Bloom & Burk Bust the Bass at Toho

Our last regular season tournament was held Saturday, May 21st at Lake Toho at the lovely Southport Ramp. The tournament committee did a good job scheduling the event at Southport due to the numerous tournaments being held at other ramps on the lake. We were the only group on the South end, we left a bit early and we pretty much beat other competitors to our first spots. Teams reported slow fishing during the practice period. Some traveled to Kissimmee and had slow results there also. Several other recent tournaments did well the previous weekend but it seems it was an on/off kind of bite. The summer off shore bite was not in full swing….for most teams. However, it was going great for our winners.

Nate Bloom/Tom Burk practiced the previous weekend and Nate was on the water another day before that. They found the going rough but did manage a few bites on the North end flipping and a few more in open water. They tried the northern most fish first and caught a few flipping and on chatter baits, but they really scored with the off shore bite. They concentrated in the vast area between Lanier point and Goblets Cove. They worked the area and found a concentration of fish Carolina Rigging and on Rattletraps. They landed 5 pound fish using each of these techniques. Tom said they caught 5-6 limits! Their best 5 went 17.18 lb and that weight included the event’s biggest bass a 5.17 specimen. Great job!

Second place went to a team that traveled a short distance, found willing bass and camped out. Kurt Diesing/Greg Walker had their best showing of the year with a limit weighing 13.86. They ran to an open area inside Browns Point and began their day throwing soft plastics. They soon realized that there was schooling activity nearby in the shallow area and they caught 3 limits from the spot. They had a great day, no big fish, but a bunch of action.

John Ricketson/Chip Dover concluded their season with a 3rd place finish. They ran to an area that had yielded good fish the previous weekend, just south of Browns Point. The area featured boat lanes and several reed and lily pad patches. They began catching fish early, the only problem was the bass had been replaced with pickerel. After working the area over for half the day they left with 4 keepers. Their second spot was more productive. Fishing a grass line on the North end, they upgraded their sack using swimbaits and brought in 13.70lb.

The point’s race for Angler of the Year ended with John Ricketson/Chip Dover in first with 742 points. 2009 winners, Rick Bloom/Ashley Stone, claimed second with 696 points. Brent Wysong/Matt Gunn took the third spot with 678, fourth place went to Ronnie Jackson/Mike Jones with 650. And last year’s winners, Bob Bakewell /Bobby Bakewell ended the year in fifth.

Jerry Beauchamp/Mike Carrion had the Big Bass of the Year, a 9.08 specimen from Lake Harris

NOTES: Brent Wysong and Matt Gunn became a strong team this year. They combined their talents to finish the year with a win and 3rd place AOY. Of interest, both of them are fishing with their 3rd partner in 3 years. Matt came in 2nd in 2009 and 6th in 2010 with different partners, Brent had 6th & 7th place finishes in the previous 2 years. Ashley Stone/Rick Bloom are the most consistent team. They have placed no worse than 2nd in the AOY race over the last 3 year span. Brent/Matt and Chip/John ended the season with a live limit at every tournament, 40 fish/40 alive. Danny Lanier/Dustin Meredith had 100% live limits also, but they missed one event, 35/35…….

The Trail had 6, 20+lb bags in 2011. Compared that to only 2 in 2010 and 7 in 2009.

Who had multiple 20 lb bags? 5 teams had 2, 20+ bags over the last 3 seasons

Nate Bloom/Tom Burk

John Ricketson/Chip Dover

Bob Raponi with Larry Maltby in 2011 and with a guest in 2009

Bob Bakewell with Bobby Bakewell in 2011 and Mike Carrion in 2009

Jason Council by himself in 2009 and with Rodney Glunt in 2009



Ben Carter/Kurt Diesing had a 19.09, 3 fish bag at the Classic, that’s pretty close



Of those 15, 20+ bags brought in over the last 3 years;

8 Marian

3 Toho

3 Harris

1 Johns

Are you curious if Istokpoga is high or low? Go to the web site listed here: http://www.sflorida.er.usgs.gov/ddn_data/graphics/graphs/data/graph_15843.data

It shows the water level at the lake every day since 1976!

Last year we were there June 25/26, the level way 38.14 ft. Yesterday it was at……38.14 ft.. ….. Wonder if Ben will look for his hydrilla spot??....We’ll see in June at the Classic!!



BAKEWELLS BAKE THE FIELD AT JOHNS LAKE

We assemble well before dawn, April 16 at the Johns Lake ramp in order to claim the best parking spaces. We filled up the lot and at 3pm, we filled up some weigh in bags. Of the 37 boats who fished, 28 came in with the 5 fish limit. Many teams reported catching multiple limits while others caught 6-8 fish. The windy conditions kept some banks from being exploited to their full potential. A few teams tried the open water and caught fish early but the breeze after noon became too much of a detriment to fish effectively.

Team Bakewell managed to side step the choppy waters. They fished an offshore location early and landed their 2 best fish and several others on worms along an underwater ditch. The area featured several ridges and troughs and was a popular stop with others anglers but Bob/Bobby ran there first and reaped the dividends. After the wind got up, they traveled to the East side of the second lake and flipped around the abundant willow trees. They scored using plastic craws and would have improved their bag had a big fish not popped Bob, Sr.’s 50 lb braid. That must have been a nice one. They still bested the field by a 4 pound margin, their best five weighed 21.51. Nice job!

Ken Lane/Bob Ellis fish Johns Lake often. My prediction was that they would be the team to beat, and they had a great sack. Their 17.53 bag was good enough for second place and it included the day’s best bass, a 7.36 lb specimen. The team tried to get on the same offshore location as the eventual winners but were just a bit late. They settled on a location nearby and had their 2 best fish early. Unfortunately, the wind ruined their second spot and they had to jump around to fill out their limit. The used plastic worms with light weights in the open water early and followed up casting the baits near the various grass clumps as the day progressed.

Third place went to the team of John Ricketson/Chip Dover. They practiced twice for the event and found a group of fish outside a small pocket close by the ramp. That grass line yielded 3 fish over 3 pounds and several small keepers by 8:30. The pair mainly threw 10” watermelon/red worms at the clumps and just kept at it. Late in the day, they added a 4.40 pound fish to top off their sack. Their best five weighed 15.50.

Notes: We had a lot of penalties due to fish care, of course everybody is very cognizant of keeping the bass healthy, but it’s time to really add the Rejuvenate……..7 tournaments, 8 hours a day, 38 boat average, 2,128 man/hours of fishing…so far in 2011. That’s 89 days of fishing… all that and the average margin of victory in 1.84 lbs, less that the average bass…..4 of the 7 events have had a margin of victory of less than a pound….pretty close……Brent Wysong/Matt Gunn and Chip Dover/John Ricketson are the only 2 teams with 5 live fish at every weigh-in……so far……..See ya at Southport!