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