A foggy Lake Cypress proved to be a challenge for some teams but coupled with the unseasonably warm weather, lack of rain, low water and weeds growing at an alarming rate in the lake had many teams looking for answers. As usual some figured it out and made the right decisions on were to start and what to use which resulted in more than half the teams coming to the scales with a limit of bass. The others reported catching a lot of smaller bass and the usual war mouth perch, pickerel and large mudfish to keep the day interesting.

The last super moon occurred sixty-eight years ago in 1948 and just as unusual as that was the club membership has grown to 25 teams and 50 members. With the addition of Michael and Justin Cunningham team number 25 and new members William Flood and Keith Braun, this is the first time in club history that the club has been full as allowed in the bylaws. The original club LERA or Lockheed Employees Recreational Association began over twenty-eight years ago on August 1, 1988 and has never had this many members.

The year end for Cocoa Bassmaster was held at Lake Poinsett on November 12, 2016 on a nice Florida winter's day. Jimmy Blount took first place by a slim half pound margin with 11.62 pounds. He also recorded the biggest bass of the day at 4.69 pounds to complete a strong day on Poinsett and Winder. He thanked his boat driver, Jack Berry, who piloted for him. WAY TO GO JIMMY!!!!!

Lake Eufaula, Alabama was this years site for the National Championship for 288 anglers who qualified thru 70 divisions across the entire United States. The three day tournament lasted from October 19th thru the 21st and saw day one start out with heavy fog, a drop in temperature on day two and three along with windy conditions and the arrival of a cold front, proved challenging for most competitors. Mike, who qualified five times for the tournament but only fished in three, used a Nories Frog in the heavy pad fields to weigh-in a limit and place seventh after day one.

The SCBF started off last month with a bang and this month was even better as a record number of teams showed up at the Overstreet Landing ramp. Twenty-three teams arrived ready to go even if the weather report was calling for 15 plus mph winds and overcast skies. The lake was just as unpredictable as the weather with water temperature around 72.5 degrees, clean clear water, lots of hydrilla and pads, along with the two foot waves white capping in the lake.

This was a great start to the 2016-17 year for Space Coast Bass Finatics. Twenty teams arrived at the ramp ready to go, in spite of the hoards of mosquitoes and pesky bugs. Most of the old teams have returned along with several new teams as well as a few alternates, which only improved the clubs competitiveness. We welcome our new friends, some from as far away as Ormond Beach like Lloyd and Jennifer Hamilton or Kirk Williams from Palm Coast, but most were from Brevard County.

The results of the final tournament of the year for the club were almost predictable from the previous months. Teams that had been doing good all year continued to dominate the top spots. The weather cooperated for most of the day as the rain held off until the middle of the weigh-in and the wind did not get up as much as was anticipated.

The following teams worked hard all year and now have the opportunity to compete in the 2016 BASSMASTER CLASSIC to be held on Lake Poinsett.

Team 1. Larry Cruce and Tim Iler, winner of the Bassmaster of the Year with 316 points
Team 2. Jackie Barber and BJ Biles , BJ is the winner of the Big Bass of the 2015-2016 year
Team 3. Dwayne Haga and Dave Metzler, new President and Vice- Persident for 2016-2017
Team 4. Jimmy Blount and Jack Berry, Jack is the new Treasurer 2016-2017
Team 5. Bill Groseclose and Fred Reid, weighed in a limit at every tournament this year

The final tournament for SCBF this year was at Lake Washington Sunday the 31st and fifteen teams competed not only against each other but against low water levels, high mosquito count, and temperatures in the mid 90s. The cloud cover helped keep the temperature down somewhat but the fish did not cooperate like that had in past years as the weights were lower. The only big catches seem to have come from an abundance of mud fish and garfish which everyone had their fair.

After five seconds and three third place finishes Mike finally wins one at Toho. Fishing in Lake Kissimmee he totaled 12.59 pounds and big bass for the tournament weighing 4.98 pounds.
Congratulations