Bass In Lake Kissimmee Spawning Or Getting Ready To In Time For Accent Marine Tournament
If the Bassmaster Southern Open last weekend is any indication, the winning anglers in the Accent Marine Tournament Trail opening tournament Sunday on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes will need at least 22 pounds, maybe even 30 pounds, said Accent Marine’s Ted Meyer.“It took an average of about 25 pounds a day to win the Bassmaster Open and the fishing is still good,” said Meyer. Actually, Gerald Swindle of Warrior, Ala., won the Open with a 27-pound daily average, totaling 80 pounds, 13 ounces, for the tournament.
“The fish should be going on the bed here real quick,” said Meyer. “If they are not there already, the full moon should make them come on up.”
Meyer said the two top tactics for bass right now are throwing a Rat-L-Trap or fishing off the beds with a craw or pitching into the beds. Swindle relied on a lipless crankbait and a Carolina rig for his winning weight.
“We’ve had real cold weather, down in the teens for most of the month of January,” Meyer said Monday. “Then yesterday morning it was in the 30s. Tomorrow morning it’s supposed to be nasty again, but it is warming up to about 70 degrees in the afternoons, so that is going to push them in – or out.”
Meyer said he is expecting about 70 to 75 boats to enter the tournament Sunday which will kick off a 10-tournament series culminating with the Classic Oct. 30, all out of Camp Mack’s River Resort near Lake Wales, Fla. The series includes tournaments February 27, March 27, April 17, May 22, June 26, July 31, August 28 and September 25.
Entry fee for the tournaments is $65 and teams must fish seven of the nine regular season tournaments to qualify for the classic. 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.
Maxine Meyer said the 18th Annual Stratos Boat Tournament will be held April 30-May 1 out of Camp Mack’s resort.
“Entry fee is $120 per boat with 100 percent payback,” she said. “The tournament is for Stratos owners only, or if they have a Javelin they can also fish.”
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
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Kissimmee Chain of Lakes
Camp Mack’s River Resort
