Greg King with a 12.72lb FlattyWe had a crazy end to a spring season filled with tournaments on the first weekend of June where the Florida Lure Anglers wrapped up their season on Saturday and then had the D.O.A. Lures challenge on Sunday. Record breaking weights were posted and some moves were made in the final points standings which made for some exciting weigh-ins.
First off was the club's last tournament of the year which was a draw format, meaning the day's limit would be decided by somebody pulling a paper from a hat - in this case it was 2 flounder and a trout. Considering that we had experienced hurricane level rains for the previous couple of weeks, the St. John's was turned upside down with a great deal of fresh water and most teams anticipated a tough bite because fish were moved from their normal haunts.
Like all tournaments, somebody has to win and Greg King and Mark McMillan did so in a grand fashion with a kicker flounder weighing 12-72lbs. This is their 2nd win in 2 months, Greg now holds the all-time club flounder title, Mark grabbed the all-time redfish title earlier this year, and they claimed 11th place in Team of the Year so they should be very proud of their season.
Randy Hartley and Josh Stewart took 2nd place with a 7lb trout as their anchor fish. This strong finish paired with a lackluster result for points leaders JD Nobles and Denise Myers made for some last minute excitement for the Team of the Year award but JD and Denise held strong and will get the trophy. This is the 3rd Angler of the Year/Team of the Year award JD has been a part of so he is certainly the FLA's man to beat.
Rounding out the "top 5" for the tournament were AJ Hunter and Dean Oakley who found AJ barely missing the club record trout with his that weighed just over 8lbs, Darren Ross and John Kitchens, and Jamie Havard and myself thanks to Jamie's 6lb kicker trout.
Top 5 for Team of the Year honors were pretty much set at the top with JD Nobles & Denise Myers, Randy Hartley & Josh Stewart, and Wade Hastings and Scott Obrien nailing the top 3 spots but some excitement was brewing for 4th and 5th. Going in it looked like Terry/Matt Sturgeon and Bill Lamb, Carl Hardy and Mike Darveau, and club President Chuck Dehlinger and Brian Clark would claim those last spots they all wilted at the end with poor results which opened the door for Gary Hall and Joey Scaff to get 4th place and Bob Morris and Jamie Havard to squeek into 5th for the year. Here are the overall results for the year http://www.flafishingclub.com/Points.aspx?type=adjusted
D.O.A. Lures Triple Challenge
After a rough weather day on Saturday, the top 30 points teams arrived at the Carlucci Ramp on Sunday for the D.O.A. Triple Challenge which was put on by club sponsor D.O.A. Lures. Owner Mark Nichols was on hand to get a close up view of our fishery on Saturday and Sunday and left knowing that we have some monsters swimming in the river but the bite can be fickle.
The challenge facing the club's top teams would be to go out using identical tackle packs filled with D.O.A. lures in search of a redfish, trout, and flounder limit for the day. With the playing field leveled, anything can happen and one of the club's strongest teams Wade Hastings and Scott Obrien claimed the win with a nice slam. Fred Rounsaville and Perke Robinson took 2nd after their over 6lb trout expired before it hit the scales and the penalty cost them the win. Chad Duncan and Jeremy McDonald took 3rd, Jamie Havard and I made 4th, and Ron Hobbs and Pete Dixon took the final paycheck.
Most teams said the bite was tough and using the lures, many of which were unfamiliar, was indeed a challenge: but since we are some of the best lure anglers in the state the FLA can find a way to make anything work. I'm sure many guys left the event with some extra weapons in their arsenal - I sure did. The photos can be seen here: http://floridalureanglers.smugmug.com/gallery/8474813_RHqZf#557235681_awUbX
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