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2010 Classic

April 9th and 10th 2011

Lake Okeechobee

2010 SPPB CLASSIC

Well the 2010 SPPB Classic is in the books, or should I say record books for our great fishing club. Not sure where to begin with the events that took place over the three days but I will do my best. Some things and or details will be left down in Okeechobee to the best of my abilities and memory.

The first thing I would like to say is THANK YOU to all of our sponsors especially Phil Mansfield! Without his efforts in collecting over the year and coordinating from the other sponsors for our raffle which in turn generated a substantial increase in the three payouts for the tournament we would not have had the payout we did.  And thanks to everyone else who also contributed in donating items and buying raffle tickets. We always have a great time getting together to support our club. Here is the list of sponsors who helped and I sure hope I did not miss anyone.

B&M Sports Supply  ( Phil Mansfield )

Interstate Batteries

Dogfish Tackle

Bett’s Tackle

Gambler

Save Phace

K100 Fuel Treatment

Jeff’s Detail

Joto’s Pizza

Greg Gonzalez, Godwin Abele, Mike Taylor, Darrell Paquin

 Now on to the CLASSIC

 Day one started at 0630 with all teams meeting just outside the lock. After the official time check we were off and running to get to our spots which apparently we all had from pre-fishing the day before. There was no doubt that the bite was on! Day one weigh in was at 4:00pm. Seemed like all was going great for all teams from pre-fishing on Friday and day one of the tournament and then things went wrong for a few teams. When Steve and I returned at the designated weigh in location at the county ramp there was Josh andMalcolm withtheir cowl removed. There were a few other teams who had also arrived for the weigh in with about 10 minutes before 4:00.  There were a couple of teams still out and Matt informed us that Jim and Mike were stuck somewhere in Moorehaven and had run aground and would not make it back in time. Then Phil gets a call from Frank and Keith and they were broke down about 5 minutes outside the lock and asked Phil to go get them. Phil and Darrell transfered their fish to another live well and off Phil went to rescue them. Then here comes John Jr and John Sr. slowly up to the dock. I grabbed the bow line to help dock the boat and was making sure the trolling motor would not hit and before I knew what happened John Sr. was face first on the dock. We got John Sr. up and into the shade andwas helping him with his facial cuts andhis wrist had started to swell. John Jr took his Dad to the emergency room to get check out. OK now I think we can get on with day one weigh ins, but don’t worry more drama, madness, excitement  to come.

Day One :

1 st Place: Josh and Malcolm      5 bass      26.87lbs            Big Bass     7.34lbs         BIG BASS DAY 1

2nd Place: Mike and Steve            5 bass      23.03lbs           Big Bass      7.19lbs

3rd Place:  Frank and Keith           5 bass      21.99lbs **      Big Bass     3.78lbs**     ** reflects 3 min. penalty

4th Place:   Mike and Mike              5 bass      21.65lbs            Big Bass     6.24lbs

5th Place:   Phil and Darrell            5 bass      19.12lbs             Big Bass     7.04lbs

6th Place:   Joe and Greg                  5 bass      17.30lbs      

7th Place:   Godwin and Glenn        5 bass      12.53lbs

8th Place:   John and John                2 bass      2.69lbs

9th Place:   Matt and Joe     tied with   Jim and Mike with 0 bass.

Day one we weighed in 32 bass weighing a total of 145.18lbs. WOW!!!   Now for the rest of the days events. Jim and Mike finally called and they had made it back. Mike had decided to call it a weekend and head home since they each had brought their boats and Mike took a hard fall when the airboat they flagged down to pull them out of the skinny water they tried to run through. Mike slipped on the airboat and he dislocated his shoulder, separated two ribs and bruised his hip really bad.  Josh and Malcolm had blown their motor and were trying to figure out the next day. John Jr. informed us his Dad had broken his wrist and had a cut on his nose and forhead andthey would not be able to fish the second day. And Matt andJoe realized they are not compatible with each other while fishing out of the same boat and decided not to fish the second day. The day was not over yet, but it does get a little better. We had our annual get together to feast on some great food and have the raffle. We did have a quick meeting to discuss past, current and future business and pick the next few lakes. Voting on the Lakes was like pulling teeth but we got through the next few months. The raffle was a great time with lots of winners and don’t forget we raised quite a bit of money which went to the Classic payout 100%.       

 And then there were seven!

Day two started out the same way as day one with everyone meeting outside the lock, except there were seven teams left. I know what you are thinking……..there should be six teams left? Well Josh and Malcolm decided to fish using only their trolling motor and getting a little help from Joe and Greg to get them to their location to fish. Weigh in was at 2:00pm and seemed like day two was going fine until the weigh in started. Again “WOW ” there were some great limits brought to the scales. Did not think it would be better than day one though! We had 35 bass brought to the scales with a total weigh of 156.92 lbs. Funny thing happened during the weigh in……….seems our scales top out at 30 lbs. So when a couple of teams weighed in, the scales could not handle the weight and we had to weigh them seperately. Trust me Steve and I had a flashback from a lond time ago when the scales truely went out during a weigh in. By the time you add the platform, basket and lid the scales errored due to the  30 lb. limit. I never would have thought we would have seen the weights like we had. Heck we may never see again, but my guess for the next Classic we fish will be on the Big O. Here is the day two and final results.

DAY 2:

1st Place:           Josh and Malcolm          5 bass          28.49 lbs         big bass        8.21 lbs    Big Bass Day 2

2nd Place:          Mike and Mike                  5 bass          27.66 lbs        big bass        7.55 lbs

3rd Place:           Mike and Steve                 5 bass          23.10 lbs        big bass        6.58 lbs

4th Place:           Frank and Keith                5 bass          20.87 lbs        big bass       5.43 lbs

5th Place:           Joe and Greg                       5 bass          20.30 lbs     

6th Place:           Godwin and Glenn            5 bass           18.84 lbs        big bass       7.70 lbs

7th Place:           Phil and Darrell                  5 bass           17.66 lbs 

Tournament Results:

1st Place:          Josh and Malcolm           10 bass            55.36 lbs             big bass both days

2nd Place:        Mike and Mike                   10 bass            49.31 lbs

3rd Place:        Mike and Steve                 10 bass            46.13 lbs

4th Place:         Frank and Keith                10 bass             42.86 lbs

5th Place:         Joe and Greg                      10 bass              37.60 lbs

6th Place:         Phil and Darrell                 10 bass              36.78 lbs

7th Place:         Godwin and Glenn            10 bass              31.37 lbs

This will be a tournament I think we will all remember, or a few may wish to forget. I would like to also thank Frank’s Dad ” Pops ” for all his help and generosity in his ability to get up early and make coffee and some doughy breakfast item he is well known for, plus his efforts to help clean up after us slobs, have dinner ready on Saturday night, etc. I am sure I left some details out …………..you know ” what happens in Okeechobee stays in Okeechobee”

 

Mike