August 28th, 2010

To begin I would like to welcome two subs who fished with us. Matt Sparks who fished with John Fugate and Bill Mackin who fished with his brother Frank Mackin. Yes Frank was lucky enough to adjust his work schedule to come fish.

We had 8 teams show up to brave another hot summer day of fishing. At least there was plenty of water and we did not get rained on. The wind sure did pick up mid to late morning which is always fun to deal with, along with lots of rain prior to tournament day usually causes a slow bite.

There was 24 bass brought to the scales weighing 53.92 pounds total.

First place with 5 bass and a total weight of 14.24 lbs goes to Godwin and Glenn.

Second place with 4 bass and a total of 13.69lbs goes to Phil and Darrell.

Third place with 5 bass and a total weight of 10.13lbs goes to Frank and Bill.

Big Bass weighing 7.41lbs goes to Phil and Darrell.

Congrats to all the winners!

Our next tournament with be at the Winter Haven Chain. We will be launching out of William G. Roe Park on Lake Shipp. Tournament date is Sept. 25th.

Hope To See You All At The Ramp

Mike

7-24-10

First of all I would like to welcome our new member Glenn Wilson who will be fishing with Godwin since it seems Mike Taylor will be out for a little while. Again we all wish a speedy recovery to Mike and hope he can join us soon.

Second and most disturbing we had no limits brought to the scales for the second tournament in a row? I know it has been extremely hot, and then add a tropical depression, full moon and a new lake we have not fished. It is nice to have a new lake to try and all seemed to like the lake layout and structures we fished, but it was definately a challenge. And to think Phil accused me of picking this lake because he thought I knew it like the back of my hand. Even though I explained it has been 10 plus years since I fished he thought I was playing my trump card. Steve and I zeroed and had no keeper fish. So much for our trump card. We caught a lot of small bass and from what I heard so did everyone else. Just could not get the big fish bite. Heard a few big ones were hooked, but the big fish won.

Mike Touchton brought a sub to fish with him so I would like to say thanks to Tommy Ziessman for fishing with our club. He informed me he has been freshwater fishing twice. Once was on Friday 7-23-10 to pre-fish and the second was on tournament day. After the tough day we had it might be the last time he freshwater fishes.

There were a whopping total of 9 bass brought to the scales with total weight of 15.53lbs.

First Place with 3 bass and total weight of 5.73lbs goes to Mike Touchton and Tommy Ziessman

Secon Place with 2 bass and total weight of 3.94lbs goes to Phil and Darrell

Third Place with 2 bass and total weight of 2.90lbs goes to Malcolm amd Josh

Big Bass weighing in at 2.68lbs goes to Phil and Darrell

Congrats to all!

Next tournament will be on August 28th at Lake Walk in Water

Hope To See You All There!

Mike

June 26th, 2010

First of all I would like to pass on some bad news about one of our long time members. Paul Darr passed away last month after a long battle with cancer. He will be missed by many.

Second of all Mike Taylor has been ill and will probably miss a few tournaments. I know we all wish him a speedy recovery.

Now on to the tournament on Lake Toho. We had 7 teams show up to fish on a hot June day during a full moon night. Turns out the lock was also closed for repairs so we had to fish Toho only. There were 15 bass brought to the scales with a total weight of 34.89 pounds.

1st Place with 4 bass and total weight of 9.45 lbs goes to Godwin and his sub Glen.

2nd Place with 3 bass and total weight of 8.50 lbs goes to Mike & Steve.

3rd Place with 3 bass and total weight of 7.75 lbs goes to Jim & Mike.

Our next tournament will be July 24th on Crooked Lake launching at Bob’s Landing. Remember there is a ramp fee. I think it is $7.00. I will call ahead to confirm and make sure there are no other tournaments scheduled.

Congrats to all the winners and THANKS to all the members who showed up to fish!

See You Next Tournament

Mike

May 22nd, 2010

The Brent and Jeff Show

Thanks to all the members for fishing our 5th tournament of 2010. We had 10 teams show up for low water and muddy water conditions on Istokpoga. Seems the water has been draining through the lock system the last couple of weeks for what ever reason and the lake was down between 18″ to 24″. On Friday Steve and I drove around the lake to check on the lake conditions and the lock was wide open with a major current in front of the lock, and most of the water we found was dirty.

And yes the fishing was tough for all, except for the “Brent and Jeff Show”. They seem to be at the right place and the right time way too much and the new team is showing no signs of slowing down. They joined at the second tournament of the year and have taken first place 3 times now and big bass twice.

