2017 FLBRC Classic Lake Kissimmee

[Capt. BassinLou]

My Kissimmee Report

Rick and I were able to prefish for a little while on Thurs afternoon. Made a run a tad  past Brama island and fished the East side.  There was a smorgs board of vegetation here. Plenty of pads, eel grass, and hydrilla . Wind was from the East making  boat control manageable. I decided to break in a new Spro frog I bought the day before, and fortunately the gamble paid off. It took a little while for me to get used to the hookset on this particular frog, but fortunately the fish were extremely cooperative and I adjusted quickly. Toward the end of the outing our area came alive with feeding fish. I threw the frog and didn't have to move it to get a strike. The fish were just blowing up on it. Sadly however, a thunderstorm was threatening and we had to get going, but I was excited the fish were active.

Day One:
We ran North to the general area we were fishing on Fri. Right off the bat I picked up a 17" throwing the frog. I thought this was it, it was going to be a frogging type day. Wrong!!  The frog bite was non-existent after that. I had to resort to common baits for this lake. Swimbaits and speed worms were on the menu this day.
Wind began to pick up from the South and boat control became a real challenge. The bite shut off by late morning and we had to grind it out through the afternoon for a few bites before 3:30pm. All in all I wrapped up with my limit for  77.75" on Day one.

Day 2
The morning was a bit foggy and the breeze continued from the South. Again we made a run to the North and around East of Brama we found a stretch of grass and pads. I decided to give the Spro a shot early and around cast number 4 or 5, I threw the frog on a wind blown edge when all of a sudden the water erupted in a huge explosion. I saw massive shoulders and a huge tail of a behemoth bass. I go to set and I set into nothing but a missed fish as the result. I did my best to shake that losr off and kept fishing. Unfortunately this beautiful area yielded nothing more.
We moved to the same area we went to in the beginning of Day 1 and this area began to produce some bites. Swimbaits was on the menu again. On one particular cast my swimbait was slammed by another nice fish in the 18-20" category. I landed this one fortunately. I prepped the bump board had the camera ready, placed the fish down on the board and right when I was about to snap my pic, she made one hard belly flop and jumped out of the boat. I said one loud expletive, and was completely heart broken. A 6 plus pound fish and 3.5 lb fish lost in less than an hour. I will admit, this combination threw me off my game for the rest of the outing.
The wind began to really pickup making boat control extremely frustrating, we left the area and tried finding fish in other areas with no real luck. Unfortunately I fell short in catching my 5th fish. At the end of Day 2 I finished with 55.25"

Overall perspective
Successfully found fish on Day 1. No pigs but found fish. Day 2, much tougher day, bites were few and far between and 2 key fish lost probably cost me the tournament. The good news is however, I learned a lot and am looking forward in fishing this lake again.

[Capt. BassinLou]

My 2017 Classic closing

I want to thank all of the participants of this year's Classic. Your commitment and sacrifices to make it to the Classic are what makes this event successful and helps our Club grow. 
@ Barry and Lee. Thanks again for providing dinner on Fri and Saturday. Delicious!!
@ West, please extend to Stacy my sincerest  thanks,  for making that yummy  Banana pudding pie for us again.
@ Lee: thank you for sharing your Lake knowledge and baits with me. Really appreciate brother.
@ Barry and Chris. Pleasure meeting the two of you, and I hope you guys had a great time meeting the crew. Looking forward to seeing you guys again next year.
@ Rick, congratulations brother. Great job on landing those two beautiful bass on Day 1. You kept your cool and your strategy paid off. Well done!!
@ Barry, congratulations on winning this year's Classic. You found fish and caught your limit on both days. Great job. Congrats!!
@ FLBRC, you guys and gals are awesome. I enjoyed interacting and hanging out with everyone. These Classics are very special to me, and although I love to compete, being with and around you guys is what makes this trip really special to me. Looking forward to seeing all of you again next year!!

[BarryFL]

Friday continued. Picked up Thomas but didn't go back to wastelands. Ran north between Jacks and Lone Palm. Fished south along buggy whips and pad fields, couple bites, no fish. Move to southeast of Brahma wanting to fish boat trails but already someone in there. Went across channel to cattle canal. Thomas picked up a couple on swimbait and I missed a few somethings on a fluke. After canal fished west along north side of channel on the inside and had a couple good blow up on swimbait but nothing in the boat. Noticed three airboats spraying north side of mid channel, so we moved to Otter Slough. Again throwing swimbait to search and had several nice fish hit but lost all in the pads. Even called a couple of bites before they happened on isolated pads but lost all. Called it a day around 2pm and headed back to prepare arrival meal thinking I knew where to find fish on Sat morning. 

