The early morning temperature was lower than normal but the twenty teams that arrived at Lake Cypress ramp on November 19th did not seem to care about that to much. The ramp was not much of a problem except for the slightly higher water level, the occasional gun shot and several air boats heading out to do some duck hunting. The check in of the club members was completed as soon as Larry Cruce arrived from the Overstreet Landing where he had been waiting for the rest of the club to arrive including his partner BJ Biles. The tournament was started at 6.25am by President Bill and the teams spread out across the Kissimmee Chain of lakes from West Lake Toho to the south end of Lake Kissimmee. This is where some teams ran into problems like a flock of coots that took a wrong turn and crashed into the passenger (Jennifer) as the driver (Lloyd) ducked behind the safety of a wind shield. The blue bird sky and lower temperature seemed to keep the bass catch a little slower and the weighs a little lower but a few teams managed to catch fish early. As the clouds arrived and the temperature and wind came up the catches improved and some teams made the winning moves.
The best move was made by Cliff Semonski and Keith Braun, who switched areas and baits (horny toads)in the last thirty minutes of the day to score two of their largest bass, one being 6.63 pounds and carry them to their first win of the year. Starting out in the canal between West Lake Toho and Lake Cypress using speed worms, they brought back a limit weighing 15.76 pounds for the win.
The second place team of President Bill Groseclose and Fred Reid came up just a little short but still had another limit weighing 15.32 pounds. They reported that a magnum speed worm accounted for their limit which included a nice 6.32 pound Lake Cypress big mama.
Brian Wical and partner Craig Cashion took third place by the smallest of margins. Their 13.92 pound limit bested the team of Jimmy Blount and Jack Berry's 13.91 pound limit by only 0.01 pounds. Craig Cashion recorded the Big Bass of the tournament at 7.51 pounds and in the process now leads the club Big Bass of the Year. Flippin a creature bait called Why Not in the Lake Kissimmee grass mats was their ticket to winning.
The small creel prize was won by Preston Humphries with Buddy Perry doing the net honors. Strike Zone Fishing of Melbourne donated the generous gift prizes, as they have all year, so be sure to go by and give them a big thank you.
After the weighin was completed President Bill announced that the next tournament would be on East Lake Toho on December 17th out of the Chisholm Park Ramp on the east side of the lake off Narcoossee Road. He thanked everyone for staying around until the awards were finished to congratulate the winners and recount the days fishing events.
