tow truck was able to pull it out of the lake.
In case you were wondering, that guy in the truck in the picture is the tow truck operator that went into lake to attach the chains that were used to pull the truck from the lake.
Make sure your truck isn't in reverse if you decide to exit your vehicle while trailering a boat! Better yet, use the damn emergency brake!
(Photo by Alan Edler on April 25, 2010 at Lake Eustis public boat ramp off 441)