Florida Fishing News, Lake Okeechobee, Tournament Fishing
FLW announced 2017 schedules of BFL (Bass Fishing League) divisions last week.
The Gator Division in Florida will hold all five tournaments on Lake Okeechobee. The trail used to alternate between the Kissimmee Chain and Lake Okeechobee.
Gator Division tournament Schedule is:
Jan. 14
Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort
920 E Del Monte Ave
Clewiston FL 33440
Feb. 11
C. Scott Driver Park
2800 NW 20th Trail
Okeechobee FL 34974
March 25
Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort
920 E Del Monte Ave
Clewiston FL 33440
April 22
C. Scott Driver Park
2800 NW 20th Trail
Okeechobee FL 34974
Sept. 23-24
Roland & Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort
920 E Del Monte Ave
Clewiston FL 33440
Winners of tournaments in all BFL divisions nationally will automatically qualify for regionals, a rule change for 2017. Regional berths have been based on point totals for the entire season through this year.
Entry fees will be the same — $230 for boaters and $115 for co-anglers for one-day events.
Registration begins Nov. 18.
For information, check www.FLWFishing.com.
Florida Fishing News, Lake Okeechobee, Tournament Fishing
2017 BassMaster Elite Series schedule
The 2017 Bassmaster Elite Series schedule will again include nine events, slated between early February and late August, and incorporates the existing Toyota Texas Bass Classic and BASSFest into a rebranded five-day event called the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest to be held at Sam Rayburn Reservoir next May.
According to the B.A.S.S. release, this event is open only to Elite Series anglers, meaning FLW Tour anglers who would’ve previously been qualified for the TTBC won’t be able to participate. This move signals an apparent end to the only tournament that pitted the top competitors from both circuits against each other.
The schedule also will see two Elite Series events completed prior to the 2017 Bassmaster Classic, which is scheduled for March 24-26 at Lake Conroe, north of Houston, Texas.
In a break from a recent trend, next year’s schedule features no tidal fisheries and no events in the state of Alabama, where B.A.S.S. is headquartered.
The schedule includes three tournaments that conflict directly with FLW Tour events, eliminating the potential for an angler to compete on both circuits.
“I don’t know how you can look at this schedule and not be excited,” B.A.S.S. Tournament Director Trip Weldon said in a release. “We’ve got a good mix of familiar fisheries — places we’ve visited several times the past few years — and some lakes that we haven’t been to in a while.
“We’re even going to a couple of new spots. That’s especially exciting.”
The 2017 Elite Series schedule is as follows:
> Feb. 9-12: Lake Cherokee (Knoxville/Jefferson County, Tenn.)
> Feb. 23-26: Lake Okeechobee (Okeechobee, Fla.)
> March 24-26: Bassmaster Classic – Lake Conroe (Houston, Texas)
> April 6-9: Toledo Bend Reservoir (Many, La.)
> April 27-30: Ross Barnett Reservoir (Ridgeland, Miss.)
> May 17-21: Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest – Sam Rayburn Reservoir (Lufkin, Texas)
> June 2-5: Lake Dardanelle (Russellville, Ark.)
> July 20-23: St. Lawrence River (Waddington, N.Y.)
> July 27-30: Lake Champlain (Plattsburgh, N.Y.)
> Aug. 24-27: Lake St. Clair (Macomb County, Mich.)
The season will kick off at a new Elite Series venue – Lake Cherokee in eastern Tennessee on Feb. 9-12 – in what could prove to be a frigid opener. Two weeks later, the scene shifts to Florida and Lake Okeechobee.
Toledo Bend is back on the schedule for a second straight year in early April.
Rayburn makes its first appearance on the Elite Series schedule since 2006 as host of the new Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest between May 17-21.
The event will feature the catch-weigh-release format used in the TTBC and the winner will clinch a berth in the 2018 Bassmaster Classic. The angler who catches the big bass of the event will be awarded a new Toyota Tundra.
After a stop at Lake Dardanelle in Arkansas on June 2-5 – a Friday through Monday event since Memorial Day falls on the previous Monday – the schedule includes a six-week break before the final three events all take place at familiar northern venues.
