Category: Newsletters

Lake Arbuckle

August 24th, 2013

Thank You Darrell for reminding me the August newsletter was not done and that I have been slacking on my duties. I will try to get caught up on all since the 2013 is getting close to being over.

7 teams showed up to fish Lake Arbuckle. I do not think SPPB has ever fished this lake? What a nice little lake. Too bad the bite was not as nice as the lake looked. Matt ( Jr. ) Sparks fished with sub Chase Harvey. As always we all had a great time fishing. Only one limit was brought in to weigh in.

First Place with 4 bass weighing 11.66 lbs goes to Keith and Justin

Second Place with 5 bass weighing 11.61 lbs goes to Darrell and Brandon

Third Place with 3 bass weighing 6.15 lbs goes to Eric and Gary

Big Bass weighing 6.20 lbs goes to Keith and Justin

Congrats to all.

Right now there is a three way race for AOTY with only 9 points differenc between 1 st and 2nd. 2 tgeams are tied for second place.

Next tournament is on Winter Haven Chain Sept. 28th at William G. Roe park on Lake Shipp.

Mike

Lake Rousseau

7-27-13

Rumor had it that this tournament was going to be tough due to all the weed spraying and all the rain we have been getting, but I do not think anybody thought it would be as tough as it was. The teams that were able to pre-fish the weeks before reported lots of small bass being caught with a few nice ones as well. Mike and Matt pre-fished Thursday and Friday before the tournament and told us all it was not good at all. The hydrilla and lily pads were covered with this slim from the spraying and it was tough to fish without getting slim all over your bait. Out of 7 teams only 7 bass were brought to the scales. Lots of little bass were caught, but the keeper bass was hard to find. We had two subs fish with us. George fished with Rob and Tommy fished with Rick.

First Place with 3 bass weighing 7.23 lbs goes to Eric and Gary

Second PLace with 2 bass weighing 5.53 lbs goes to Mike and Steve

Third Place with 1 bass weighing 2.55 lbs goes to Rick and Tommy

Big Bass weighing 2.88 lbs goes to Mike and Steve

Next tournament is August 24th at Lake Arbuckle. The ramp is at Lake Arbuckle Campground.

2600 Lake Arbuckle Rd, Frostproof, FL 33843. Steve called and we will confirm what time the gate opens.

Harris Chain

6-22-13

OK, yes I know it has been too long for the newsletter to get done and I apologize! With all the news about the lakes being too low and some of the ramps being closed we had a nice turn out for this tournament. The lake was a little low, but we had no issues. Except how the water looked. It was like chocolate milk in most areas and the water was hot. 9 teams showed up and off we went. Darrell had his better half fish with him since Brandon was on a cruise. Shortly after Darrell and Kim were fishing Darrell decided it would be a good idea to get his line caught in his trolling motor. Then he decided it was a good idea to drop his trolling motore prop in the water. By now he was thinking Kim was bad luck, but they kept on fishing. 4 teams had limits. 28 bass total were brought to the scales. Not too bad for the conditions we had. Turns out Darrell’s better half was good luck after all.

First Place with bass bass weighing 18.26 lbs goes to Malcolm and Josh

Second Place with 5 bass weighing 14.17 lbs goes to Darrell and Kim

Third Place with 5 bass weighing 12.20 lbs goes to Dick and Scott

Big Bass weighing 9.31 lbs goes to Malcolm and Josh

Congrats To All!

It was mentioned that since we pay an extra $10.00 per team for a second place payout if there is 8 teams or less why couldn’t we also do if between 9 teams and 12 teams to pay out for third?

Next tournament is on Lake Rousseau launching at the Dunnellon ramp off Hwy 41 on July 27th

Lake Walk in Water

5-25-13

9 teams were scheduled to show up and fish, but leave it to Kill Swith Tony who had a bearing and hub go out on the way to the tournament we only had 8. Rob who was at the ramp went to help Tony and thought this was a sign for him  he should go to his daughters music recital instead of fishing. Probably a good decision. Tony did show up and fished for fun. Then on the way home Tony’s spare tire had a blowout. Just was not his day. Steve’s water impellor decided it was not going to work so we had a long day of fishing and getting beat up from the waves and wind. Rick fished with sub Scott Card on this windy day. The wind was blowing pretty hard as we waited for safe light. Soon after we headed out to get to our spots the wind calmed down, but did not last too long. The wind picked up speed and blew the rest of the day. It was tough to stay on the spots and the teams who did battle the wind and waves caught some nice limits.

