Blue Cypress Lake is without a doubt the most beautiful lake that SCBF's fish all season long, no matter what the time of the year we go there. The morning sunrise was just glorious and the lake was as smooth as glass for the first two hours. The air was dry and the temperature was hovering around 69 or 70 degrees and it felt just like air conditioning. The changes around the launch ramp, parking lot and store were very evident and are due to the new management who were very happy to welcome the club and offered all the help and advice they could.
The twenty-four teams, a full field minus one, arrived with great expectations for the day, but the weather took a big change for the worst as the wind picked up to over 25 mph and the clouds rolled in making it very difficult to get around on the lake. The fishing was not very good for most, as 15 teams returned to the ramp with nothing to show for their efforts except for a few good stories and some damaged boats. The good stories included a couple of doe deer swimming the Big M canal in front of one of the boats and the sighting of an over 13 foot long alligator near the boat ramp and campsites. There was some bright spots as nine of the teams did well, especially the father and son team of Buddy and Matt Byrd who landed a couple of giant bass and Bill Groseclose and partner Fred Reid who secured another limit, the only one of the day and their 29th in a row. Well at least the rain held off until the weigh-in was completed and everyone was headed home.
Buddy Byrd and Matt Byrd only needed four fish to take first place with 19.91 pounds which easily surpassed anything that the rest of the club could put together. Their 8.83 pounder not only took Big Bass but raised the bar even higher for the big bass for the year. Using a Black and Blue Bitter's BFM flippin bait, they landed two fish over eight pounds and 24" and 23" respectively in length. Great Job Men!
President Bill Groseclose and partner Fred Reid returned with a limit of five fish weighing 13.87 pounds for second place, but more importantly, keeping their streak of limit intact for another month. Their catch included a very respectable 6.02 pound big bass which they reported catching on a speed worm in the Big M canal like most of the rest of their limit.
Clayton Clark and his new partner Brian Cole came in third with only two fish that weighed 7.21 pounds. They used wacky rigged sinko worms in the canals around the launch ramp area. They also reported that just after eating some lunch and being nice enough to move out of the way, Matt Byrd caught his 8.81 pounder from that very spot as they watched. That was sure nice of them and shows some great sportsmanship.
The small creel award goes to Alan Hough and Justin Koether whose single fish pushed the scales up to 3.00 pounds but I know a lot of the other teams who would like to have had a fish just like that. The gift certificates were generously donated by Strike Zone of Melbourne, who has been a great supporter of the club all year long. Be sure to drop by and thank Shawn Mechelia and all their staff for their continued support.
This is nearly the mid point in the season and things could not be going better for the Club, so keep up the good work and well see you at Lake Poinsett next month on the 25th of February.