The only back-to-back on the schedule will happen in northern New York with St. Lawrence River (Waddington, NY) hosting its third Elite Series event on July 20-23 followed by Lake Champlain the following week.
The regular season will wrap up at Lake St. Clair on Aug. 24-27.
Details the 2017 BassMaster Elite Series schedule season-ending Angler of the Year championship and Bassmaster Classic Bracket event will be released at a later date.
Tournament Fishing
Daytona State College Wins Championship
FLORENCE, Ala. (Sept. 27, 2015) – Daytona State College Wins Championship on Pickwick; The Daytona State College team of brothers James and Thomas Oltorik, both of Deland, Florida, won the FLW College Fishing Southeastern Conference Championship tournament on Pickwick Lake Sunday with a two-day total of eight bass weighing 35 pounds, 2 ounces. The victory earned the club $4,000 and qualified the team for the 2016 FLW College Fishing National Championship.
After bringing a 25-pound, 14-ounce five-bass limit to the scales on Saturday, the Daytona State brothers had a commanding lead and started day two with a 5-pound, 1-ounce advantage. However, lake conditions changed drastically on Sunday and the duo only managed to catch three keepers. It turned out to be enough as they narrowly edged Clemson University by a slim 5-ounce margin.
“Yesterday we caught all of our fish in a 100-yard stretch of grass that we had found in practice,” said older brother Thomas, a senior majoring in Business. “They were pulling water and there was quite a bit of current, which was very important. We caught eight good keepers, and left the area around 1:30, to try to save some fish for day two. Today the water levels had dropped a foot and the conditions were totally different. We caught quite a few fish that were short, but we only managed three keepers.”
The Daytona State club said that they caught the majority of their fish flipping the grass with a Texas-rigged junebug blue- or watermelon-colored Bitter’s B.F.M.
“Saturday was a lot of fun,” said James, a sophomore also majoring in Business. “We caught a seven and a half-pounder and a six and a half-pounder within five minutes of each other, around 1:45. We were definitely nervous this afternoon, but we stayed in the same area all day long and saw a lot of the other teams doing a lot of running. We knew that the conditions were really tough, so we were hoping that our day one lead was going to be enough to hang on and get the win. We’re pumped that it was.”
The top 10 teams that advanced to the 2016 FLW College Fishing National Championship are:
1st: Daytona State College – James Oltorik and Thomas Oltorik, both of Deland, Fla. (eight bass, 35-2, $4,000)
2nd: Clemson University – Ross Burns, Columbia, S.C., and Isaac Nesbitt, Aiken, S.C. (10 bass, 34-13, $2,000)
3rd: Georgia Highlands College – Eric Fisher, Kennesaw, Ga., and Jake Akin, Powder Springs, Ga. (10 bass, 32-14, $1,000)
4th: University of North Alabama – Dawson Lenz, Peachtree City, Ga., and Andrew Tate, Florence, Ala. (10 bass, 31-3, $1,000)
5th: Auburn University – Mitchell Jennings, Auburn, Ala., and Timmy Ward, Sylacauga, Ala. (10 bass, 29-15, $1,000)
6th: Gadsden State Community College – Josh Oliver, Anniston, Ala., and Colby Smith, Jacksonville, Ala. (seven bass, 28-9)
7th: Western Carolina University – Tyler Thomasson, Whittier, N.C., and Josh Cannon, Waxhaw, N.C. (10 bass, 27-10)
8th: Auburn University – Ethan Hayes and Garrett Roberts, both of Cullman, Ala. (10 bass, 27-1)
9th: University of South Carolina – Chris Blanchette, Irmo, S.C., and Hampton Anderson, Anderson, S.C. (10 bass, 26-10)
10th: University of Alabama-Birmingham – Matthew Oliver, Gardendale, Ala., and Justin Woodruff, Pelham, Ala. (10 bass, 26-7)
Source: FLW Outdoors
Florida Fishing Guide, Florida Fishing News, Tournament Fishing
Bass Online Guide Glenn Browne Wins Rayovac Series on Champlain
Glenn Browne of Ocala, Florida, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the Rayovac FLW Series Northern Division event on the Lake Champlain presented by Plano with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 63 pounds, 8 ounces. For his victory, Browne earned $34,097 and a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor.