Sat 07 Oct: Classic Day One. Winds out of SE at 15 and higher. Cport and I headed down to wastelands thinking I could repeat pattern from Friday morning. Wrong! Started searching with swimbait, nothing. I had noticed the "salad spinner" (barge that chews up pad fields and mud islands) in the area when I left Friday morning to pick up Thomas but didn't think much of it until the fish were not there Sat morning. Ran to boat trails south of Brahma and flipped hydrilla mats in pads with creature bait for over an hour. One solid bite, no fish. Wind really blowing out of SE now! Started running around the island looking for a lee from the wind. Otter slough too windy to fish correctly. Tried several other areas inside and outside weed lines all around the island. Burnt half a tank of gas running around. A few blowups on a swimbait but still no fish and its now 12:30! Starting to panic. Decided to try Jackson Creek to get out of the wind. Could see there was already a boat in the creek parked at the first fork. Saw them catch a coupleof fish, so started fishing the mouth. Good flow out of the creek. Second cast with swimbait, huge blowup, hook up with a estimated 6-7lber that comes off at the boat. Damn! Move up creek to about 50 yards south of other boat. Bass chasing shad everywhere. Talon down mid creek and start throwing fluke. Catch my 5 fish bag in about 15mins! All cookie cutter 13-16 inchers. Bite is on and able to cull an inch here and there. Other boat leaves, move further up the creek. Bite continues for next hour and able to finally boat a nice 19in. Fish the area, sliding up and down the creek, periodically. Catch at least 20-25 more and cull to the 85.75 bag. Run back to Grape Hammock at 3pm to find that Rick has boated twin 23inchers but only four fish for the day, I believe. I'm only 3 inches behind. Have a great steak dinner at Lee's and watch Bama win a closer than expected game at Texas A&M. Guess where we're headed for day two?

Sun 08 Oct. Classic Day 2. Launch at safe light and head to Jacksons. Wind out of the south but only around 7-10mph. Get to the mouth about the same time as Lee and we both start fishing mouth and up the creek. Nothing, they're gone.  Let current and wind slide us out of creek and north along hydrilla line. Throwing swimbait as search bait. Couple of hundred yards north, 14incher hammers swimbait in a little current/wind channel between hydrilla mats. Game on. Talon down and proceed to catch 5 fish bag on flukes in about 15 mins. Bite remains constant for next hour but all 13-15 inchers. Get tired of catching "little" fish and move back up into creek to see if bigger fish have moved back in. Nope. Catch a few in creek but no culls. Lee, Lou and Rick join us in creek but we soon split up with them not biting. Slide back out to the hydrilla and immediately start pounding them again. Decide to switch to 7in fluke to see if I can attract some bigger fish. 2nd cast, bam, big one on (5-6lber). Jumps half way to boat and spits it. Chit! Continue to throw big fluke and now catching same size cookie cutters. Bite pretty constant for next hour but no culls. It's now 1230pm, only hour and half to check-in. Decide to run back to wastelands and see if the fish are back. Start searching with swimbait around pads and mud islands. Catch a couple of 14inchers, no culls, but at least the fish are back. Continue to fish the area and come to a 5 foot wide 50 foot long channel between mud islands with good flow. First cast, huge blow-up, peeling drag, a 4-6lber, comes unhooked next to boat. Chit, again. New swimbait, 2nd cast into channel. Boom, bigger blowup, but no hookup. Third cast into channel, boom, another huge "boat paddle slapping water" strike. Hookup, pulls a little drag, comes unhook half way to the boat. WTF? 0 for three on good fish! Time to go check-in. 5 fish bag but all 15inchers. 2nd day total of 74.75. Biggest 15.25.

Cport (Chris) fished with me on Sat/Sun and can attest to the above. I didn't include his story (I'm sure he'll share later) but lets just say he went to Walmart on Sat night and stocked up on flukes.

