Another season for the Jolly Gator Bass Series is now in the books. Their year began in early March and was quickly delayed due to the Covid-19 virus and issues dealing with social distancing that shut down the host location Jolly Gator Fish Camp Bar and Grill. Tournaments resumed in late May with our end of year Classic held on August 15th. Over 37 Teams registered and fished this year, and 13 Teams qualified to fish the Classic.
All angler teams get points for fishing each week and are scored how they place in each event. The top10 teams in points plus the teams who win a weekly event and fish required number of weekly tournaments are in the end of year championship classic. Special congrats to the team of Anthony Courtney and partner Sean Cunningham for accumulating the most points during this season and winning the “Team of the Year” award! Big Bass for the season was caught by Paul Martin, a monster at 9.61 pounds – Paul caught this fish the last Tuesday evening event of this year.
All teams who qualified fished the classic to compete for annual bragging rights and a nice payout. Many healthy bags came out of the south end of the St. Johns River. It took 18.5lbs to get third, 19 plus in a five fish limit for second, and the win came in at 22.56 pounds!
2020 Jolly Gator Bass Series Classic Champions:
1st – Quinten Farrel and Micah Joseph – 22.56 lbs. and Big Bass of 7.13 lbs.
2nd – Jim Brogden and Travis Owens – 19.43 lbs.
3rd – Mike Winstead and Jonathan Winstead – 18.48 lbs.
4th – Steve Lester and Hayden Lester – 17.72 lbs.
5th – Colton Hayes and Lane Griffin – 15.35 lbs.
6th – Paul Martin and Bobby Wills – 15.05 lbs.
7th – Anthony Courtney and Sean Cunningham – 12.55 lbs.
Congrats to the angler teams and their families who competed in this years’ shortened 2020 season. Special thanks to our weighmaster Phil Wolf of Orlando Coastal Angler Magazine and to Jerusha Poore and Heather Wolf for taking care of the official stats and angler photos. Next year’s weekly bass tournaments start in early March 2021, on the first Tuesday after daylight savings time begins. Tell a friend who loves bass fishing to ask about the local tournaments. Stay safe until next year.
