2017 Classic Lake Okeechobee
February 10th and 11th, 2018
Another Classic has come and gone and for a couple of teams the so called curse of the Big “O” lives on. We all have great hopes of being able to fish and catch on this awesome lake. Do not think anybody was prepared for the aftermath of last years hurricane as to how much has changed since our last classic. Seems like over the past years some team or member has paid the price to the fishing gods and humbled all of us at some point. Now add a major tournament to fishing on Saturday and we had to make a change on our launch site for the first day, and lots of muddy water and all the areas we knew were not there anymore made it quite interesting to say the least. Just when we thought it could not get any worse, Joe and Greg had a little explosion in Joe’s boat. Joe tried to jump his cranking battery and somehow shorted and caused a spark and his battery blew up. It was scary just hearing and seeing all the smoke then realizing 4 members were close buy helping, then watching them splash water on themselves to clean off the battery acid. Once we made sure there were no major injuries we helped put their boat back on the trailer with hopes they could get repairs done and get back to the lake. After checking in a little later, they could not get repaired and would not be able to fish. Then I got a rattle trap hook in my thumb trying to get a bass off the hook and had the pleasure of yanking the hook out. Shortly after my incident Steve got a rattle trap hook stuck in his leg which had to be yanked out. I will admit I laughed watching him get the hook out and told him I was just laughing because I knew how much it hurt to do. No pain no gain as they say. Crazy how a bass can just spit out a rattle trap without getting a hook in its mouth? Guess around 1:00 pm I received a call from Charles informing me his motor was down and they would need help getting back. They were on the Caloosahatchee Canal approx. 5-10 miles past the Moore Haven lock. I informed them somehow we would make sure they got back, and the lock closes at 4:30. I called a few other teams. Troy and Adam happened to be near the lock on the lake side and they said they would help. I informed both the teams to get through the lock and get to weigh in, then we would go pick Charles up at the Moore Haven ramp. I would like to thank Troy and Adam for their efforts in helping Charles and Brandy get back safely and all were able to weigh in. You would think at this time nothing else could go wrong…….not! I drove Charles truck back to load his boat and then headed back to Clewiston. After a brief stop at store, someone ( Charles ) forgot to close the tailgate and when we turned left at intersection all the stuff fell out of the truck right in the middle of intersection. UGH! With lots of help from strangers we were able to load everything back in, except for some miller light, which seemed to disappear? Joe decided to head back since there was no way for his boat to get repaired. Greg and Missy stayed to enjoy the rest of the weekend as best as he could anyway. During our meeting Bonnie asked if there was a way Greg could fish with Chuck on Sunday. Guess she had enough of the Big “O” or maybe it was Chuck……lol. We explained they could fish together, but as separate teams. Both Greg and Bonnie were happy. Congats to Greg and Joe for winning the 2017 Anglers of the Year! Greg took all the credit since Joe was not able to be there. During our meeting we reviewed the Classic weigh in times and we will keep Saturday weigh in at 3:00 and Sunday at 2:00. Also brought up was the idea for all members to have phone numbers for all in case of an emergency while out on the lakes. I know all have mine, but in the situation last year on Kissimmee where I did not hear my phone when Troy and Adam were broke down they could have called other members for help. Missy started a spreadsheet and I will print out and or email to all. The 2018 Classic will me the second Weekend of March 2019. March 9th and 1oth, 2019. We also will watch for any major tournaments, but as of now there are none booked. Option will be the 4th weekend of March. Now on to the raffle drawings. First I would like to thank all the sponsors, members for all their help with both donations and raffle ticket purchases. We raised $520.00 which 100% goes to the Classic Payout.
Sunday went much better and Charles and Brandy fished close by with using their trolling motor for as long as they could stand, then decided it was time to throw the towel in and head home. The winds really kicked up made fishing even tougher. But no major issues that I heard of.
First Place with a two day total 10 bass weighing 26.27 lbs goes to Steve and Mike
Second Place with a two day total 10 bass weighing 16.35 lbs goes to Dick and Scott
Third Place with a two day total 10 bass weighing 16.07 lbs goes to Darrell and Jason
Big Bass both days goes to Steve and Mike. 3.79 lb and 4.17 lb.
2017 Classic 2-10-18 and 2-11-18
Hope to see all at next scheduled 2018 tournament on Lake Tarpon, February 24th, at Anderson Park.
Mike