First Place with 5 bass weighing 16.93 lbs goes to Malcolm and Josh

Second Place with 5 bass weighing 16.61 lbs goes to Joe and Greg

Third Place with 5 bass weighing 16.26 lbs goes to Scott and Dick

Big Bass weighing 7.93 lbs goes to Scott and Dick

Congrats to all!

The next tournament is on the Harris Chain. We will check Hickory Point ramp conditions before. Water level at the ramp was reported to be low?  The tournament in July was picked to be Rousseau. Some members said they would not go due to the stumps. All of us are concerned about not damaging our boats and I would like to hear from everybody what their thoughts are. We will talk more about it at the next tournament.

Mike

 

Lake Henderson

April 27, 2013

I would like to start off with welcoming the new team of Bill Schaefer and Jim Ott. Both live in the Ocala area and are willing to drive to all the lakes we fish. Please make sure you say hi and introduce yourselves if you have not already. Lake Henderson has not been to nice to us the last few times we have fished, so I know we all were hoping it would turn around and change our minds on weather or not to keep this lake for future consideration. 8 teams paid their dues to fish. Team Joe and Greg paid, but were fishing the King of the Beach kingfish tournament and did not want to loose their points. Even though the fishing was better than the last times I am not sure about future tournaments? Only one team had a limit and they were able to get to a little lake I think no one else could get to. At least a lot of small fish were caught by all.

First Place with 5 bass weighing 9.98lbs goes to Rob and Tony

Second Place with 4 bass weighing 7.64lbs goes to Darrell and Brandon

Third Place with 3 bass weighing 5.24lbs goes to Eric and Gary

Big Bass weighing 2.78lbs goes to Eric and Gary

I would like to apologize to Eric and Gary for the error of the dead fish rule. The board thought the penalty was deducted off the biggest bass in the catch. We reviewed later and the penalty is deducted from the total weight. If a team is late, then the late penalty is deducted from the big bass.

Next tournament is May 25th on Lake Walk in Water

See You At The Ramp

 

2012 Classic

April 13th and 14th, 2013

Lake Okeechobee

What a great turn out for our 2012 Classic Tournament. 10 teams showed up to brave the Big “O”. Most teams had a chance to pre fish on Friday to try and find the hot spots. And the the surprise of everyone the Phantom Tony showed up to help his partner Rob fish. We also have a new team which joined us, Scott Ellis and Dick Fletcher. Welcome to the club gentlemen!  Pre fish day went well without any broken bones or broken boats, etc. and all were excited about the two days of fishing ahead. Day one started out right on time outside the lock. After a short while I recieved a call from Eric who informed me his Dad had a large swimbait hook through his thumb……OUCH!  He then took him the emergency clinic to have it removed. He soon was back on the water. Towards the end of the day Eric called me again to let me know Rob and Tony’s boat motor would not start and that after weigh in they would go back and tow them in. All showed up on time, except Rob and Tony and day one weigh in was as follows.

DAY ONE :

1. Darrell and Brandon      17.91 lbs

2. Phil and Frank                  16.41 lbs

3. Mike and Matt                   15.42 lbs

4. Malcolm and Josh           14.92 lbs

5. Joe and Greg                      12.05 lbs

6. Keith and Justin                9.48 lbs

7. Mike and Steve                  6.25 lbs

8. Eric and Gary                     5.80 lbs

9. Scott and Dick                    2.91 lbs

Big Bass Day 1 goes to Mike and Matt with  6.75 lb

Saturday night we held our meeting, raffle and awarded the 2012 Angler of the Year. The meeting went fast and only a couple of items were brought up. One was the classic location for next year and the date of the classic for next year. We voted to fish Okeechobee out of Clewistonand to change the date to the second weekend of March if possible? Anglers of the Year goes to Keith and Justin! Congrats to the bothof them. I would like to take this moment to THANK our sponsors, non-sponsors who made this year a great success. Phil with B&M Sports Supply really helped wi  lot of gifts. Also Keith with Reel Deal Outdoors, Dogfish Tackle, Frank, Greg, Joe, Mike Touchton, Justin, Darrell, Steve and myself. And many thanks to all who purchased tickets to raise money for our payout. It is always a lot of fun during this time. Too bad Eric and Gary, Rob and Tony could not be there. Eric and Gary towed Rob and Tony in from the lake and could not get to the meeting on time.

