By Chris Tobalski
The UCF Reel Knights are off to an incredible start for the year. The UCF football team finished the season undefeated with a win against Auburn in the Peach Bowl and are central Florida’s National Champions! The Reel Knights are riding the hype and had a great club meeting to start the year, where we revealed the new club buffs. Check them out at @UCF_reelknights Instagram page! The Reel Knights also had an exciting time during our camping trip on the St. Johns River, what happens on the river stays on the river – but we managed really nice fish and the campfire made great memories.
The extreme cold snaps have been altering the fishing across the state. The cold has been keeping many anglers off the water. Snook have been varying from mangrove lined canals to deeper docks. The flats have been challenging with fish either sunning in the shallows or disappearing into the deeper waters. A few Reel Knights had to wade through icy chunks to get to their duck blinds. The low winter tides, paired with Irma silt movement, have been making canals across the state inaccessible for bigger boats. The beginning of 2018 is certainly a challenging time to be fishing in Florida. February is going to break that spell.
The Reel Knights are also prepping for this semester’s Inshore Tournament for redfish and trout on February 24th. Information can be found on ucffishingclub.weebly.com. The Reel Knights are expecting a great turnout to break last semesters record of a $1200 payout to the winners.
Finally, a thank you to our excellent sponsors who make all our success possible. Thank you to Hell’s Bay who provide us the opportunity to write in the Orlando Coastal Angler magazine. Thank you to Costa, Academy Outdoors, AFTCO, Guy Harvey, Shimano, G Loomis, and Oishi restaurants for sponsoring our club. The Reel Knights hope the new year continues to bring everyone new fishing memories!