Over the three days I fished, I caught at least 75-80 fish and probably well over 100. Once I got a bag, I only photographed culls and I have over 30 photos of fish (5 Fri, 12-15 each Sat/Sun). Went through 5 bags of flukes with at least two or more fish on most flukes. Chis caught at least 25 on Sunday, himself, and had a bigger bag that day than I. For whatever reason couldn't get the bigger ones in the boat. Oh well.

Bottom line, Kissimmee is on fire around cover that channels water with flow (current and wind). Water temp is only 80-81F, which is cool for this time of year. Mostly 12-17inchers with a few bigger mixed in. All the fish were thick, healthy and mean. I'm sure they all weighed 15-20% heavy than average for their length. They been feeding good post Irma it appears. If this had been MLF style (everything over 12in counts), I can only imagine what the total inches or weights could have been!

Had a fantastic time meeting everyone. Chris is a great room mate and back seater. Probably being a Navy vet, like me, helped. I think he had a good time. Thought I might need skin grafts on my thumbs after lipping so many fish over the three days.

Hopefully everyone's drive home was uneventful. We should do this more often and I'm always available for a link up in central Florida with any board member. Tight lines to all!

[Lipripper]

Thanks everyone for your reports of the classic and looks like everyone had a great time and caught some nice fish. 

[cport]

   Arrived late around 9:30PM Friday; after exchanging greetings with Barry, he informed me that cport's gumbo was saved for him and is in the fridge. Good stuff, Barry, perfect amount of heat and spice! Barry gave me the next day's game plan after his successful pre-fish. We retired for the night, but sleep was difficult between the anticipation for the next day and the airboats that came by right when it seemed you were starting to drift off to sleep with visions of 10 lbers in your head....

   The next day was up early, Barry and I have pre-programmed reveille from our Navy days. Everyone met up, had a biscuit and bacon at Lee's (thanks Lee), took our group photo with some kind of big mosquito that Thomas brought (cool), and we were off. First time in a real bass boat; what a rush! Everyone headed North, we went South to where Barry was ripping them Friday. I got two and missed a good one, Barry lost a few, and it was time to go; time to find fish, with current being the key. We hit a few spots that looked like they should have held fish; windblown pad fields near the channel, flippin' hydrilla in a pad field, and the leeward side of the big island in the Kissimmee grass. Barry has the method down pat; he throws a search bait, and if they don't bite, we move. So we motor to a feeder creek; I'm on the phone when we pull in getting an earful from Mrs. Cport, Barry makes a cast, and BOOM, big fish hits, he has it for a bit til she revealed her 6-7 lb self, and is gone. So that's where they were! Barry and I started working the flukes, anything green it seemed. While Barry was hooking up (three fish in three casts at one point), I was struggling. I only caught one more, but I did have opportunity to fill my limit, as I missed four bites. Toward the end of the day, the sun was getting brutal, and I lost focus. I gained a new found respect for Pro Anglers, as I am used to only fishing in one or two hour spurts; it takes a lot of stamina to fish that long, and learned the true meaning of "grinding it out". Only one or two fish were caught in the sun, the rest were caught when the clouds came in. It was like a turning off a spigot; cloud cover, fish busting and getting caught, sun peeks out, bite shut down.

   After an amazing dinner of steaks, baked potato, and corn on the cob (thanks so much, Lee) followed by the best banana pudding ever (Stacey, from one banana pudding hater to another, I can't believe how good that is!), Barry and I broke down the day. Barry, you are a wealth of fishing knowledge! He suggested a few things to give me every advantage. First off, I went out to get the correct color flukes in Lake Wales, and proceeded to clean out Bridgemaster's supply of watermelon seed super flukes. Barry had previously suggested I use a flouro leader, and when I returned, he already had a piece of his out and showed me how to tie a great knot to attach it. I also purchased some 4/0 EWGs; I had been using 3/0, and I thought it might have contributed to those missed fish. He also showed me how to rig my fluke to make it rise, dive, or dart straight when being worked, and a little trick to get one or two more fish out of the same fluke (it worked). I thought I knew fluke fishing, but Barry imparted some valuable knowledge that made an impact. Barry also told me I should switch to my bait caster to throw the fluke, so I rigged up my Citica to a M 7' BPS Tourney Special.