Day 2 got started on time. Steve and I decided to tow Rob and Tony out to one of the cuts first thing since they could not get their boat to start. I know it sounds a little familiar, but you never know what can happen on the Big “O”. We checked in on the two around 1:00 and they were trolling in and said they did not have a limit with only a few small fish. I told them we would tow them in after the weigh in if they were still out, but to call if they caught a bigger fish. They called me at 1:30 to say they caught a decent bass, approx. 5 lbs. We found them and loaded their fish in Steve’s boat with Rob and headed in. You never know?

Day 2:

1. Malcolm and Josh        22.38 lbs

2. Joe and Greg                   13.33 lbs

3. Darrell and Brandon    11.57 lbs

4. Mike and Matt                 11.43 lbs

5. Mike and Steve                11.18 lbs

6. Phil and Frank                 10.13 lbs

7. Eric and Gary                   10.00 lbs

8. Keith and Justin              8.84 lbs

9. Rob and Tony                   8.14 lbs

10. Scott and Dick                2.51 lbs 

Big Bass Day 2 goes to Malcolm and Josh with 7.08 lbs

FINAL:

First Place with 2 day total weight of 37.30 lbs goes to Malcolm and Josh     $1011.00

Second Place with a 2 day total weight of 29.48 lbs goes to Darrell and Brandon    $670.00

Third Place with a 2 day total weight of 26.85 lbs goes to Mike and Matt        $480.00

4th. Phil and Frank     26.54 lbs

5th. Joe and Greg        25.38 lbs

6th. Keith and Justin    18.32 lbs

7th. Mike and Steve      17.43 lbs

8th. Eric and Gary         15.80 lbs

9th. Rob and Tony         8.14 lbs

10th. Scott and Dick      5.42 lbs

Congrats to all the winners!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention this little bit. On the way home Rob had called me and said that their truck did not break down, but Eric mentioned the kill switch on Tony’s boat. Well guess what? One of them had hit the kill switch by mistake and they never tried the whole time they were out stranded. Once they reset it started right up. We use to call Tony the Phantom Tony because this was the first time he has fished with us since they started. I think he has a new nick name now………(Kill Switch Tony). Must of the stuff that happened in Okeechobee stayed down there, but I had to share this will you all.

 

             

Lake Tarpon

3-23-13

On this windy day of March with another front coming our way 5 teams showed up to brave the not so perfect conditions. The only thing that would have made it worse was if it rained. Or if your trolling motor decided to not work like mine and Steve’s. Good thing we had the power pole so we could stop and fish while the wind blew us along. Rob Perry made it back to join the club and yes there still is no sign of his partner Tony? But Rob did find George Heath to fish with him and he may even join our club? Hope we did not scare him too much and he actually does join…….lol. We officially have 9 teams signed up for 2013. If we could get Matt to stop blowing up his motor we would have had 6 teams fish this day. We also decided to pay thge extra $10.00 per boat for second place and changed the weigh in to 3:00pm. Joe and Greg were glad we did this because they caught their big bass just before weigh in. Your Welcome.

First Place with 5 bass weighing 10.83 lbs goes to Joe and Greg

Second Place with 5 bass weighing 10.75 lbs goes to Mike and Steve

Third Place with 5 bass weighing 9.32 lbs goes to Rob and George

Big Bass weighing 5.60 lbs goes to Joe and Greg

Congrats To All!

Now for our upcoming 2012 Classic Tournament. April 13th and 14th ( Sat. & Sun ) are the tournament days. Pre-fishing on Friday April 12th only. No pre-fishing 7 days prior to Friday the 12th. The tournament fee is $70.00 per boat. Big Bass for both days.

See You In Clewiston

Mike

Butler Chain of Lakes

2-23-13

As we waited in line for the gates to open and the other club to launch the 5 teams which showed up had a little meeting. It was brought up for motion to have each team contribute another 10.00 whenever there are less than 9 teams so a second place could be paid. The members agreed to try it at this tournament and we all paid the extra dues. It was not that long ago we adjusted the payout the way it is set up now due to the small payouts for three places when there is a small amount of teams. The board will look into ammending the way we tried it Saturday. Now on to the windy day of fishing this chain of lakes. 3 limits were brought in but there were lots of small bass caught. I am sure the wind had something to do with this? At least it wasn’t cold!

