The full 2010/2011 LERA Bass Club tournament schedule is now set and various electronic versions of it are available on the schedule page. The season starts September 26th on Lake Kissimmee. Now is a great time to join the club!
The 2009-2010 season ended with the Classic on August 29 at East Lake Tohopekaliga. The team of Larry Cruce of Titusville and Tim Iler of Port St. John won with an impressive total weight of 16.31 pounds. Their weight included a 4.75 pounder caught by Cruce which took big bass honors for the tournament. The father-son team of Clyde Taylor and Raymond Taylor of Palm Bay qualified for the Classic via the Wild Card and took full advantage of the opportunity by catching 13.08 pounds to earn a 2nd place finish. The recently crowned 2009-2010 LERA Bass Club Bassmasters of the Year, Ralph Litton of Vero Beach and Steve Bistarkey of Palm Bay, took third with 11.65 pounds.
Congratulations to Ralph Litton and Steve Bistarkey for earning their record 3rd LERA Bass Club Bassmasters Title. Their gigantic 368 final point total was only 3 shy of their own single season total points record. They closed out the regular season in style with Ralph going on vacation and Steve capturing the team's 5th tournament victory of the season at Mullet Lake Park with an alternate. Honorable mentions go to Larry Cruce and Tim Iler who placed 2nd in the overall standings and to Richard Boogaerts and Cliff Semonski who finished 3rd.
Larry Cruce's 9.78 pound West Lake Tohopikaliga giant from February 28, 2010 holds up to earn him the 2010 LERA Bass Club Big Bass of the Year. Congratulations Larry!
The LERA Bass Club's July 25th tournament out of Mullet Lake Park on the St. John's river started with members from at least 5 teams stuck on I-95 just north of Fiske Blvd due to a fatal crash that happened about 4am that shut down all the northbound lanes for almost two hours[1]. As it turned out, two of the top three tournament finishers were stuck in this gridlock, so maybe it wasn't all bad after all. Steve Bistarkey of Palm Bay fishing with alternate Terry Walker of Melbourne won the tournament with a 5 bass limit that weighed a total of 16.77 pounds. Second place was earned by Larry Cruce of Titusville and Tim Iler of Port St. John who sacked the tournament's only other limit to tip the scales at 10.09 pounds. Richard Boogaerts of Cocoa and alternate Charlie Owens of Rockledge finished in 3rd place with a solid 9.65 pounds in only 3 fish. Their weight included a 6.46 pounder caught by Owens which earned big bass honors for the tournament.
Twelve teams competed in the LERA Bass Club's June 27, 2010 tournament at Blue Cypress Lake. For the second tournament in a row, Port St. John's Bob Barnette captained the team that bested the field. This time he fished with Howard Beigler of Titusville and the two men sacked a tournament limit of 5 bass that totaled an impressive 16.53 pounds. Their catch included the big bass of the tournament, a 5.43 pounder, caught by Barnette. Second place was earned by Larry Cruce of Titusville and Tim Iler of Port St. John who totaled a worthy 12.20 pounds with their own 5 bass limit. Third place went to Mike Hampton of Malabar and Tim Kopf of Melbourne who weighed a solid 10.02 pounds with a 5 bass limit.
Twelve boats competed in the LERA Bass Club's May tournament on Lake Toho. Half of the field weighed at least one fish over 4 pounds. Bob Barnette of Port St. John and Dwayne Haga of Titusville bested the field with a 5 fish limit weighing a total of 17.12 pounds. Second place went to Richard Boogaerts of Cocoa and Walt Sadowsky of Mims who weighed 12.10 pounds. Third place was earned by Larry Cruce of Titusville and Tim Iler of Port St. John who weighed a total of 11.52 to beat out the 4th place finishers by a razor thin 9 hundredths of a pound. Big Bass honors went to Ralph Litton of Vero Beach who caught a huge 9.34 pound beauty.
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is closing all the navigational locks along the Kissimmee River from May 17th until the end of the year. The locks will be modernized and renovated. Each navigation lock will receive new concrete work, paint, utilities and mechanisms to operate the lock doors. Check out the SFWMD's press release for more information.
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.
Seasoned LERA Bass Club member Mike Calloway outfished 122 of his 123 co-angler competitors at the April 17, 2010 BFL event at Lake Okeechobee. Mike weighed a 5 bass limit that totaled 19.5 pounds to finish second in the tournament. Mike has won once and finished second once in the three BFL Gator Division events this year. He is currently ranked 9th overall in the BFL Gator Division 2010 co-angler points standings.
