SJA had another amazing outing on their home waters in the Harris Chain of Lakes on November 23 and 24, 2019. This was the third leg of the 2019 – 2020 B.A.S.S High School Regional and State Qualifying tournaments. On Saturday the 23rd we had 7 teams compete for points and scholarship money, and to help them qualify for the National Tournament on Kentucky Lake in August of 2020. Our season starts in August and goes thru August of 2020. So far, we have fished 3 weekends consisting of Lake Okeechobee, Lake Seminole, Harris Chain of Lakes, and lastly, we will be going to St. Augustine on the North St. John’s River in mid-December.
There are more than 200 teams in the State of Florida that compete in the B.A.S.S. High School tournament series. SJA has 7 teams this year. This year we have 4 teams in the top 10 for the region and we currently occupy the first and fifth place slots for the State of Florida. SJA is kicking bass this year! Congrats to Team DiMauro (Bryce and Davis) and Zach Temperly and Will Grace for what they have accomplished early season.
The Harris tournament was difficult fishing for most teams. It has been tough to get on a consistent offshore bite with all the weed killed off. The wind blew both days and temperatures were in the mid to upper 60’s. The water is cooling off and the fish seem like they want to start heading in for wave 1 of the spawn. The most consistent bags came out of Lake Griffin. Most of the fish have been caught on Rat-L-Traps, senkos, chatter baits, and jerk baits. Any lure that can be snapped through or worked thru the grass is going to be your best bet right now. We caught a few smaller bucks close to the shore and had one nicer fish hooked in the shallows – but I still think we are a month or so out. One of the highlights of the Harris Tournament was a young freshman angler for SJA – Bryce DiMauro – age 14 – caught a monster 10.75 lb. bass. Right now, this bass leads the big fish caught this year in the B.A.S.S High School series. And, it helped anchor their 14.20 oz bag of fish and lock them into winning the State Fall Series for 2019 – 2020 season. This will qualify them early to fish in the National tournament in August of 2020. Congratulations Team DiMauro and all the SJA anglers.
We are always looking for new anglers. If you know of a High School student angler and want them to help them get involved, please have them write me at dave@dbgpromotions.com. Thank You to our sponsors: Orlando Coastal Angler Magazine, All Terrain Tractor Services, All American Excavating Airport Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Oakley Fishing, Bitter’s Bait and Tackle, Mud Hole, MHX, Citizens Bank of Oviedo, Sun Ray Paving, Teen 10-4 kids, Kysek Coolers, Onyx, DBG Promotions, Rothrock Marine, Starbrite, Lews Reels, Shimano, Evolve, Winter Park Scenic Boat Tours and so many other organizations that help us throughout the year.