First Place with 5 bass weighing 11.45lbs goes to Matt and Mike

Second Place with 4 bass weighing 10.14lbs goes to Darrell and Brandon

Third Place with 5 bass weighing 9.16lbs goes to Joe and Greg

Big Bass weighing 5.56lbs goes to Darrell and Brandon

Our next tournament will be March 23rd on Lake Tarpon out of Anderson Park. I believe daylight savings is March 10th so please get there early as we usually launch earlier than normal.

See You Then

Mike

 

Lake Kissimmee

January 26th, 2013

It was nice seeing everyone who showed up to fish this new 2013 tournament season! The weather was awesome but the bass had different ideas. The bite was not as good as the weather, at least where we all fished. Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense and that is why it is called fishing, not catching. I would like to say THANK YOU to Keith and Justin who rescued Steve and I on the way home. I had a trailer tire shred on I-4 just before malfunction junction. Then my spare was flat. Then Keith and Justin stopped and Keith let us borrow his spare tire.

Mike and Matt (Jr.)  had mechanical problems out on the lake but were able to fix their motor. I think Matt is jinxed? Matt said he blew his motor recently.

We had 8 teams fish the tournament. Eric had Brent fish with him as a sub. Only 17 bass were brought to the scales and there were 2 limits. Steve and I had no fish at 1:55 and we were still casting near the ramp. We caught our only bass then with 2 minutes to go. It was nice not to zero on the first tournament and turns out it was the big bass of the tournament. You just never know. That is a perfect example why not to give up.

First Place with 5 bass weighing 10.80 lbs goes to Eric and Brent

Second Place with 5 bass weighing 9.25 lbs goes to Rick and Blanche

Third Place with 3 bass weighing 4.64 lbs goes to Joe and Greg

Big Bass weighing 3.58 lbs goes to Mike and Steve

Our next tournament is February 23rd on the Butler Chain. Mike Touchton mentioned he heard the lake is really low? We will be checking and keep everybody posted. Also if you have not made your reservation for the Classic you may want to do soon. On the raffle update I have received some donations already from one of our sponsors and I have a couple items I will be donating too. The donations we raffle at the classic and the money we raise goes 100% to the the winners of the classic tournament, so please help support our sponsors and if you have anything you would like to donate towards the raffle please let us know.

 

See You At The Ramp

Mike

East Lake Toho

November 10th, 2012

Last Tournament for 2012

What a battle for angler of the year it was! It was down to two teams fishing for the anglers of the year trophy. Keith and Justin were ahead of Darrell and Brandon by 15 points. Brandon could not fish so Darrell had to get sub at the last second. He found Glenn Wilson who used to fish with us. It was really nice to see Glenn again. 5 teams showed up to fish and the bite was slow and slower. No limits were brought in and one team zeroed. Keith and Justin could not catch one keeper and the race got a lot closer. Darrell and his sub Glenn had two bass to weigh in. Keith and Justin were a bit nervous at weigh in, but they still pulled out a victory for angler of the year, winning by 8 points. Darrell and Glenn just needed a nice kicker and a first place win to take over first place? Oh well, maybe next year. Team Rick and Blanche had other ideas and just wanted to take all of our money again for the second tournament in a row.

First Place with 3 bass weighing 6.17 lbs goes to Rick and Blanche

Second Place with 3 bass weighing 5.17lbs goes to Greg and Tom

Third Place with 2 bass weighing 3.33lbs goes to Darrell and Glenn

Big Bass weighing 2.73lbs goes to Rick and Blance

CONGRATS TO ALL THE WINNERS

After the weigh in the club met to discuss the 2013 season and the 2012 Classic.

The Classic will be the second weekend in April 2013 on Okeechobee out of Clewiston. Saturday April 13th and Sunday April 14th to be exact. And pre-fishing on Friday April 12 only. No pre-fishing one week prior to Friday April 12th.

We also drew the lakes for 2013 and I will post accordingly after we review the other clubs schedules.