“It feels really good and very vindicating to get the win this week,” said Browne, who pushed his career earnings to more than $900,000 in FLW competition. “My ultimate goal this season was to re-qualify for the FLW Tour and this will certainly help that cause.”
Browne earned the win by making the long run south to the Ticonderoga area each day, concentrating on covering a lot of water while fishing the bank.
“Running and gunning was the key for me this week,” Browne said. “The water levels are pretty high right now, so I figured it had moved the fish up shallow. I was mostly fishing the bank – mats, reeds, trees – any cover that I could find near the bank.”
Browne said that he caught more than 20 fish each day on the first two days of competition, but only seven on the third and final day.
“I was about 15 to 20 miles into the run to this morning when I hit a wave and my boat lost all power,” Browne said. “I was in trouble. Luckily, I’ve been rooming with Dave Lefebre all week. I called Tournament Director Ron Lappin to confirm that I could borrow Dave’s boat to finish out my day. Once Ron said yes, Dave jumped in his boat and came to me and we swapped boats. Dave stayed with my boat while I ran his boat back to the takeoff and re-went through boat check. Then I made the run back down to Ti. It all happened so quickly – despite the troubles I was still fishing by 8:30 a.m. I can’t thank everybody enough for their help.”
Browne said that the majority of his fish throughout the week came by flipping a black and blue jig with a black and blue Zoom Salty Chunk, but he did catch a 5-pounder the first day on a frog.
The top 10 pros on the Lake Champlain were:
1st: Glenn Browne, Ocala, Fla., 15 bass, 63-8, $34,097 + Ranger Z518C with 200-horsepower outboard
2nd: Otis Darnell, Linden, Va., 15 bass, 53-12, $13,213
3rd: Joe Lucarelli, Center Harbor, N.H., 15 bass, 52-11, $10,229
4th: David Cioppa, Hopkinton, Mass., 15 bass, 52-10, $8,524
5th: Brock Mosley, Collinsville, Miss., 15 bass, 52-7, $7,672
6th: Gerald Spohrer, Gonzales, La., 15 bass, 52-1, $6,819
7th: Derick Olson, Honey Brook, Pa., 15 bass, 51-2, $5,967
8th: Ryan Smith, Galloway, N.J., 15 bass, 50-15, $5,115
9th: Keystone Light pro Chad Grigsby, Maple Grove, Minn., 15 bass, 49-15, $4,262
10th: Daniel Murphy, Wharton, N.J., 15 bass, 47-15, $3,410
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Murphy caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Friday – a fish weighing 6 pounds, 4 ounces – that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $232.
Scott Shafer of Glenville, New York, won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117C with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor, with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 50 pounds even.
The top 10 co-anglers on Lake Champlain were:
1st: Scott Shafer, Glenville, N.Y., 10 bass, 50-0, Ranger Z117C with 90-horsepower outboard
2nd: Alec Morrison, Peru, N.Y., 10 bass, 48-13, $4,296
3rd: Joe Poms, Paramus, N.J., 10 bass, 46-14, $3,437
4th: Bryan New, Belmont, N.C., 10 bass, 46-8, $3,007
5th: Jeff Zeisner, Arva, Ontario, Canada, 10 bass, 41-13, $2,578
6th: John Watts, Flushing, Mich., 10 bass, 39-11, $2,148
7th: Keith Honeycutt, Temple, Texas, 14 bass, 38-9, $1,719
8th: David Martinez, Brooklyn Heights, Ohio, 13 bass, 34-9, $1,504
9th: Shawn O’Malley, Oswego, Ill., 10 bass, 32-11, $1,289
10th: Michael Sweeney, Plymouth, Mass., 10 bass, 31-1, $1,074
Glenn Browne a fishing guide on Rodman Reservoir, Lake Toho and world famous Lake Okeechobee when not fishing tournaments, to reserve a day and learn is scerts to success call 888-629-2277 or go online 24/7 and reserve a day.
Tournament Fishing
Florida will Host Top Bass Tournaments in 2015 for B.A.S.S. & FLW Outdoors
Central and South Florida will play host to three major bass tournaments in early 2015 by the country’s two richest bass tournament circuits.
