The Florida Fishing Experts
Specializing in Florida Bass Fishing on all of the Florida Freshwater Lakes.

“In Memory of Leah Tamash”

 2nd Annual Bass Tournament

Helping families and their children with Arthrogryposis

 
DATE:MARCH  6^TH, 2010
TIME:REGISTRATION BEGINS AT 5:00 A.M.
LOCATION: HARRIS CHAIN OF LAKES
HICKORY POINT RECREATION FACILITY
ON STATE ROAD 19 IN TAVARES, FLORIDA

REGISTRATION:                 $70.00 A BOAT

Weigh In:                                   3:00 p.m. 

CONTACT:  TONY BOLES – (321)228-4583

This Tournament will payout for every 7 boats. The payback will be determined on the number of total entries for the tournament. Artificial Lures only, NO LIVE BAIT. LIVE WELLS WILL BE CHECKED PRIOR TO BOAT LAUNCH. 5 Fish Limit.

All participants must possess a valid Florida Fishing License. Each participant is responsible for possessing all necessary safety equipment on their boat that is required by the State of Florida Fish and Game Division. Safety Flotation Devices must be worn at all times while the Main Engine of combustion is in operation.

There will be a quick meeting at 6:00 a.m., that 1 person from each team (boater or co-angler) must attend. This meeting will be conducted the morning of the tournament close to the registration tent.

This tournament is a Fund Raiser and all proceeds will go to the AMC Support Foundation. For more information on this Foundation, you can visit www.AMCSUPPORT.org.

Please join in for a day of fun in the sun and competition Bass Fishing. GOOD LUCK and happy feeeshing.    

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer BASSonline – fishing@bassonline.com
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (Jan. 27, 2010) – John Cox of Debary, Fla., landed five bass weighing 25 pounds, 1 ounce Wednesday to lead day one of the FLW Series Eastern Division tournament on Lake Okeechobee. He holds a 3-pound, 10-ounce lead in the tournament.
   “I started on one fish in the morning and it ate my first pitch,” said Cox, who is fishing in his first FLW Series event. “I caught two other 3-pounders and a few other nice ones about 11 o’clock. After that, I just went around and tried to find new areas.”
   Cox said he was sight fishing for larger bass and attributes his success on the first day of competition to being in the right place at the right time.
   “I’m going to do the same thing on Thursday, but I’m going to start in a different area and try to put 15 or 20 pounds together,” Cox said.
   Cox said his 3-pound, 10-ounce lead isn’t enough to make him comfortable after just one day of fishing on Lake Okeechobee.
   “That’s nothing out here,” Cox said. “You need a 10-pound lead out here to have any kind of cushion.”
   Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C., trails Cox in the No. 2 spot with five bass weighing 21-7.
   Rounding out the remainder of the top-10 pros after day one at Lake Okeechobee are:

      3rd: Chad Grigsby, Maple Grove, Minn., five bass, 21-6
      4th: National Guard pro Scott Martin, Clewiston, Fla., five bass, 21-4
      5th: Tom Mann Jr., Buford, Ga., five bass, 20-1
      6th: Robert Behrle, Hoover, Ala., five bass, 19-11
      7th: Koby Kreiger, Okeechobee, Fla., five bass, 18-11
      8th: Tony Chachere, Opelousas, La., five bass, 16-12
      9th: Randall Tharp, Gardendale, Ala., five bass, 16-8
      10th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., five bass, 16-7

Overall there were 664 bass weighing 1,486 pounds, 12 ounces caught by 154 pros Wednesday. The catch included 110 five-bass limits.
   In FLW Series competition, pros are competing for a top award of $50,000 plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for a shot at the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing.
   Scott Kerslake of Henderson, N.C., leads the Co-angler Division with four bass weighing 12-0 followed by Philip Jarabeck of Lynchburg, Va., in second place with five bass weighing 11-8.
   The remainder of the top-10 co-anglers are:

      3rd: Dale Walker, Miami, Fla., five bass, 11-7
      4th: George Kapiton, Inverness, Fla., five bass, 11-6
      5th: Greg Schultz, Wayzata, Minn., five bass, 11-3
      6th: Robert Eid, Key West, Fla., five bass, 11-1
      7th: Frank Mackin, New Port Richey, Fla., five bass, 11-0
      8th: Jeff Cummins, Marion, Ohio, five bass, 10-14
      9th: Eugene Lewis, Saint Petersburg, Fla., five bass, 10-6
      10th: James Sharp, Leesburg, Ga., five bass, 10-5

Overall there were 371 bass weighing 607 pounds, 5 ounces caught by 117 co-anglers Wednesday. The catch included 32 five-bass limits.
   Co-anglers are competing this week for a Ranger 177TR with 90 horsepower engine as well as valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.
   Anglers will take off from C. Scott Driver Park located at 10100 W. Hwy. 78 in Okeechobee at 7 each morning. Thursday’s and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Gilbert Chevrolet Company located at 3550 Hwy. 441 S. in Okeechobee beginning at 4 p.m.