Mike

Winter Haven Chain

October 27th, 2012

8 teams braved the windy conditions from Hurricane Sandy to fish the second to last tournament of 2012.  Keith showed off his new boat and passed out flyers on a new company starting in November 2012 called Reel Deal Outdoors, Inc. a division of B&M Sports Supply. They will service and repair all types of reels, fishing poles and trolling motors.  And being a member of SPPB discounts will be offered.

Now on to the great windy day of fishing we had. There were 2 subs who fished with us. Tom Pridham fished with Greg DeRosa and Brent Kirkendall fished with Eric Petersen. 20 bass were brought to scales and the bite was slow for most. Only one limit was caught.

First Place with 5 bass weighing 10.69 lbs does to Rick and Blanche

Second Place with 3 bass weighing 7.60 lbs goes to Greg and Tom

Third Place with 4 bass weighing 6.09 lbs goes to Mike and Steve

Big Bass weighing 3.87 lbs goes to Keith and Justin

Congrats To All!  Our next tournament and last tournament is November 10th on East Toho out of Chisholm Park. We will be meeting before we launch to discuss anything you wish to bring up and to pick the lakes for 2013. Please try and get there a little early so we have time to meet. And a friendly reminder to Steve that the time change has happened and please reset your clocks! Safe light is approx. 6:00am. See you on the 10th.

 

Mike

Lake Panasoffkee

September 22nd, 2012

Everyone who showed up to fish this Saturday was hoping the fishing was going to be better than the last tournament. I sure know Steve and I were. Matt and Mike stayed on the lake for a few days pre-fishing and when they came out in the morning and had nothing good to say and from what everybode else was saying it did not look good. Guess with more rain, weed spraying and weed cultivating the lake was a mess. Seven teams showed up to fish. I spoke with Eric and he informed me they would not be there because his dad Gary was in the hospital, but back home. We all wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him soon. With 2 teams fighting for AOTY with just 4 points seperating them, the pressure was on Keith / Justin and Darrell / Brandon for the remaining three tournaments. I do not want to forget that Joe had to fish by himself becase his partner Greg thought he could just close his eyes for 15 minutes after a long night at the Hard Rock. Joe heard the dogs barking like crazy  trying to wake him up, and before Greg knew what happened he woke up at 6:30ish. Guess Greg can’t run with the big dogs anymore?

Only 7 bass were brought to the scales. Yes only 7 bass, with no limits and only two teams had 2 bass. 2 teams had no fish including Matt and Mike who I thought were going to run away with this tournament. Thats why they call it fishing and not catching.

First Place with 2 bass weighing 4.54 lbs goes to Mike and Steve

Second Place with 2 bass weighing 3.81 lbs goes to Keith and Justin

Third Place with 1 bass weighing 2.23 lbs goes to Joe

Big Bass weighing 2.70 lbs goes to Mike and Steve

Our next tournament is October 27th on the Winter Haven Chain of Lakes. We will launch out of William G. Roe Park on Lake Shipp. At the last tournament on November 10th on East Lake Toho out of Chisholm Park we will have our meeting to discuss anything the members wish to talk about and to draw the lakes for 2013. We will also have to discuss the 2012 Classic we will fish in 2013.

See You All At The Ramp

Mike

Lake Henderson

August 25th, 2012

I would like to start off by welcoming the new team of Rick and Blanche Johnson. Please make sure you say hi and introduce yourselves if you have not already. I was a little worried since they live up this way and have fished Henderson recently. Rick informed me it has been tough, but did not think it would be as tough as it was. Also fishing as a sub was Jim Fesperman who fished with his old partner Mike Touchton. It was nice to see Jim back, fishing with us, even if it was as a sub. Eleven teams showed up to fish on this dog day of summer. With all the rain there was plenty of water. Maybe too much too soon which may have caused the bite to be as slow or non existent as it was. The first place team of Keith and Justin got so frustrated with the poor fishing and having engine issues ( low oil ) they decided to pack up early and head home. Gap between them and team Darrell and Brandon just got a lot closer.

First Place with 5 bass weighing 7.25 lbs goes to Joe and Greg    

Second Place with 3 bass weighing 4.80 lbs goes to Rob and his ghost partner Tony

Third Place with 2 bass weighing 4.52 lbs goes to Phil and Frank

Big Bass weighing 3.20 lbs goes to Darrell and Brandon

Next tournament is on Lake Panasoffkee out of Tracy’s Point Sept. 22nd.

