By Jim Keck
Hello Folks,
We got some rain! And then we got a whole lot more! Good gracious, it’s been a while since I’ve seen rain like that! I hope everyone faired well, and let’s pray for the folks in Mt. Dora and Eustis. They had a lot of damage from the pictures everyone posted, and it looks pretty bad. The lakes in our area needed some rain, and boy, did they ever get it!
The St. Johns River didn’t need any rain, but they got plenty along with moderate floodin’ up there. The fishin’ was doin’ pretty good in the SJR, and folks were catchin’ some nice size specks, too. They’re doin’ good in Lake Woodruff, too.
The specks in Lake Monroe were startin’ to bite, but I’m sure they will start again next week on the full moon.
The bass fishin’ is still slow on Johns Lake. Durin’ the Wednesday Night Shootout, they had nineteen boats that fished, and it only took 9.95 pounds to win. Congrats to the team of Billy Charland and Phillip Anderson on their win. John Brazell and Joey Bloom came in at second place with 9.25 pounds, and they also had big bass of 4.30 pounds.
This past weekend, X-treme Bass Series held their Championship tournament out of Camp Mack on Lake Kissimmee. There were 170 boats that qualified for the championship. They were fishin’ for over $120,000 in cash and prizes.
On day one, the mother and son team of Cheryl and Kyle Brewer brought five bass to the scales that weighed in at 32.64 pounds. They ended up in third place after the second day. Jeremy Smith and Jim Folks won the tournament with a two-day total of 51.53 pounds. This is their fourth championship title since 2015. Congrats guys on your win. They won a new Blazer boat and a Mercury 250 HP motor with all the accessories you’d ever need, such as power poles, and power pole charge system, Lowrance Electronics, and Trojan Batteries. The total value of the package was worth $83,000. The biggest bass of the tournament was caught by the team of Mark Stanton and Bryan Moore. Their big bass won them $1,250.
I’ve gotten some good reports that the bass fishin’ has been really good over on Lake Fairview. One of our local bass clubs held a tournament over there this month, and it took five bass that weighed in at just over 23 pounds to win. The fishin’ has been so good that another Wednesday night tournament that’s usually held in the Maitland Chain is movin’ to Lake Fairview this week! They usually fish out of Dinky Dock, but this week they decided to fish Lake Fairview.
I’m sure the water is up in the Butler Chain. I haven’t got any news that the ramps are closed, but I checked the website, and the water is at 99.46 elevation and the normal high is 98.48 elevation. I called the Orange County Parks and Recreation Division, and they told me that the ramps are open. They are monitoring the chain’s water levels, and they’ll post it on their website if they close the ramps. So, get your rods and reels and a bucket of bait and head on out to the Butler Chain; go catch some bass!
I actually got a chance to get out on the water over the weekend. We didn’t catch many, but it was just great to finally get back on the water and do some fishin’!
Well, I hope everyone has a great week. Try to stay dry, and I’ll see ya’ next week.
Tip of the week: High Water!
SAVE A FEW AND GOOD LUCK!