First Place with five bass and total weight of 18.90 lbs goes to Brent and Jeff.

Second Place with 4 bass and total weight of 7.77lbs goes to Mike and Steve.

Third Place with 2 bass and total weight of 6.75lbs goes to Malcolm and Josh.

Big Bass weighing in at 6.15lbs goes to Brent and Jeff.

Congrats To All!

Next tournament will be at Toho out of Southport on June 26th.

Hope To See You All There

Mike

April 24th 2010

Another Windy Day

We had 7 teams fish on this nice windy day. We launched approx. 6:40am and it sure seems like our fishing days go by way too fast. Water level was way up and with the wind blowing Southeast it did not turn off the bite. There were 25 bass brought to the scales with one dead bass and a total weight of 57.61 pounds.

First place with 5 bass and total weight of 15.72lbs goes to Brent and Jeff

Second place with 4 bass and total weight of 13.18lbs goes to Joe and Greg

Third place with 5 bass and total weight of 8.94lbs goes to Mike and Steve

Big Bass goes to Greg and Joe with a nice 7.47 pounder.

CONGRATS TO ALL!

Next tournament will be May 22nd at Lake Istokpoga launching out of Hwy.98 ramp. I already have the permits and please remember since this is a permit tournament we CANNOT put our boats on the trailer with bass in the livewells. If the FWC is there to monitor our weigh in they will be very strict on all aspects regarding tournament procedures and Florida fishing regulations.

Hope To See Everybody At The Next Tournament

Mike

April 10th & 11th 2010

On behalf of myself and the members of SPPB I would like to start with thanking all the sponsors for making our raffle a great success. If it were not for their generousity our classic payout would not have been as good as it was. All proceeds go directly to the top three places. Plus you can’t beat all the fun we have during the raffle drawing. Here is a list of the sponsors who contributed to our 2009 Classic.

B&M Sports Supply, Interstate Batteries, Dogfish Tackle, Bett’s Fishing Center,Gambler Lures, V&M / Cyclone Baits, Save Phace, Sentry Fuel, Abe’s Mugs/Keith Burden, Mirro Lure. And a special thanks goes to Phil who coordinated the majority of the donations including the one’s he donated.

So lets get started with the Classic. There were 8 teams signed up to fish the two day event. Most teams pre-fished on Friday to try and locate productive areas. Most caught fish on Friday including a few nice bass weighing between 5 and 7 pounds. Then Saturday arrived, and so did the wind which was blowing 20 knots or better from the N.E. We blasted off at 7:00am and weigh in was at 4:00pm. After day one the results are as follows:

1.) Frank and Colleen with 5 bass weighing 15.59 pounds

2.) Bill and Dave with 5 bass weighing 13.27 pounds

3.) Joe and Greg with 4 bass weighing 10.77 pounds

4.) Jim and Mike with 5 bass weighing 9.59 pounds

5.) Godwin and Mike with 3 bass weighing 7.89 pounds

6.) Phil and Darrell with 4 bass weighing 7.15 pounds

7.) Keith with 3 bass weighing 5.64 pounds

8.) Mike and Steve with 2 bass weighing 4.02 pounds.

Big Bass for day one goes to Bill and Dave with a 5.56 pounder.

Saturday night was our meeting and raffle drawing. We voted on the remainder of the lakes and 2010 Classic. Schedule is posted on the web site. We also awarded the 2009 Angler of the Year to Frank and Colleen Mackin. And thanks to Jim Fesperman and Mike Touchton’s idea we presented to Phil a custom rod for all his hard work as past president.

Day two started out windy, but seemed to be not as windy as Saturday. But there were reports of thunderstorms moving in. What is a little rain and lightning anyway?

Day two weigh in was at 2:00pm and went as follows:

1.) Frank and Colleen with 5 bass weighing 20.07 pounds

2.) Mike and Steve with 5 bass weighing 15.99 pounds

3.) Joe and Greg with 5 bass weighing 11.73 pounds

4.) Phil and Darrell with 5 bass weighing 10.12 pounds after their 2 min. penalty

5.) Keith with 5 bass weighing 9.63 pounds

6.) Jim and Mike with 3 bass weighing 9.15 pounds

7.) Bill and Dave with 4 bass weighing 7.16 pounds

8.) Godwin and Mike with 0 bass

Big Bass for day 2 goes to Jim and Mike with a 6.17 pounder.

