Barnette/Haga Win LERA Bass Club May 2010 Tournament on Toho

Tony Ciavarella

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.

SFWMD Closing All Navigational Locks Along the Kissimmee River

Tony Ciavarella

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.

Calloway/Griffin Win April 2010 LERA Bass Club Event on the Harris Chain

Tony Ciavarella

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.

Calloway Finishes 2nd as Co-angler at Okeechobee BFL Event

Tony Ciavarella

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.

Barber Finishes 13th as Coangler at 3/13/2010 BFL on Harris Chain

Tony Ciavarella

Jackie Barber, reigning and defending LERA Bass Club Bassmaster of the Year, beat 122 of his 134 coangler competitors at the 3/13/2010 BFL event on the Harris Chain with a 5 fish limit that totaled 10.5 pounds to finish 13th. Congratulations Jackie! I hope finishing 13th on the 13th makes one extra lucky. Check out the full coangler results at the FLW website.

Litton/Bistarkey Win LERA February Tournament at West Lake Toho

Tony Ciavarella

None of the twelve teams that competed in LERA Bass Club's February event on West Lake Toho were able to bring a limit of 5 fish to the scales, but what was lacking in quantity was certainly not lacking quality for several of the competitors. The team of Ralph Litton of Vero Beach and Steve Bistarkey of Palm Bay beat the field with only 3 fish that weighed a hefty total of 14.53 pounds including an 8.41 pound lunker caught by Steve. Second place went to the team of Larry Cruce of Titusville and Tim Iler of Port St. John who weighed only 2 fish, but they totaled 11.42 pounds and included a giant 9.78 pound beauty caught by Larry that took big bass honors for the tournament and is now the leading candidate for the big bass of the year. Third place went to Jackie Barber of Cocoa and BJ Biles of Palm Bay who weighed just 3 fish that totaled a stout 10.26 pounds.

Mike Calloway Wins Coangler Side of BFL on Kissimmee River

Tony Ciavarella

Current LERA Bass Club member, Mike Calloway, won the coangler title at the February 20th BFL out of Camp Mack on the Kissimmee River. His winning 5 fish limit weighed a total of 15 pounds and 2 ounces beating out the nearest competitor by almost 2 pounds. Way to go Mike! Congratulations on your 3rd BFL win and your 8th top 10 as a coangler! Check out the full co-angler results or browse Mike's full FLW history.

FWC Wants Your Input For Long Term Black Bass Management Plan

Tony Ciavarella

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is actively seeking feedback as it develops a long term black bass management plan. This plan will impact fishing in your favorite local lakes and rivers for the next 20 years and beyond.

You can participate by taking about 15 minutes to fill out their online survey.

Folks Takes 8th as Coangler in FLW Eastern Division Event at Okeechobee

Tony Ciavarella

After a tough day 1 with only 4 lbs 14 oz, former LERA Bass Club member extraordinaire Jim Folks rebounded to finish 8th with a 3 day total weight of 25 lbs 13 oz on the coangler side of the FLW Eastern Division Event at Lake Okeechobee that ended on 1/30/10. Congratulations Jim for earning a top 10 finish and the nice check in your first FLW Series event!

Full coangler results can be found at the FLW Outdoors website.