Saturday, September 27, 2008

Lake Kissimmee Report 9/27

We had our September tournament today for North Tampa Bass Club on Lake Kissimmee with 15 pounds even taking the top spot and I took big bass honors with a 7.01 pounder!
Weather was perfect for most of the day with temps maxing out about 88 degrees with a nice northerly breeze early but turning to calm later in the afternoon. I debated before the launch on whether to lock-down to the Kissimmee River and look for moving water or head to the south side of Brahma Island and work some toads in the endless lily pad fields. I've never had much success locking down to the river and I love throwing frogs so Brahma it is!
My co-angler John McAllister and I headed out at 6:45am with a 20 minute bug filled ride through the darkness towards Brahma looking to hook into some biggins only to make a horrible discovery when we got there. My trolling motor wasn't working and I had no idea why! After an hour of checking every connection 5 times, I discovered we had a dead battery! We were faced with only one option, switching the cranking battery to the trolling motor and switching it back every time we needed to start the big motor and hope we had enough juice for both!
Now it's 8:00am and I haven't thrown a cast yet! I saw some surface activity and decided to give my trusty Rapala Shad Rap a try and about 3 casts in I nail something huge! My drag wouldn't stop screaming and I wouldn't stop screaming "NET! NET!". After about 10 seconds of my drag screaming I realized it's either a world record bass or the more likely, a giant mudfish. Close, I tail hooked a 3 foot gar. At least it got my mind off the battery problems and got me concentrating on fishing!
Ahh, I finally get to work some lily pads! It didn't take long before I was fighting another monster only this time I saw it slap my Junebug Culprit on the surface so I knew it was a bass! A 7.01 pounder in fact that would eventually win big bass honors! This was the only fish either of us mustered up at south Brahma so after about an hour we decided to make a move. We made another 20 minute run to just past Philadelphia Point to work a spot where some hydrilla mixes in with some Kissimmee grass. There seems to always be a large concentration of smaller fish with a few keepers mixed in and today was no different. John picked up 3 keepers mostly on texas-rigged trick worms and I managed one on the same which unfortunately would round-out my day at 2 fish for 7.14 lbs. We finished off the afternoon working the boathouses in the canals with no success. My 7.14 was good enough for a 4th place payout and I will post the rest of the places once they are posted to the NTBC website.


Monday, September 22, 2008

Lake Tarpon Report 9/22

Got out on Lake Tarpon today for about an hour and half, mostly just to run the boat as it has been idle for a month but also to take a few casts and see how they're biten! Got out about 2:30pm and it was hot and muggy, probably 90 degrees with the wind out of the north at only about 6-7 mph and the water level seemed slightly higher than normal. Skies were overcast with some threatening clouds in the distance that eventually pushed me off the lake. In the small amount of time I was out there I was able to establish a dock pattern and get 3 non-keepers boated before giving in to the storm clouds. I was using 5" Bitters Slings in their rootbeer candy color. If you are not familiar wiith Bitter's Slings, they are put out by Bitter's Bait and Tackle in Longwood, Florida. They are what is commonly known as a senko, sinko or stickbait as some call it. I have fallen in love with them and they have been my go-to bait for the past several years. They are a little tougher than a Yamamoto Senko, which is the most widely known soft stick bait, but still have the action needed to make the Bass crazy! I order a years supply online as they are only stocked in a dozen or so bait and tackle shops around the state. The employees taking my order have always been very nice and helpfull and I recommend their baits over all other! Check out their website at: http://bittersbaitandtackle.com/

Friday, September 12, 2008

Florida Sportsman Show coming to Tampa

The Florida Sportsman Magazine will host the Florida Sportsman Fishing and Boat Show in Tampa on September 27th and 28th, 2008 at the Florida Fairgrounds Expo Hall. Cost will be $8 for adults and kids get in free with an adult. The show will consist of seminars, fishing boats, demonstrations, kid clinics and countless merchandise for sale and display. Saturday hours are 10am-6pm and Sunday 10am-5pm. For a schedule of seminars, list of merchants, directions, ect. visit their website at http://www.floridasportsman.com/shows/tampa//index.html

Upcoming shows:
Tampa Sept 27th-28th
Jacksonville Nov 8th-9th
Orlando Nov 15th-16th

Monday, September 8, 2008

Lake Toho Challenge

Angling Against Cancer will host it's 9th Annual Lake Toho Challenge team tournament on November 6th, 7th, and 8th at Lakefront Park in Kissimmee with the winners taking home $20,000 in cash! Entry Fee will be $525 per team on or before Nov 3rd and $550 after the 3rd. Part of each entry fee will benefit Florida Hospital's cancer research and treatment at their Celebration location. For more information go to http://www.anglingagainstcancer.com