On Jan. 15-17, the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (BASS) will open its Southern region Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Open series on West Lake Toho at Kissimmee. Known as the Southern Open #1, it will be part of a three-region, nine-tournament series spanning nine states in nine months.
Then, on Jan. 22-24, the Bass Fishing League (BFL) will launch its Rayovac Fishing League (FLW) divisional series on Lake Okeechobee out of Clewiston, followed by a Wal-Mart FLW Tour event at West Lake Toho on March 5-8.
The daily weigh-ins for these major tournaments give the public the chance to visit with the pros, see their bass boats and view their catches. The final day’s weigh-in for the Southern Open will move from the Lake Toho waterfront to a nearby Bass Pro Shops center in downtown Orlando with a tackle and outdoors show — the FLW Expo — also will be held in conjunction with the FLW Tour event during the final two days. It will be headquartered at Toho Marina on the West Lake Toho waterfront in Kissimmee.
In addition, the BFL Gator Division regional circuit will hold five less lucrative tournaments in 2015, all scheduled for Lake Okeechobee, with the opener on Jan. 3. Other dates will be Jan. 31, Feb. 21, April 18, and Aug. 29-30.
The BFL regional circuit is designed for the weekend professionals and consists of 128 tournaments in 15 regional divisions around the country with a total payout of $7.8 million. Lake Toho is no stranger to BASS events, including Bassmaster Classic world championships in 1977 and 2006. Over the years, BASS has held 18 events out of Kissimmee. Toho still holds two impressive BASS records. In a 2001 tournament, Dean Rojas weighed in a one-day record of five bass totaling 45 pounds, 2 ounces. In the 2006 Classic, Preston Clark brought in an 11-pound, 10-ounce bass, the heaviest ever taken in Classic competition.
Mild winter weather is the major factor for tournament sponsors picking Central and South Florida for their early season events because many of Florida’s largemouth are spawning in the January-to-March timeframe and it can make for outstanding catches.
Rojas’ catch, for example, came on the backside of a winter cold front on a day when the water temperature was rising, a factor that puts big bass into their defensive spawning mode.
Bruce Akin, CEO of BASS, said the nine lakes and river systems picked for the 2015 Opens circuit are among the best in the country.
“These lakes and rivers are all outstanding, legendary waters that are steeped in bass fishing history,” Akin said. “Seven are ranked on the Bassmaster’s Best 100 Lakes list for 2014.”
The Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, which includes Lake Toho, was ranked No. 21 on the list.
Fishing Reports, Lake Okeechobee, Largemouth Bass, South Florida Fishing, Tournament Fishing
Captain Mark Shepherd with a special Lake Okeechobee fishing report,
Today on Lake Okeechobee I fished with my long time friend Roger Crafton and fishing tournament companion. We fished the B.A.S.S and FLW tours and roomed together. We always had a lot of fun over the years, traveled all over the country fishing some really cool places.
We were able to get together for an annual Ghost and Goblins tournament here on Lake Okeechobee. There were a little over (70) seventy boats that entered, and we had a great day. Ended up about only (1 lb) one pound shy of winning, when it was all over we finished in 3rd place.
It was a really good day on the water with really great friend, caught some really nice fish and a lot of them and of course we told a whole bunch of fishing stories!
Tight lines from Captain Mark Shepard
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[fusion_content_box title=”About Capt Mark Shepard” backgroundcolor=”#b2ce96″ icon=”fa-user” iconcolor=”#3bbf4a” circlecolor=”#ffffff” circlebordercolor=”#oooooo” iconflip=”yes” iconrotate=”” iconspin=”” image=”http://bassonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/50×50-border.jpg” image_width=”50″ image_height=”50″ link=”/fishing-guides/okeechobee-fishing-guides/” linktarget=”_self” linktext=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″]Captain Mark Shepard is a full-time guide and touring professional. Experience includes BASS Master, FLW Tours, Everstart, BFL tournaments and many others. Mark has a list of accomplishments in the fishing industry a mile long including a Everstart WIN on Lake Eufaula, AL. Mark originally from Florida moved to Ohio to sharpen him northern skills and moved back from Ohio years ago to master guiding on world-famous Lake Okeechobee for over 10 years now.[/fusion_content_box]
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