Whaley's Landing was a crowded place Sunday morning as approximately twenty-five boats from two bass clubs where there to find Toho's biggest and best bass. The conditions were not ideal, but the morning sunrise and cloud pattern were spectacular as the two photos from Tim Kopf proves. The thirteen teams from SCBF were eager to get started in the cool morning weather but they would be soon be enjoying the feel of the warm Florida sun as the day progressed.
Tim Iler of Port St. John and Larry Cruce of Titusville made the best of the trip to Lake Kissimmee to bring back 14.19 pounds to claim first place. Tim nailed their big bass (5.42) with their usual top water bait which Larry said was their "Go-To" bait all day. Tim is scheduled for surgery soon which will prevent him from fishing for the next few months and we wish him a speedy recovery. Larry will have a hard time finding an alternate that can catch big bass like Tim and has good meds to boot.
Second place was taken by BJ Biles of Palm Bay and V.P. Jackie Barber of Cocoa on the strength of their big bass of 10.39 pounds and a couple of squeakers to round out their three fish bag weighing 12.98 pounds. This Big Mama will absolutely be hard to beat for big bass of the year. B.J. hooked her using a watermelon red fluke in West Lake Toho with Jackie having to lip the big girl because their net turned out to be too small. They found the bass the day before in the Strike Zone Tournament but could not get her to eat but luck was on their side Sunday as the fish was locked on the bed. Great catch BJ and good story for the club Jackie.
President Dwayne Haga and partner Dave Metzler locked thru and spent the day in Lake Cypress to claim third place with 9.16 pounds. they reported using swimbaits around reeds and flipping baits to catch most of their fish including a nice 4.34 pounder to anchor their four fish bag.
The small creel award went to Mike Hampton and Tim Kopf who fished hard but luck was not on their side. The generous donation from Bitter's Bait and Tackle was very much appreciated and made the day end a little better. Thanks
Lake Conditions
Air Temp: 42 to 76 degrees
Wind : N.E. 5 to 10 mph early to nothing later
Water Temp: 60 to 66 degrees
Barometric Pressure: steady at 30.14
Hydrilla Gnats: thick and annoying