Now For The Total:

1.) Frank and Colleen with total weight of 35.66 pounds

2.) Joe and Greg with total weight of 22.50 pounds

3.) Bill and Dave with total weight of 20.43 pounds

4.) Mike and Steve with total weight of 20.01 pounds

5.) Jim and Mike with total weight of 18.74 pounds

6.) Phil and Darrell with total weight of 17.27 pounds

7.) Keith with total weight of 15.27 pounds

8.) Godwin and Mike with total weight of 7.89 pounds

CONGRATS TO ALL THE WINNERS!

There were 63 bass brought to the scales weighing 157.77 pounds.

Next tournament will be April 24th on Lake Reedy.

Hope To See All At The Ramp

Mike

CRUNCH & LATE

Before I explain CRUNCH & LATE I would first like to welcome the new team of Malcolm and Josh Acree. I am sure all of you will introduce yourselfs if you already have not and welcome them to our club.

First thing early in the morning pre blast off there was a loud crunch near one of the docks as two bass clubs were launching their boats. Turns out that Jeff decided to run his trolling motor into the dock to prevent backing into another boat. His trolling motor did not make it. After thinking about fishing without a trolling motor or not Jeff and Brent decided to fish. I told them we all would have made the same decision. Turns out their decision paid off.

Now for the second part. On their way into weigh in Joe’s engine decided it did not want to?

There was 10 minutes before 2:00 when Phil got the call. Frank and Keith were generous enough to head out and tow them back in. Unfortunately Joe and Greg had to take a 10 min. penalty of 1 pound per minute. They still weighed in their 5 bass weighing 8.71. After penalty their net weight was <1.29>.So the way I see it Joe and Greg will start the next tournament minus 1.29 pounds. JUST KIDDING! Just get your engine fixed in time for the Classic.

We had 9 teams fish on this first warm Saturday of Spring. I am sure we all enjoyed not fishing in the cold and rain. There was 33 bass brought to the scales and three 5 bass limits.

1st Place with 5 bass and a total weight of 13.22 lbs goes to Brent and Jeff who needs a troling motor.

2nd Place with 5 bass and a total weight of 11.51 lbs goes to Bill and Dave, and Toby.

3rd Place with 3 bass and total weight of 7.15 lbs goes to Mike and Steve ( yes Steve caught all 3 keepers )

Big Bass weighing 3.54 lbs goes to Brent and Jeff who needs a trolling motor.

Congrats to all the winners and thanks to all the teams who showed up to fish!

2009 CLASSIC is in two weeks. Remember no pre-fishing one week before Friday April 9th. Pre-fishing allowed on Friday April 9th. Dinner and Meeting will be Saturday April 10th starting around 6:30 pm at Phil and Darrell’s condo. Make sure you all bring extra spending money to have a chance at winning some great prizes! Please see Darrell to purchase your tickets anytime before the drawing. Anyone who wants to bring a side dish is welcome to, or your choice of beverage. After we eat and or during we will have an open discussion to review and or vote on any objectives pertaining to our club. Then we will pick the remainder of the lakes for the 2010 season. And last but not least we will have the raffle drawing.

See You In Okeechobee!

Mike

727-452-5982

February 27th, 2010

First of all I want to welcome to our club two new teams.

Brent Kirkendall & Jeff Sherrard

John Fugate Jr. & John Fugate

If you haven’t introduced yourselfs, when you get a chance please do so

and welcome them to our club. I know most of you already did.

Now onto a cold rainy day of fishing. We had 8 teams braving the elements

of Mother Nature, except for Bill Coker who went to his truck to keep warm

and sleep and left his partner Dave to fish all alone. I sure hope it warms up soon!  

There were a total of 10 bassbrought to the scales, which is double than the first tournament.

First Place with 4 bass and total weight of 7.63lbs goes to Joe and Greg

Second Place with two bass and total weight of 5.91 lbs goes to Mike and Steve

Third Place with two bass and total weight of 4.52 lbs goes to Brent and Jeff

Big Bass goes to Mike and Steve with 4.56 pounder.

Next tournament will be March 27th at Lake Tarpon (Anderson Park)

Mike   727-452-5982

First of all on behalf of the club I want to give our condolence to Phil and his family on the passing of Phil’s Step Father. Trust me Phil you did not miss much at the first tournament.

