Hello Folks,
I’m back. My wife, Shirley, and I had a great vacation, and we are glad to be back in Zellwood.
The trip was great, and the BassMaster Classic in the Knoxville, Tenn. area was awesome.
Congrats to Jeff Gustafson for his win. He is the first Canadian to win a Classic. Jeff’s nickname is Gussy, and that’s what most of friends call him. He won the classic by catchin’ smallmouth bass. Smallmouth bass in Tennessee have to be 18 inches long in order to weigh them in with the weigh master.
Gussy caught 42 lbs. 7 oz. over the course of three days. His win was worth $307,000. Congrats to John Cox of DeBary, who finished in fifth place and won $25,000.
My brother, Jon, lives in Knoxville, and he went with me to the Expo. He could not believe the number of people who attended the Classic. This BassMaster Classic set a new attendance record with more than 104,000 attendees. The classic and the expo were great, and my brother and I had our picture taken with many of the pro fishermen who were attendin’ the Classic.
The bass fishin’ here in Central Florida has been pretty good. The good news is that R.D. Keene boat ramp on the Butler Chain is now open. It opened the week I left for Tennessee. I didn’t get the information until after press time.
The FWC put out a bulletin about the manatees that are movin’ about in our waters. You need to make sure you keep your eyes open to these slow-movin’ mammals.
Even though they are big in size, they can be difficult to see under the water. Please slow down in the Manatee Zones that are marked in our waterways.
Kyle at Bitter’s Bait and Tackle reports that the folks in his area are catchin’ a few bluegills in Lake Kissimmee, and the seawall in Lake Monroe. Red worms have been the ticket to catchin’ ’em.
Kyle also reports that the bass fishin’ has been good to very good in the Kissimmee Chain and the Harris Chain. Most of the bass are bein’ caught on a variety or baits. Plastic worms, slow-sinkin’ Senko-type baits.
A few bass are bein’ caught on Chatter-baits, too. The bass fishin’ has been really good on the Butler Chain now that the ramp is open.
Kyle reports that the folks who are fishin’ the chain are reportin’ some nice sized bass are bein’ caught as well.
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope to see you on the water. See ya next week.
Tip of the week: Bass are bitin’.
Save a few and good luck!
