Construction on the Leroy Wright Recreation Area boat ramp on the north side of 520 is complete and the ramp is open. Happy launching and good luck practicing for the December tournament on Lake Poinsett!
Written by Mike Hampton
Big Toho Marine in Kissimmee was a busy place in the wee hours Sunday. There were two other tournaments taking place, a club from GA Boys Tournament Trail and Teen Sportfishing Association of Tavares. We had 14 teams take off at first light battling wind and spotty showers throughout the day. Everyone in the club brought five fish to the scales and we had a big bass battle, Dwayne Haga VS Brian Davidson. Brian was able to tip the scales by 0.03 LB. to take the big bass pot.
There were 17 teams that met up at East Lake Toho early Sunday morning to pay their dues, sort paperwork and lock in their spot. Sixteen of the teams filed out to their fishing spots across the lake to put 5 lunkers in the well. A sunny start to the day with spotty rain and overcast in the afternoon. We did have a dry weigh in for 15 teams. The three top teams received their payouts, and the big bass was caught by Fred Reid on a Junebug Paddle Tail worm, and it earned them 2nd Place overall.
Sunday August 25, 2024 saw the top 10 teams and a Wild Card travel to their favorite “Mud Hole”, the Miami-Garcia impoundment for the 2024 SCBF Classic. On arrival they were met with the customary hoards of hungry mosquitoes. At safe light the teams took off in their order of finish for the year with Fred Reid and John Kinchen leading the pack. The Wild Card team of Raymond Taylor fishing alone did the honors of calling boat numbers.
On Sunday 7-28-24, Space Coast Bass Finatics held their final tournament of the regular season on Lake Washington with 13 teams coming out to finish their season strong battling Mother Nature’s July heat wave. The rain and wind cooperated most of the day but the heat was definitely a force to contend with as the temperature went well above 90 by mid morning with high humidity and very little breeze to offer relief.
The tenth tournament of the season occurred on June 30th on Lake Blue Cypress. The event forecast was for hot and cloudy conditions with a high chance for rain mid-day. The likelihood for thunderstorms was high as well. This forecast proved to be accurate. The rains came in droves shortly after take-off accompanied by close proximity lightning strikes sending many teams back to the ramp early. Those who decided to weather the storm soon realized they may have made a mistake. The author was one of those only securing the fourth keeper at the time. Water temperatures were in the mid to high 80s with stained water conditions.
The Space Coast Bass Finatics 9th Tournament was held May 19th at Lake Eustis, Tavares Fl. Buzzard Beach ramp seemed like the place to be as 5 different clubs were at the ramp. Thankfully everything went smoothly, and we were able to take-off right at safe light. The Club Officers held a vote prior to launch to change the weigh-in time to 3:30 instead of the usual 3pm. This helped cut out some congestion in the afternoon, a great decision! The water temperature ranged from 81 in the morning to 85 in the afternoon.
The eighth tournament of the season occurred on April 28th on the Miami-Garcia Impoundment. This was the second time this season we fished at Garcia. The weather was windy at 15 to 20 MPH mostly out of the east, but temperature was in the high seventies. Water temperatures were in the mid-70s and stained water conditions.
Third place went to Gary Hinman and Bob Hall with a two-day total of 21.73 lbs. Gary and Bob are new members in the club … welcome aboard and congrats. Second place went to Mike Calloway and Mike Morrison with a two-day total of 26.63 lbs. First place went to Roger Averill and Dustin Beard with a two-day total of 32.7 lbs. Congratulations to all top finishers! Many challenges were met and overcome, and lessons were learned. We all need to stay safe so we can fish another day.