It was brought to my attention the 2012 Classic which was voted on to fish February 9th and 10th on Okeechobee out of Clewiston has another major event that weekend. We will be watching all the other pro tournament dates and locations so we can choose another lake. The alternate lake is St. Johns, but we will have to see if available?

See You Next Tournament

Mike

Lake Kissimmee

July 28th, 2012

Welcome to the dog days of summer! We had a great turn out this hot summer day to fish Lake Kissimmee. It has been a while since we have fished here. We need to fish this lake more. We had 9 teams show up with two old members return. OK one old member ( Phil ) and Frank ( not so old ) come back and fish with us. Seems their other tournaments are over and they want to fish with us the rest of the year. Welcome back guys! Rob fished with sub Jason and Joe fished with his brother Mike as his sub. Mike Touchton also has come back and teamed up with Matt. Welcome back Mike.  24 bass were brought to the scales weighing a total of 77.96 lbs. We had 4 bass over 6 lbs and one bass over 4 lbs weighed in. Lots of little bass were caught and the keeper bass were tough to get limits. Only 2 teams had a limit.

First Place with 5 bass weighing 14lbs goes to Darrell and Brandon

Second Place with 3 bass weighing 13.64lbs goes to Phil and Frank

Third Place with 3 bass weighing 12.60lbs goes to Keith and Justin

Big Bass weighing 7.03lbs goes to Keith and Justin

Congrats to all!

Our next tournament is August 25th on Lake Henderson in Inverness. The ramp is right on Hwy. 44. We will be confirming that there is enough water.

See You Soon

Mike

Lake Istokpoga

June 23rd, 2012

Were were very lucky to have just missed the tropical depression sitting out in the gulf. The rain did not start until just after the weigh in. Maybe the bite would have been better if it was raining during the tournament? 6 teams braved the potential bad weather. Darrell had Scott Ellis fish with him as a sub. According to Eric and Gary it rained on Friday from 4:00ish until after dark and the wind was blowing pretty hard. Of course this made fishing a little tough, but seems most members had their chances on big fish but just could not get them landed. Only two limits were weighed in. Usually this lake produces some nice limits.

First Place with 5 bass weighing 16.04 lbs goes to Keith and Justin

Second Place with 5 bass weighing 11.30 lbs goes to Mike and Steve

Third Place with 3 bass weighing 5.00 lbs goes to Malcolm and Josh

Big Bass weighing 5.30 lbs goes to Keith and Justin

Congrats To All

Our next tournament will be on Lake Kissimmee July 28th. I am not sure yet where we will launch from, but we will let you know soon.

Mike

April 14th and 15th 2012

2011 Classic Tournament

OK yes I know I am way late on writing the newsletter for the Classic and I truely aplogize for the delay. Hope you all will forgive me for the delay?

One of the best ways to start this newsletter is to call this Classic ” Opposite Year / Opposite Day Classic ” We all had fond memories of last year with all the heavy weights of bass being caught and hoping it would be the same this year. 7 teams showed up to fish and I believe all were able to pre-fish on Friday. Water was still low this year. Some said it was a little higher, some said it was a little lower. All I know is a few had to get out and push their boats off sand bars, etc. You still could not run most cuts and if you did you had better not shut down. We had a couple of skegs which were damaged, but nothing too serious. On pre-fish day lots of little bass were caught and a few nice ones as well. We were faced with some major weather coming our way for Saturdy, but we all seemed to have a game plan in place for Saturday. Saturday morning we all met at the meeting area to blast off and boy the wind was blowing like crazy. Then the rain came through but did not last too long. The wind blew all day long though and the sky was mostly overcast most of the day.

After day one only one team came in with a limit. Here are the results from day one:

1st place with 5 bass weighing 18.35 lbs goes to Joe and Greg

2nd place with 4 bass weighing 13.74 lbs goes to Godwin and Glenn

3rd place with 3 bass weighing 10.88 lbs goes to Keith and Justin

4th place with 4 bass weighing 9.90 lbs goes to Mike and Steve

5th place with 3 bass weighing 8.10 lbs goes to Josh and Malcolm

6th place with 2 bass weighing 3.18 lbs goes to Darrell and Brandon

7th place with 1 bass weighing 1.87 lbs goes to Matt and John

Big Bass for day 1 weighing 6.75 lbs goes to Godwin and Glenn

Oh, did I say there were no major problems besides a few banged up skegs? Seems Godwin and Glenn had motor issues and could not get on plane. They called me to check on the rules so they could get back on time. Lucky for them we found them in the rim canal putting along and Steve and I tried to tow them back, but were running out of time. So we put Glenn and their fish in Steve’s boat and made it to the weigh in on time.