   Day 2 found us in a race with Lee to the creek. We both got there and started fishing, but no bites. Time to break out he searchbait! We drifted out of the creek with the current into the main lake and surrounding weedbeds outside the mouth of the creek, working the swimbait as we went. Barry then used the trolling motor to manipulate us to a spot that was just north of the creek, in the current, but also with a windbreak that was blowing into a pad edge that had a hydrilla line. Paydirt! Barry caught one on the swim bait, and after some fine tuning with the trolling motor, the Talons were deployed, and the action was fast and furious. Barry joked that it was almost not fair (almost  ). We limited quickly, and then proceeded to catch at least 25 fish apiece. What a Blast! I am convinced that the flouro leader and rod/reel change made a difference, and my hook change aided in my hookup ratio. On a side note, Kent, the Citica you blessed me with performed beyond expectations, casting like a dream and winching in the fish like nothing. Thank you very much. All cookie cutter, mostly 14-15, with a 16 I caught thrown in. That one tip Barry gave me allowed me to catch 5 fish on one fluke. There were periods when I would catch bass on successive casts, it was so on! Barry and I even got a double once, with me having to fight mine underneath his when he cast upstream over my cast; we did this frequently, part of a good team boat stategy, allowing me to keep working the weededge in front of me where I was killing numbers and Barry was fishing with the current for his big one. The larger fish seemed to like the bait being worked with the current; my guess is that after the fluke was ripped, the current drifted the bait into a waiting larger fish's mouth. One thing I must say, these bass were brutes, not at all like their equivalent brethren pond bass. 13 inchers fighting like 16's and 16 inchers fighting like 20's. And man were they pissed, did not sit still for photos like the pond bass I catch (right Lou? Sorry, too soon?  ). Barry starts targeting a kicker with a 7" fluke and then Big Momma hit after two casts. A good 5-6 lb fish that stayed on much longer than the previous day's, but ultimately threw the hook. I learned another thing from Barry then; after a few expressions of disgust, with one of them echoing across the lake, he shook it off and kept throwing it, not letting it affect his day. He then proceeds to catch some fish that amazed us as to how they ate the lure (see the picture comparing the fish to the fluke). We caught more fish, and then went south back to Friday's pre-fish spot to look for his kicker with an hour left. I'll let Barry tell you about that.

   To all, it was one of the best fishing trips I've ever had, and everyone of these people I met were straight up good folk. Generous, affable, and just plain nice. When we here on UB say we are family, we mean it, and it was demonstrated in spades this weekend. I am really looking forward to the next one. Barry, you are the man! You put me on fish, shared bait, tackle, and knowledge to help me catch them, and did not make me feel like a back seater at all. Barry let me cast forward of amidships, and frequently positioned the boat so I could fish more effectively. He was constantly trying to ensure I caught a limit, and the reason I didn't on day one was all me. You helped to make this the most enjoyable fishing trip ever.
   

[FloridaFishinFool]

That's awesome Chris! Glad you caught some fish on that Citica and that it worked well for you.

[Lipripper]

Great report Chris and glad all of y'all had a great time and your right on calling everyone family around here. 

[big g]

Thanks guys for a bunch of great reports.  It sounds like everyone had a fantastic time, caught a lot of fish, and pigged out on some delicious foods.  It doesn't get much better then that!

[West6550]

Barry by bites I meant exactly what you said. Fred caught 11 on day 1. But only 5 counted that day! If we all boated 10 the rankings would of been very different. That is just one part of the equation of fishing though and one of the things that makes it fun.

Fred I absolutely agree with the goodbyes. We need to get better. Everyone was in, actually we were in before a few others. But I had to unload the gear as I had no where to put it. I guess we could of all met by the office so the boats or more parking is nearby. Regardless, nobody even asked what we had prior to announcement of the winner.. we need to cordinate that better.

It was great to see everyone, food was great as always as was the company.

I am happy that we had such beautiful weather, first time I think. Plus the fishing was decent. Everyone caught fish and Rick even got a new PB.

All in all a solid win for us all in my opinion.

[LgMouthGambler]

Im disappointed in yall. You need to get more  done. Dont worry, we will show you how its done at the end of the month.

[cport]

Im disappointed in yall. You need to get more  done. Dont worry, we will show you how its done at the end of the month.

I can't speak for the others, but for me hell, I can drink beer at home. Not very often I get to fish a bass factory. I did buy a six-pack of Guinness and had a couple Saturday, and was reaching for a third, but I was so burnt out towards the end of Saturday, I couldn't imagine being hungover and fishing in the Florida sun.

