Saturday, August 30, 2008

We're Going to Okeechobee!!

The site for The Xtreme Fishing Series Classic Championship was finally announced yesterday and it will take place on Lake Okeechobee October 11 and 12th. It will be out of Roland Martin Marina in Clewiston http://www.rolandmartinmarina.com. I have mixed feelings about it being on The Big "O", I have never fished Okeechobee and was hoping for a lake or chain of lakes that I am familiar with but with that said, I am very excited to finally get out there to fish! The water level is about up to par at 14' above sea level, up from about 12' before Tropical Storm Fay. This opens up a lot of new area to fish that was either dried up or too shallow before the rains. The Army Corps of Engineers is looking to drain some of the water back out in anticipation of another storm as the max or danger level would be about 17'. Hopefully, they will keep it near 14'!
See article:http://www.miamiherald.com/news/top-stories/story/661805.html
Last years Classic on The Kissimmee Chain saw 150 teams battle it out with the winners taking home a $40,000 Ranger and the top 25 overall finishers getting a check. My partner Kevin and I managed 66th place with just over 13 pounds for 2 days of fishing. Engine trouble restricted us to only a few areas near Camp Mack but we were able to find some fish and make a respectable finish! Hopefully this year we will bring home a check or even a new Ranger!

Friday, August 29, 2008

Tampa Boat Show

The Tampa Boat Show is at the Tampa Convention Center in downtown Tampa from September 5-7 2008. There will be over 700 new model boats to check out! I will be there checking out the new Rangers and Skeeters for sure! Cost is $9 for adults and kids get in free.

Show Hours:
Friday 10am-8pm
Saturday 10am-8pm
Sunday 10am-6pm

Check out their website for more details
http://www.tampaboatshow.com

Thursday, August 28, 2008

TNT Schedule and Entry Fees

The Florida TNT Series has released it's 2009 schedule and is as follows:

JOHN’S LAKE 1/31/2009 HIGHWAY 50 RAMP
LAKE OKEECHOBEE 2/28/2009 CLEWISTON
LAKE KISSIMMEE 3/28/2009 CAMP MACK
LAKE TOHO (ONLY) 4/25/2009 SOUTHPORT RAMP
LAKE ISTOKPOGA 5/30/2009 HIGHWAY 98 RAMP
CROOKED LAKE 6/27/2009 BOB’S LANDING
LAKE TARPON 7/25/2009 ANDERSON PARK
LAKE JUNE 8/29/2009 BISHOP PARK

I'm still not sure about divisions and what kind of point system they will be using, I will post that info as I get it. Also, entry fees are $40 per tournament and the membership fee is $30. They waive the Membership fee if you fish their open tournament on Lake Kissimmee 10/18/2008
http://www.fltntseries.com

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Florida TNT Series to kick off in October

A new Bass Tournament Trail is set to get under way in Florida on October 18th, 2008 called the TNT Series Trail. TNT is a partner trail formed for Tracker product owners (including Nitro boat owners). The first tournament will be what is being called a "get to know you tournament" and will take place on Oct 18th on Lake Kissimmee out of Camp Mack. It is stated on their website that there will be 3 divisions with an end of the year classic and a no entry fee top-ten tournament after that. The lakes for the the divisions have not been named yet so keep an eye on their website for updates. http://www.fltntseries.com/

Thanks for the info Joe!
For questions contact Joe Pepper at (813) 326-7565

Friday, August 22, 2008

Tropical Storm Fay

Well, being that I was supposed to take my sister fishing Wednesday and my bosses nephew on Thursday, I hated to see Fay roll in and kill any plans to get out on the water. With that said the amount of rainfall we are going to get from this Storm will be crucial in getting some of our central Florida lakes back up to their normal water levels. The Winterhaven Chain has probably been hit the hardest in the past few years with the low rainfall. The canals used to navigate between lakes have all but dried up with the exception of a few larger canals. Being that this chain of lakes is one of my favorites to fish, I have been sad to see it continually passed up when we vote on lakes to fish in our bass club. Hopefully this storm will dump enough rain on Winterhaven to make all the lakes in this chain accessible again!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Introduction


My name is Brad Baranowski and I am a Tournament Bass Fisherman in Florida. I fish about 20 tournaments a year so I created this blog to write about my days on the water and everything else fishing! I currently fish with The Xtreme Bass Series and The North Tampa Bass Club. The Xtreme Series is a State wide partner tournament series with 16 divisions. My division is fished exclusively on Lake Tarpon in Palm Harbour, Fl. The NT Bass Club is a draw tournament format and we fish at various lakes around the State.