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Florida Bassmaster Southern Tour March 1-3 2007
I Just returned from the Florida Bassmaster Southern Tour. This is the first of three events for
that circuit this season. I ended up having a decent tournament and wanted to share the
techniques that allowed me to finish 35th out of 192 competitiors. Every tournament is a
learning experience and this one proved no different.
The weather was great with temps in the low to mid 80’s. Water temps were in the low 70’s.
Most people thought the sight fishing bite would be a factor but not a huge one. I am not a big
sight fisherman on the Southern lakes so I was hoping that was not going to be the
predominant pattern. I practiced for four days and spent three out of four on Lake Toho.
Kissimee, Hatchenaha, and Cypress made up the rest of the chain.
Practice Day 1 - Just great to get out fishing again after a long three months of Michigan
winter. Boat started up fine. Just going to try to get a feel for what the fish are doing. Fish a
bunch of different stuff and try to narrow down my options. I ended up catching one small
keeper until the last two hours of practice when my roommate and travel partner, Mark Duerr,
gave me a swim jig to try. We started fishing next to each other kind of screwing around and
ended up catching 5 bass out of one small area. That ended the day and gave me some
momentum for the next day. I was pumped about the swim jig bite.
Practice Day 2 - Today we decided to spend the
day on Lake Kissimmee which is the southern most
lake in the chain. I did decent in a Top 150 event
here two years ago and the area I caught them in
was calling me to return. One thing about these
Florida lakes is that they change a ton from year to
year. The vegetation is never the same. The water
was about two feet low on Kissimee which is already
shallow and the areas that I had caught them in
before were about 6 inches deep. I also was having
GPS issues and needed to get them fixed before the
tournament started. After 4 hours without a bite I
headed for the Lowrance Service trailer and was
relieved to find Wilson Frasier who is the tech
support person at the tournaments. It took about
three hours but we got the thing fixed. It was nearing
5 pm and I really did not get a good vibe from
Kissimee so I bailed out early. I always feel guilty not
practicing until dark but it was a long run to Toho and
an early dinner sounded better.
Practice Day 3 - Conditions were slick, sunny and
warm. I really had a great practice day and caught
6 or seven keepers and shook that many off. I
caught them on two deals. Flipping the pencil reeds and swimming the jig around Kissimee
grass. The key was finding a little deeper water. Some areas were shallow but if you took the
time to get through there were depressions behind some of the vegetation walls. The fish were
holding in the deeper water (3-4ft). Those areas were not everywhere and they required some
work to find them. I was happy with what I had at this point and was hoping to find one or two
more areas that I could use in the tournament
Practice Day 4 - I always take a light day on the last day of practice. Registration was at 5 and
it was oven an hour away. I ended up finding one more area on the last day and that is where I
spent my two tournament days. They are just whacking the snot out of that swim jig.
I Just returned from the Florida Bassmaster Southern Tour. This is the first of three events for
that circuit this season. I ended up having a decent tournament and wanted to share the
techniques that allowed me to finish 35th out of 192 competitiors. Every tournament is a
learning experience and this one proved no different.
The weather was great with temps in the low to mid 80’s. Water temps were in the low 70’s.
Most people thought the sight fishing bite would be a factor but not a huge one. I am not a big
sight fisherman on the Southern lakes so I was hoping that was not going to be the
predominant pattern. I practiced for four days and spent three out of four on Lake Toho.
Kissimee, Hatchenaha, and Cypress made up the rest of the chain.
Practice Day 1 - Just great to get out fishing again after a long three months of Michigan
winter. Boat started up fine. Just going to try to get a feel for what the fish are doing. Fish a
bunch of different stuff and try to narrow down my options. I ended up catching one small
keeper until the last two hours of practice when my roommate and travel partner, Mark Duerr,
gave me a swim jig to try. We started fishing next to each other kind of screwing around and
ended up catching 5 bass out of one small area. That ended the day and gave me some
momentum for the next day. I was pumped about the swim jig bite.
Practice Day 2 - Today we decided to spend the
day on Lake Kissimmee which is the southern most
lake in the chain. I did decent in a Top 150 event
here two years ago and the area I caught them in
was calling me to return. One thing about these
Florida lakes is that they change a ton from year to
year. The vegetation is never the same. The water
was about two feet low on Kissimee which is already
shallow and the areas that I had caught them in
before were about 6 inches deep. I also was having
GPS issues and needed to get them fixed before the
tournament started. After 4 hours without a bite I
headed for the Lowrance Service trailer and was
relieved to find Wilson Frasier who is the tech
support person at the tournaments. It took about
three hours but we got the thing fixed. It was nearing
5 pm and I really did not get a good vibe from
Kissimee so I bailed out early. I always feel guilty not
practicing until dark but it was a long run to Toho and
an early dinner sounded better.