[Lipripper]

I can't speak for the others, but for me hell, I can drink beer at home. Not very often I get to fish a bass factory. I did buy a six-pack of Guinness and had a couple Saturday, and was reaching for a third, but I was so burnt out towards the end of Saturday, I couldn't imagine being hungover and fishing in the Florida sun.

I hear your Chris and i could see where a hangover and that Florida  and a moving boat wouldn't go to good together. 

[LgMouthGambler]

I can't speak for the others, but for me hell, I can drink beer at home. Not very often I get to fish a bass factory. I did buy a six-pack of Guinness and had a couple Saturday, and was reaching for a third, but I was so burnt out towards the end of Saturday, I couldn't imagine being hungover and fishing in the Florida sun.

Oh come one, I drank a whole bottle of bourbon the first year we did the FLBR event. 

[Lipripper]

Oh come one, I drank a whole bottle of bourbon the first year we did the FLBR event. 

Not everyone has a hollow leg like you do. 

[cport]

Oh come one, I drank a whole bottle of bourbon the first year we did the FLBR event. 

Youngster, I did all my drinkin when your daddy was just thinkin...
bout making ya! 

[West6550]

Im disappointed in yall. You need to get more  done. Dont worry, we will show you how its done at the end of the month.

You might do that but most of us had a few beers. What we did do that probably won't happen where you're going is catch fish! Everyone did that here.

I can drink anytime, but like Chris said.. I'd prefer to fish.

[LgMouthGambler]

You might do that but most of us had a few beers. What we did do that probably won't happen where you're going is catch fish! Everyone did that here.

I can drink anytime, but like Chris said.. I'd prefer to fish.

Meh, you got your priorities backwards. 

[cport]

Meh, you got your priorities backwards. 

With a lake in your backyard, I can see how this mindset might occur...

[BarryFL]

Barry by bites I meant exactly what you said. Fred caught 11 on day 1. But only 5 counted that day! If we all boated 10 the rankings would of been very different. That is just one part of the equation of fishing though and one of the things that makes it fun.

That's why its called "fishing" not "catching". 

Truly a great time. Kissimmee can be brutal when the fish are spread out and the water is 85F up. We lucked out on conditions because of Irma. Running water always stacks them up in areas. I didn't make a run north of Jack's because I knew there were several tournaments out of Camp Mack. Having fished mostly in the north, I've seen 3-4lbers stacked up at Scrub's Slough, Tiger Creek and the canal to Lake Rosalie when there is moving water.

[FlatsNBay]

Great reports!

[SFL BassHunter]

Im disappointed in yall. You need to get more  done. Dont worry, we will show you how its done at the end of the month.

Na I think we do enough  . This group likes fishing lol.

I for one, had two beers each night. Saturday night I had 2 beers and a glass of Whiskey. I think that's just the right amount.

[Deadeye]

I rarely drink any alcohol at all anymore so nothing was different on that end for me.

I had a GREAT time seeing y'all again. I felt bad the West was struggling on Saturday while I had five but then he started putting them in the boat. Almost ended with a limit.

Sunday I had the first one early, like 10 minutes into the day. The 2nd about 10 minutes later. Then nothing until late in the day.

West however was slaying them on Sunday. Put a whooping on me good.

Got to see and fish a Lot of the lake I'd never seen before and yet do much more to see.

Found out I must be wearing a Tin Foil Hat, according to one guy. Lol.

I'm ready to go for another. Honestly I'd like to see one done both Spring and Fall. Like 1st weekend of April and October.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bud Kennedy]

Na I think we do enough  . This group likes fishing lol.

I for one, had two beers each night. Saturday night I had 2 beers and a glass of Whiskey. I think that's just the right amount.

Rick, this must be a florida thing.  You just described LMG's breakfast routine.

[BarryFL]

Na I think we do enough  . This group likes fishing lol.

I for one, had two beers each night. Saturday night I had 2 beers and a glass of Whiskey. I think that's just the right amount.

I drank a 24 pack over three nights. About my normal.

[Bud Kennedy]

Well that goes to show ya.  Barry won the event and his drinking prowes qualifies him for the Guntersville Rally.  Some believe Beer is the elixer of life especially when followed by some high end girl friend juice.  I don't even know why I mention it since I don't drink at all but that is because I am the designated watcher for those guys who get lost in the woods chasing skunks.