by BASS Communications / BASS

Fish a tournament in Florida, and there are three names to watch, no matter the lake, season or weather: Chris Lane, Bobby Lane and Terry Scroggins. True to form, they finished one, two, three at the Bassmaster Southern Open on Lake Okeechobee this week.
   Chris Lane picked up his second BASS tournament victory and second at the Big O with 41 pounds, 2 ounces over three days. He also won the Southern Open here four years ago. Not so ironically, Scroggins finished second. Bobby did not fish that one.
   But Chris’ day didn’t start so well. He and brother Bobby were staying at the same place and had parked side by side. When Bobby left for launch, a few minutes before Chris, he accidentally hit the driver-side door of Chris’ truck with his boat trailer.
   “My boat wasn’t going anywhere,” Bobby said, “so I stepped on the gas. Then I heard a terrible cracking sound.”
   It was the sound of a truck door being nearly ripped from the frame. It had to seem a very bad omen to Chris. Fortunately, he didn’t let it get him down. Once on the water, things settled in, and he found a strong bite on a Gambler Cane Toad.
   “I was making long casts with the Toad and my Double Trouble Toad hook,” Chris said. “A steady, medium retrieve seemed to get the most bites.”
   In cool weather such as dominated this part of Florida for the past couple of weeks, top-water strikes on baits like the Cane Toad can result in lots of missed fish. Even a top water guru like Chris Lane will miss some bass, and the final round was no exception.
   “I missed an 8 pounder, a 6 pounder and two 5-pound fish,” Chris said, “but I didn’t let it get me down. You have to have mental toughness to be a tournament angler and to fish baits like these. Luckily, the right hook made a big difference, and I was able to land most of my strikes.”
   Another key, according to Chris, is to have patterned enough bass that missing one or two doesn’t cost you the tournament. The winner was also quick to credit his sponsors and the products that helped him to the win. He noted that his Power Poles helped him to stay in the best areas without risking spooking the fish with an electric motor. His Legend boat, Mercury outboard and Atlas jack-plate got him in and out of heavy vegetation without incident, where he found his bass.
   Chris cast the Cane Toad on an All Star rod and Abu Garcia Revo baitcasting reel spooled with 50-pound-test Stren SuperBraid.
   When his brother, Bobby, wasn’t tearing truck doors off the frame, the Elite Series pro was busy catching Okeechobee bass by flipping a black and blue Berkley Crazy Legs Chigger Craw or swimming a 3-inch Berkley Ripple Shad swimbait. He fished them on SpiderWire braid and SpiderWire Ultracast lines, respectively, spooled onto Abu Garcia Revos. Bobby finished with 38-1, three pounds and an ounce behind his brother.
   Terry “Big Show” Scroggins used two patterns for his third-place finish (37-9). He flipped a Yum Big Show Craw in black and blue or cooter brown on 65-pound test High Seas braid and a 7 1/2-foot Duckett Fishing Micro Magic flipping stick. He also caught bass on the outside edge of eelgrass and hydrilla by Carolina rigging a junebug Yum Houdini Worm behind a 3/4-ounce Excalibur sinker rigged on 20-pound High Seas fluorocarbon line and a 7-foot Duckett Fishing Micro Magic rod.
   Randall Tharp, who led the tournament going into the final round, fell to fourth with 32-8 after mechanical problems cost him part of his fishing day. Tharp won the two previous Bassmaster Opens he fished.
   Elite Series pro Russ Lane had the big bass of Day 3 with a 6-0 lunker.On the co-angler side, Blake Stewart brought three fishing weighing 4-9 to the scales in the final round to give him a total of 16-10. It was enough to beat second round leader Aaron Gengler by six ounces. Local favorite angler and fishing guide Mark Shepard moved up several spots with one of the biggest bags on Saturday to just finish outside the top ten in 11th.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer BASSonline – fishing@bassonline.com
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

We just finished our 8th year of the Hot Rods & Reels Charity fishing tournament in Miami/Homestead Speedway.

This event raises money for the Darrell Gwynn Foundation and Speediatrics to help young adults suffering from spinal cord injuries or debilitating diseases. Through the help from all of it’s sponsors the foundation is able to continue to purchase motorized wheelchairs for well desired recipients.

This year we had the help and support of a new sponsor, Rejuvenate Auto a fantastic product owned by a great family. Not to leave out Bass Pro Shops which has supported this effort from day one, along with Sprint, Hook & Tackle shirt company which provides those great looking fishing shirt you see in the pictures.

So this year, right when you thought it could not get any better we top the charts. With help from the “The Outdoor Channel” filming for the second year in a row. We bought in one of the best fishing host TV has ever experience, Fish Fishborne. With the support of the NASCAR drivers and car owners, sponsors and television such as ESPN, Speed TV and Fox, all that was left is to pull off another great fishing tournament.

Fish Fishburne and Martin Truex

With boats in the water, Captains rigged up and ready for competition, drivers and car owners on board, the only thing missing were fish. The official start was given by Darrell Waltrip, using the second most famous words in NASCAR. He controlled the moment, as everyone listen to him say, “Boogity, Boogity, Boogity lets go fishing boys,” and with those famous words the anglers and guess wet there lines for the first time.