Now it was time for the meeting and the raffle. I would like to thank all of the great members who helped with making our raffle a success in which we raised quite a bit of money to help the payouts. THANK YOU ALL!!!

At the meeting we discussed the date of the Classic and if we could possibly change to earlier in the year? Motion was to change to the second weekend in February and motion was passed. Guess the reasoning is to hopefully have more water in Okeechobee and to hopefully get on bigger fish? So as of right now our 2012 Classic will be February 9th and 1oth 2013 out of Clewiston. The only two issues we may be faced with is low water and other big tournaments that weekend? The second lake of choice for the Classic will be St. John’s. We will know more later this year when they publish the pro schedules.

Now for day two and the wind was still blowing, but not as bad and we had a nice blue sky instead of mostly overcast like Saturday. There were no limits brought to the scales? This is where opposite day comes into play. Only 12 bass were brought to the scales and all the teams were shocked that the fishing was as slow as it was. Two teams had no fish to weigh in and the leader after day one came in with 2 bass? The bite was not happening at all. Even the small fish were not biting like they were Saturday. Even the locals could not believe how slow the bite was?

Day 2:

First place goes to Joe and Greg with 2 bass weighing 8.41 lbs

Second place goes to Matt and John weighing 6.53 lbs

Third place goes to Keith and Justin weighing 5.71 lbs

Fourth place goes to Josh and Malcolm weighing 3.56 lbs

Fifth place goes to Godwin and Glenn weighing 3.36 lbs

Big Bass Day Two weighing 7.05 lbs goes to Joe and Greg

Now For The Grand Totals:

First Place with a total weight of 26.76 lbs goes to Joe and Greg

Second Place with a total weight of 17.10 lbs goes to Godwin and Glenn

Third Place with a total weight of 16.59 lbs goes to Keith and Justin

CONGRATS TO ALL THE WINNERS!!!!

Now you know why I named this Opposite Year / Opposite Day.

Two completely different years and days. Guess thats why they call it fishing and not catching? I know we all caught a bunch of small bass and the lucky few were able to get their keepers. Joe and Greg were really sweating out day two and near the end of the day they caught their big fish in the rim canal? You just never know! It was really nice to see Godwin and Glenn fish with us and they are welcome back any time. Hopefully sooner than later.

OK, for whoever is paying attention to the newsletters, I was asked to delete a paragraph in this edition. If you have any questions regarding this please ask Keith or Justin ( aka   D&D or the Double ” D ” Team ).

Butler Chain of Lakes

May 19th, 2012

I would like to welcome the new team of Eric and Gary Petersen to SPPB!  Also joining the club is Blake Mead who will be fishing with Matt Sparks. For those who were not able to fish this tournament, please say hello to Eric, Gary and Blake at the next tournament.

What a crazy morning we had on this Saturday!!! Yes we were suppose to fish John’s Lake but we ran into a few issues. First we were notified that there was a large Ocala tournament launching and second there was another large tournament launching. Yes that is right, two large clubs fishing little John’s Lake the same day we wanted to. The lines were out on hwy. 50 waiting to get their boats in the water. Luckily Eric called to tell us of the situation. Eric and his dad Gary were already in the water. All the other SPPB members were either in line or on the way. We called an emergency meeting and agreed to try and fish another lake. Eric and Gary were gracious enough to agree to put their boat back on the trailer and suggested the Butler Chain as an option along with the Harris Chain as another option. We all agreed to go to Butler and followed Eric and Gary to the ramp. None of us had fished this before, except Eric and Gary. After we finally launched we agreed to a 3:00pm weigh in since we got such a late start. From what I heard from everybody the Butler Chain is another choice we need to add to our list of lakes we fish. The ramp is a little challenging, but we survived at the end of the day. We had 7 teams pay their dues and the tournament was on. 19 bass were brought to the scales weighing a total of 51.96 lbs. 4 limits were caught along with a lot of small undersize bass we all caught during the day.