Mother Nature sure did show us who is in charge. Lake Panasoffkee which usually has clear water and great fishing was just the opposite. With all the cold and rainy days prior to fishing, the water was cloudy and cold and the winds kicked up to approx. 15 knots at times, maybe even more. Water temps were about 60 – 65 degrees which didn’t help matters either.

I would like to say the people at Tracy’s Point have always accommodated us each time we have been there by providing food and whatever to our members if we wanted. Thanks to Steve Lind and his staff on their efforts to make our tournament enjoyable and successful.

We had 6 teams show up for the first tournament. By the end of the day two teams had had enough and then there were four left to weigh in. There was a total of 5 fish weighed in. Yes 5 fish. Now if we were having a mudfish tournament Darrell and his sub Malcolm would have cleaned house.

Now if you think you had such a bad day on Saturday, just talk with Godwin and Mike. Seems they won that title since they broke two reels and a pole then on the way home Godwin had a flat tire. My day just got a little better. I think Godwin likes to be in the newsletter anyhow.

Now on to the weigh in, which took about 5 minutes.

First Place with total weight of 6.4lbs goes to Frank and Keith

Second Place with total weight of 3.25lbs goes to Mike and Steve

Third Place with total weight of 1.54lbs goes to Joe and Greg

Big Bass of 3.76lbs goes to Frank and Keith

Sure hope the fishing gets better than this, sure can’t get much worse.

The next tournament was voted on and will be at Eagle Lake near Bartow.

Directions will be posted on web site on schedule page.

Thanks To All The Members who braved the conditions and hope to see all at the the next tournament!

Mike

Walk in Water 10-24-09

Well it has been several years since we fished good ole Walk in Water and I really enjoyed it, just wish we could have caught some bigger fish, but we had a good time.

Before I talk about the tournament, I would like to say goodbye to Dick Moroski and Frank Petrulli. Because of health reasons and age, Dick called me and stated that they would not be at Walk in Water and would not be coming back next year. It has nothing to do with the club, but the early hours, long drive, full day of fishing and the long drive back does weigh upon a body. So Dick and Frank are going to fish Tarpon in the Extreme and I wish them the best of luck! By the way guys, remember you qualify for the CLASSIC next year and hope to see you there.

We started out the day by picking the first three lakes for 2010.

January 23rd    Lake Panasoffkee    Tracy’s Point

February 27th            Istokpoga    Hwy. 98 Ramp

March 27th          Lake Tarpon       Anderson Park

First weekend in April will be the CLASSIC for 2009

Lake Okeechobee out of Clewiston  ( if there is water)

So on to the tournament.

The morning on Walk in Water was beautiful and we were the only tournament that day. We had 10 teams show up for our last tournament of the year. By the end of the day we had 8 teams bring fish to the scales. We had 9 teams but Colleen got sick and Frank made her go home so they released their fish early. Now Frank was saying that even Colleen was real sick, she wanted to stay until the weigh in, but Frank said ” no ” Now there is a trooper!

We had four 5 fish limits and a total of 32 bass brought to the scales.

Third Place:  Bill Coker and Dave Felentzer  with 5 fish and total weight of 7.65 lbs.

Second Place:  Phil Mansfield and Darrell Paquin with 5 fish and total weight of 9.78lbs.

First Place:  Keith Burden with 5 fish and total weight of 11.34 lbs.

Big Bass:   Keith Burden with a nice 3.95lb bucket mouth.

Congratulations to all the winners and all the members of the club!

As we wind down another year, we crown ” Angler’s of the Year ” and this year it is the M&M, plain not peanuts team…………..Frank and Colleen Mackin. Frank and Colleen started out 2009 with a win and never looked back. Everyone was gunning for them at every tournament and with only a few hiccups, Frank and Colleen were able to hold off the charging field.

CONGRATULATIONS Frank and Colleen Mackin, The 2009 Angler’s of the Year!

So we draw the end to another year and we also end the 2009 season with me stepping down as your president. You know the ole saying when one era ends another begins. It has been a wonderful 6 years as your president and I have had a wonderful time. We have had our ups and downs, but we are still standing strong. I have chosen Mike Burgun to take over for the 2010 season and I know you guys will support him just like you supported me. It has been a wonderful run an I am truly blessed to call everyone my friend. This group of people is the Heart and Soul of St. Pete Pro Bass and I will never forget all the wonderful memories that we were able to enjoy and share. I wish everyone the best of luck and I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. I will forward all information to Mike and everyone please be safe!

Phil Mansfield