D.W. - Boogity, Boogity, Boogity lets go fishing!

The event scheduled for 90 minutes, was off to a quick start as it only took a few minutes before Captain Rick Persson with Regan Smith boated their first fish. Almost simultaneously across the lake Bill Elliott hook into his first fish keeping things close. Only minutes later right out in front of the stage Martin Truex battle his first fish and lands it with the help of his team. At this point my head feels like it’s spinning around in circles with the amount of fish being caught. Both ends of the lake and twenty different boats with bent poles!

Miami/Homestead Speedway Lake

Several boats seem to huddle to the west end of lake, as with most fishermen I think several of these guides/drivers were on the bent pole pattern. “Find someone with a bent pole and fish there.” In the middle of that crowd was Capt Tony Masiello with driver Jamie McMurray landing his third fish and completing a limit to make them the favorite at this point. Back to the other side of the lake, Kenny Wallace was seen with his shoe in hand and hamming it up to the camera crews, “what’s new.” We watched Bobbby Labonte land his second fish right beside Kenny’s boat, while all the way at the other end of the lake Scott Wimmer, David Gilliland were each working there way in to contention as the time started to whine down.

Bumping of boats seem very natural for the drivers!

A last minute glance for Darrell Waltrip’s boat, not even with in sight. But after a quick pause we were able to hear them just fine. Off in the distance, just outside of D.W. was legendary Bobby Allison, and if you know anything about the Allison family you know they can race and fish.

As the tournament concluded, the boats were called in. The peak of the event was about to happen, and it wasn’t the weight-in. As the drivers and car owners approached the banks they were called over for the DGF wheelchair presentation. The highlight at each even is the wheel chair give-a-way, to a recipient in need. This year it was the family of Kimberly Perez, a very deserving family. The presentation given by Darrell Gwynn and ended with a standing applause by the drivers, media and crowd.

Wheel Chair Recipient with Scott Wimmer

Now it was time for the weight-in, started no different then your average tournament with lots of dock talk. Everyone from Richard Childress, Darrell Waltrip, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex and Jamie McMurray feeling confident in there ability to take the trophy home from today’s event. Bragging rights going in to the Daytona 500 event in February are key.

As the weight-in progressed, the lead went back and forth from Bill Elliott, Martin Turex to Richard Childress. The two  sleepers hiding in the crowd seem to be Jamie McMurray and Clint Bowyer teams which both seem to be playing head games with each other. Almost as if they were in the final laps of a race and neither want to let off the gas going into the last turn. At his point Regan Smith with a limit of fish was leading going into the last few drivers to way-in. First up of the final few was Clint Bowyer’s team, with a big smile Clint was confident in there catch, and “BAM” the fish hit the scales and a new leader of the tournament.

Good or bad, now Clint had to sit and wait through the last couple of teams to weight-in. Next up would be Bobby Allison, with a story about the ones that got away today. Despite the mishaps he was still able to land a nice 4 pound largemouth to take the lead for the largest bass of the tournament leaving Clint Bowyer as our overall leader. After a few other close attempts at the lead, next up was the team of Jamie McMurray, with a new Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World sponsor for 2010 there may have been a little pressure to have the scales go his way.

Big Fish Winner- Bobby Allison

After a short interview, Jamie’s fish hit the scale. With a close oversight from Clint Bowyer and others the scale stopped just 6oz short to put Jamie in third place for the day. Giving the deserving 2009 Miami/Homestead trophy to the top team award of Clint Bowyer.

Winning Overall Team - Clint Bowyer

We would like to thank all the sponsors, drivers, guides and participating and making this such a successful event this year, if you would like to see more pictures from this event and/or pass events click this link!

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer BASSonline – fishing@bassonline.com
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

Silver Division: First Place went to the team of John Bechtold and Bob “O” of Englewood. They weighed in a total of 21.79 pounds. The Second Place team of Jimmy and Dillon McMillan weighed in a total of 18.89 pounds. Third Place overall went to the team Captained by Todd Schlueter with a total weight of 17.56 pounds. The First Place Big Bass went to the team of Brandon & Jared McMillan with a big’n weighing in at 6.26 pounds and the Second Place Big Bass went to the team of Danny “Dennis” Williams and Malcolm McCollum with a 6.01 pounder.

Bass Buster tournament Trail

Gold Division: First Place went to the team of Justice and Shelton of Dania. They weighed in a total of 16.08 pounds and the Second Place Big Bass weighing in at 4.82 Pounds. They buzzed all over the East Wall to chase these fish down. The only team we had fishing Sunday that used 40 gallons of gas and only fished two miles from the marina. Second Place went to the team of Jimmy & Brandon McMillan with a total weight of 15.04 pounds and the First Place Big Bass weighing in at 5.21 pounds. Third place went to the team of Ken Fitton and Mark Brader with a total weight of 14.27 pounds.

Congrates to all the winners.