First Place with 5 bass weighing 12.39 lbs goes to Malcolm and Josh

Second Place with 5 bass weighing 11.41 lbs goes to Keith and Justin

Third Place with 5 bass weighing 11.40 lbs goes to Matt and Blake

Big Bass weighing 4.70 lbs goes to Matt and Blake

Congrats to all !

Our next tournament will be June 23rd on Istokpoga launching out of the county park ramp off of Hwy. 98. And remember this is a managed lake so we must keep our boats in the water during the weigh in and may need to bring the bass out to deeper water after.

Hope To See All At The Ramp!

Mike

 

Crooked Lake

April 28th, 2012

I would like to welcome the new team of Rob Perry and Tony Dayton to SPPB! Rob had to fish by himself today, but his partner Tony will be at the next tournament.  

We had two teams who fished with subs this tournament. Darrell who just had shoulder surgery right after the Classic will be out hopefully for a short time had Scott Ellis fish with Brandon and Malcolm brought his other brother Jason to fish in place of Josh. We had 6 teams sign up with 4 teams fishing. Yes you are correct the two teams who paid are in the hunt for the point standings and did not want to lose too many points. Now on to the tournament and Crooked Lake. When I called to ask about the lake conditions from Bob’s Landing they said plenty of water and yes there are stumps and trees along some of the banks but still plenty of water. I do not remember the lake ever being this low. Then a $7.00 ramp fee? Ouch!

First Place with 5 bass weighing 9.62 lbs goes to Malcolm and Jason

Second Place with 5 bass weighing 8.13 lbs goes to Brandon and Scott

Third Place with 4 bass weighing 8.06 lbs goes to Rob Perry

Big Bass weighing 4.70 lbs goes to Rob Perry.

Next tournament is May 26th on John’s Lake

Hope To see everyone at the ramp!

Mike

 

 

Lake Tarpon

3-24-12

I know we were all glad to put the last tournament behind us and were glad to have spring upon us. Malcolm had to fish by himself today and wanted to show off his brand new Ranger boat. What a beauty! Too bad for some reason his motor would not run. He had no powwer to his control panel, but everything else worked. Being the trooper he is he still fished using his trolling motor. He figured the last time he fished with his brother Josh in Okeechobee without a motor they won the tournament. Who needs a motor anyhow? Then there was Keith not showing up and having his partner Justin fish with Mr. (Ringer) Brent Kirkendall. And Matt had to bring in his own sub for the day, Mike Haney.

Now for the fishing on Lake Tarpon. Seems the weed control people have been tearing up all the weeds with these big machines which made it difficult to locate good areas to find fish. The lake really does not look good. Lots of green slime close to the shoreline. Then the winds of March kicked in and blew like crazy. We had three limits weigh in with lots of little bass being caught throughout the day. Was tough getting the kicker bites. 24 bass were brought to the scales weighing 46.25 pounds. That is an average of 1.927 lbs per bass.

First Place with 5 bass weighing 11.60 lbs goes to Justin and Mr. Ringer Brent.

Second Place with 4 bass weighing 9.95 lbs goes to Darrell and Brandon

Third Place with 8.49 lbs goes to Mike and Steve

Big Bass weighing 4.17 lbs goes to Darrell and Brandon

The next tournament is the 2011 Classic April 14th and 15th. No pre-fishing 7 days prior to Friday April 13th. Pre- fish allowed on Friday April 13th.

See You All @ The Big “O”

Mike

Lake June in Winter

February 25th, 2012

Well this is probably going to be the shortest newsletter ever…I hope. What a tough and miserable day we all had!

7 teams fished this windy, cold front passing through, cloudy day and the fishing was as tough as it can get.

Only 9 bass were brought to the scales and you will see below we had the lowest weights ever in a long time. There were no limits caught.

First Place with 2 bass weighing 3.33 lbs goes to Keith and Justin

Secon Place with 2 bass weighing 3.19 lbs goes to Josh and Malcolm

Third Place with 2 bass weighing 2.97 lbs goes to Greg and Steve.

Big Bass weighing 1.81 lbs goes to Joe and Greg.

Our next tournament is March 24th on Lake Tarpon launching out of Anderson Park.

Hope To See All At The Ramp!

Mike