February 1
TEAM FISHING SERIES
Venue: Lake Okeechobee
1st Place: Terry Oliver & Rich Tortoro – 16.88 lbs
2nd Place: Robert Duvall & Jeff Edgerly – 19.96 lbs
3rd Place: Norris Newhouse & Mike Dillion
Big Fish: Norris Newhouse – 5.07 lbs
February 28
HIGHLANDS BASS ANGLER TOURNAMENT TRAIL
By Ly Nguyen and Don Norton
Venue: Lake Walk-in-Water
Austin Springer, fishing with his dad, Bill Springer turned in a whopping 3-bass limit over 27+ pounds. Their largest, a huge 11 pounder was weighed measured and submitted to the Florida Trophy Catch website. In addition to the 11 pound bass, they also weighed in
a 9+ and a 7+ largemouth. An incredible catch, not often matched in any of our lakes. Austin indicated all three bass were caught on plastic worms in 3 to 4-ft of water in a variety of vegetation.
1st Place: Bill & Austin Springer – 26.76 lbs
2nd Place: Troy Thorlton & IV Wolfe – 12.31 lbs
3rd Place: Nick Desanta & Mike Winkler – 12.16 lbs
Big Fish: Austin Springer – 11.23 lbs
MARCH 8
Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce Tournament on Lake Istokpoga
More than 40 teams signed up and fished the annual Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce Bass Tournament on Lake Istokpoga March 8th out of Windy Point on the south end of the lake.
I fished the event with my partner, Burt Watkins of Avon Park. Strong east winds were blowing early as the teams headed out around 7:20am. I had been out on the lake a few times prior to the tournament on guide trips and we had done well on the west side of the lake using in-line spinners with swimbaits.
But it proved to be a poor choice of locations as the wind increased throughout the day and 3-4 waves rolled into the spots I wanted to fish, turning the otherwise clean, clear water into a muddy mess.
We worked a large section of the western shoreline, all the way up to Josephine Creek with little to show for our efforts, other than an occasional strike. Finally, crossing the lake to fish the west side of Big Grassy Island, Burt had a couple of huge strikes, but failed to hook the bass who appeared to be more interested in just blowing up on the bait rather than eating it.
40 boats entered the tourney ~ fished on Lake Istokpoga, March 8th Teams:
- Joe Medlock and Brandon Medlock – 1st place winner and winner of the Big Bass ~ 19.68 lbs Big Bass 9.47 lbs
- Robert Brown and Troy Olivea 2nd place ~ 18.26 lbs
- Dickie Morgan and John Bennett ~ 3rd place ~ 17.46
- Dallas Mosbeck and Jeff Gustafson ~ 4th place ~ 16.32 lbs
- James Dyer and Brian Reed ~ 5th place ~ 15.55
- William Bennion and Robert Rose, 6th place ~ 14.67 lbs Pail Yon and Don Enright, 7th place ~ 13.67
- Gary Wilt and Roy Clark 8th place ~ 13.57
- Gunner Smoak and Chris Crow, 9th place ~ 12.80
Special thanks to Norman Lee, Eileen May, Chamber Executive, Mary Tanner, Chamber Office Manager and Wes Tanner for hosting another great event.
MARCH 14
HIGHLANDS BASS ANGLER TOURNAMENT TRAIL
By Ly Nguyen
Venue: Kissimmee chain, Camp Mack
Though conditions were favorable and pre-fishing results were good, event day bag sizes where somewhat small. Winds were steady all day and the main bite came early so those making long runs from takeoff missed the main feeding period.
1st Place: Joe Conley & Jason Walkup – 7.42 lbs
2nd Place: Trey Thorlton & Ed Thorlton – 6.12 lbs
3rd Place: Marty O’hora & Adam Todd – 5.57 lbs
Big Fish: Jason Walkup – 7.42 lbs
