Weather Could Play Major Role In Outcome Of Accent Marine Tournament On Kissimmee Chain Sunday
Prior to the sixth of nine Accent Marine tournament trail qualifying tournaments out of Capt. Mack’s River Resort on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, Ted Meyer with Accent Marine predicted it would take 26 to 28 pounds to win.
For the seventh tournament of the series this Sunday Meyer is predicting it will take slightly less than that – 25-26 pounds.
“That is,” he said, “unless something changes. We’re supposed to have some bad weather with a front coming in from the south. I just hope it does not rain on us too much.”
Rain was not a problem for the June tournament, but the heat was expected to be a deterrent.
“When it starts getting hot that is when the true fisherman stays out there and the rest of them go home,” Meyer said before the June tournament. The same could probably be said for the expected rain in Sunday’s tournament.
Meyer just hopes the rain does not have any more effect on Sunday’s tournament than the heat did last month when anglers far exceeded his expectations.
It took a lot more than the 28 pounds he predicted to win the June tournament – about 10 pounds more. David Harris and Colby Cotterill won June 26 with 38.05 pounds and earned $825. They also had big bass at 11.25 pounds and took home another check for $690.
But it was a tournament with heavy stringers and plenty of big bass. With four of the top five finishers weighing in lunkers over 10 pounds while the second place team of Brian Wical and Matt Hinman anchored their 33.25-pound stringer with a big bass that weighed just 9.25 pounds.
“If I had weighed in every bass over 8 pounds, there would have been at least 25 of them,” Meyer said.
That was probably the most big fish I have ever seen brought in during a one-day tournament.
“I guess everything just turned out right. It was hot on Saturday, but it was overcast on Sunday, things cooled down, and the fish just went crazy.”
Meyer said anglers will need to have a flipping stick in their hand around the grass or have a good brushpile to pull a bass or two from this Sunday.
“It took 24 pounds to win a tournament on Kissimmee last weekend, so we may get surprised and the winning weight may be in the 30-pound range, but it is supposed to be hot,” said Meyer who is hoping the weather will help as much this Sunday as it did last month.
Anglers must fish 7 of 9 tournaments as a team to qualify for the Classic. Payback is made to the top five places.
After Sunday, the series includes tournaments August 28 and September 25 with the Classic scheduled Oct. 30. Entry fee for the tournaments is $65 and teams that qualify do not pay an entry fee to fish in the classic.
Entry fees must be received by 5 p.m. On the Friday before a tournament; no entries are accepted after that deadline. The tournament payback is 75 percent, with 20 percent held for the classic purse.
Accent Marine, a Stratos dealership owned by Ted and Maxine Meyer, is located on Highway 92 East at Tampa, Fla. The dealership is also a full-service provider for Evinrude.
“If a team is fishing out of a 2009 or newer Stratos, Stratos will match the win pot up to $10,000 so they will double the purse for first place in out tournaments,” Meyer said.
For details on the Accent Marine tournaments, call (813) 620-1042 or (813) 620-1309, or email: [email protected] or [email protected].
Accent Marine Tournament Trail
Sun, Jul 31, 2011
Kissimmee Chain of Lakes
Camp Mack’s River Resort
Call (813) 620-1042 or (813) 620-1309