Courtesy of Dynamic Sponsorships / Photos: MLF

Florida local Terry “Big Show” Scroggins has as much knowledge of the 21,000-plus acre interconnected waterways that make up the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes as anyone in the 40-person Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Championship field. The longtime Toyota titled pro has had this event circled on his calendar all year, but according to Big Show, past time on the water might not be much of an advantage this week.

Scroggins lives in Palatka, Florida, a short two-hour haul in his Tundra from Lake Toho, Kissimmee, Cypress, and Hatchineha that form the Kissimmee Chain. He’s well acquainted with this fishery but says the tough conditions, along with forward-facing sonar, will cause this tournament to be “wide open.”

“Back in the day you used to pick up a flipping stick and go down the bank on this system, but those days are pretty much gone,” Scroggins said. “You can still catch fish that way, but if you want to compete with these boys, you gotta be focused on isolated targets off the bank. Brushpiles will likely be the deal this week.”

Targeting brushpiles with Livescope in open water is not exactly what comes to mind when you envision Florida bass fishing. Even with only three hours per day to use FFS, Scroggins believes top tier ‘scopers will be able to set themselves apart from anglers strictly targeting shallow, grass orientated fish more traditionally associated with the sunshine state.

That nullifies some of the local advantage for veteran Florida hammers like Scroggins or Bobby Lane. Big Show went on to say that the warm air and water temperatures, the absence of grass on Kissimmee, and the lack of water flow through the system right now is not ideal for this body of water.

“It’ll still take 18-pounds a day or so to make the top 10,” Scroggins offered. “There are going to be bigguns caught, but this will still be a bit of a grinder in my opinion. 18-pounds is pretty tough fishing on the Kissimmee Chain. But the big fish live here, and these guys are too good… they’re going to catch ‘em.”

Scroggins reported that he didn’t catch a lot of fish in practice, but that was mostly by design. The Team Toyota pro spent most of his time idling, with eyes on his electronics looking for brushpiles, shell beds, and other pieces of isolated structure offshore.

Big Show said he has lots of piles located and marked, as he suspects many of his fellow competitors do, but the key lies in getting these fish to bite.

“There are giant bass and big bags of fish to be caught off of brushpiles, but they are so hard to trick into biting right now,” Scroggins explained. “Even with FFS, everything has to be perfect to get a grown one to eat. Without FFS, good luck with those offshore fish.”

While Scroggins may downplay his local advantage, one thing he isn’t understating is how happy he is to be fishing a season-ending Championship derby in his home state. The popular Florida pro has spent the last two decades competing at the highest levels of professional bass fishing and has very much enjoyed his first season fishing the Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuits.

The five fish format anglers compete under in Pro Circuit events fits much better with Scroggins’ fishing style and is true to his roots. The majority of the over $2.2 million in tournament winnings Big Show has accumulated in his career has come via the traditional five-fish format, and Scroggins feels right at home.

“No matter how this tournament shakes out it’s nice to be fishing a Championship this close to home,” Scroggins beamed. “There was a Bassmaster Classic held here in 2005, but since that tournament I don’t think I’ve fished a Championship in Florida. I finished fourth back in ’05 and I’d like to improve on that a little bit. It’s also good to be fishing for five big ones every day. That’s more my style.”

The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Championship on the Kissimmee Chain begins Friday morning, September 18^th and a champion will be crowned Sunday, September 20^th. You can follow the action on MLFNOW! and MajorLeagueFishing.com.