Practice Day 3 - Conditions were slick, sunny and
warm. I really had a great practice day and caught
6 or seven keepers and shook that many off. I
caught them on two deals. Flipping the pencil reeds and swimming the jig around Kissimee
grass. The key was finding a little deeper water. Some areas were shallow but if you took the
time to get through there were depressions behind some of the vegetation walls. The fish were
holding in the deeper water (3-4ft). Those areas were not everywhere and they required some
work to find them. I was happy with what I had at this point and was hoping to find one or two
more areas that I could use in the tournament
Practice Day 4 - I always take a light day on the last day of practice. Registration was at 5 and
it was oven an hour away. I ended up finding one more area on the last day and that is where I
spent my two tournament days. They are just whacking the snot out of that swim jig.
| This 5-3 bass ate a 1/4 oz Rat-L-Trap and helped jump me 20 places and into the money on day 2. |
Tournament Day 1 - This is the first day
we have had any cloud cover. We also
have a little wind. There is like 200 boats
in this tournament and I am boat 182 today.
Check in is not until 5 pm but I will probably
not get to my fishing area until 9:30 or so
because of the locks. I figure half the field
will lock through so that will take some time.
My partner is a local and he has an area in
Hatchenha that he did well in a couple of
weeks ago. We will spend our time waiting
for the locks there instead if waiting at the
lock. We fish this flat that is only about
1 ½ to 2 ft deep. I am always skeptical
when someone takes you to an area but we
start throwing ¼ oz Rattle Traps in chrome.
My partner catch one little keeper in the first
5 minutes. He adds two more to his side of the live well and I end up catching two small
keepers. Not bad. Two fish and I have not even gotten to my area yet. There are no boats at
the lock when I arrive and get through quickly. I really worked hard with the swim jig. I ended
up catching only 4 more keepers and no good fish . Something has definitely changed . They
just weren’t eating it at all today. I talked to my friend Art Ferguson and he had 10 pounds on
shallow cranks fishing the same type of stuff I was. I ended the day with 7-3 good for 55th
place.
Tournament Day 2 - I was first flight today and would get through the locks quickly. It was real
windy and cloudy. For some reason I picked up that ¼ oz trap fished the same area I did
yesterday. I caught a keeper almost immediately. My second fish was a 5lb 3oz bass that really
got me pumped. My very next cast I caught another keeper. I said to myself that I was not
going to set that trap down for the rest of the day. I had a limit by 8am. The wind really picked
up. I mean 30 mph plus and made fishing difficult. I caught 6 more keepers and culled for
ounces the remainder of the day. I really wanted a good three pound bite but it never came. I
ended the day with 11-8. That put me in 35th good for one of the last checks. Had I not
changed techniques the last day I am sure I would have been way down in the standings.
we have had any cloud cover. We also
have a little wind. There is like 200 boats
in this tournament and I am boat 182 today.
Check in is not until 5 pm but I will probably
not get to my fishing area until 9:30 or so
because of the locks. I figure half the field
will lock through so that will take some time.
My partner is a local and he has an area in
Hatchenha that he did well in a couple of
weeks ago. We will spend our time waiting
for the locks there instead if waiting at the
lock. We fish this flat that is only about
1 ½ to 2 ft deep. I am always skeptical
when someone takes you to an area but we
start throwing ¼ oz Rattle Traps in chrome.
My partner catch one little keeper in the first
5 minutes. He adds two more to his side of the live well and I end up catching two small
keepers. Not bad. Two fish and I have not even gotten to my area yet. There are no boats at
the lock when I arrive and get through quickly. I really worked hard with the swim jig. I ended
up catching only 4 more keepers and no good fish . Something has definitely changed . They
just weren’t eating it at all today. I talked to my friend Art Ferguson and he had 10 pounds on
shallow cranks fishing the same type of stuff I was. I ended the day with 7-3 good for 55th
place.
Tournament Day 2 - I was first flight today and would get through the locks quickly. It was real
windy and cloudy. For some reason I picked up that ¼ oz trap fished the same area I did
yesterday. I caught a keeper almost immediately. My second fish was a 5lb 3oz bass that really
got me pumped. My very next cast I caught another keeper. I said to myself that I was not
going to set that trap down for the rest of the day. I had a limit by 8am. The wind really picked
up. I mean 30 mph plus and made fishing difficult. I caught 6 more keepers and culled for
ounces the remainder of the day. I really wanted a good three pound bite but it never came. I
ended the day with 11-8. That put me in 35th good for one of the last checks. Had I not
changed techniques the last day I am sure I would have been way down in the standings.
| These are the only 2 baits I used in the tournament. Swim jig was tipped w/ a watermelon paca craw. Note the paint wore off the trap. They still ate it. |
