On Friday Night, April 5th, 2024, 17 Teams gathered at One Life Fellowship of Ocala/Silver Springs for our Monthly Meeting and enjoyed some delicious Greek Salad by Mr. Nick from Lucky’s Pizza. The Greek salad was supreme, and the Papa John’s assortment of Pizzas were tasty as the anglers filled their bellies. The Lord showed up as always by sending us our guest speaker, Pastor Allen from One Life Fellowship. The Lord spoke and Pastor Allen delivered a great message of the Gospel inspired to him By God. Hearts were softened, lives were changed, and the Holy Spirit moved throughout the meeting. The meeting concluded with prayer, an alter call, rules review, door prizes and raffles. Everyone left with their spirits renewed and their bellies full and thanks to anonymous donors, 44 Tackle, and Bookers Bait and Tackle, everyone left the meeting with some new gear for their aresenals.

On Saturday morning, April 6th, 2024,17 Teams took to the water in hopes to be crowned Lake Weir Champion. The moon lit the way as the men and women from the Florida North division of Fishers of Men descended upon the Carney Island Park boat ramp on a cool 52-degree morning. Once the boats were launched and ready, the Director and the Chaplain moved into position at the docks to prepare for prayer, the national anthem, and for the launch sequence to begin. At 6:45AM, the 17 teams launched in order upon Lake Weir’s waters under a clouded sky, but only one team would be crowned champion at the three o’clock weigh in. The Lord blessed the anglers with bright blue bird skies for the whole day which made the 76-degree high feel like 95 and at 3:00PM the anglers returned to weigh in their catches. The scales would open and only one team could be at the top. Overall, all but one team weighed fish at the scales with 15 of the 17 teams bringing in a five fish limit totaling 155.74 pounds for the day. The newcomer team of Clifford Sr. and Clifford Bozeman Jr. would top the field with a five fish limit coming in at 22.54 pounds anchored by a 6.17-pound kicker, unfortunately, it would not hold on to be the big fish of the day. The team of Billy Taylor and William McDevitt would continue their model of consistency coming in 2^nd place for the day with a total weight of 16.75 pounds just a mere .05 ahead of third place with a 7.48-pound kicker that would hold on to be the big bass of the day. Newcomer, Gary Bozeman rounded out the top three and reeled in the last overall check of the day with a five fish limit weighing 16.70 pounds. The team of Clifford Sr. and Clifford Bozeman Jr. and the team of Billy Taylor and William McDevitt were also 1^st and 2^nd respectively in the Bonus Bucks category with the 6^th Place overall finishers of Dennis Smith and Bobby Fretwell hauling in the third-place Bonus Bucks title. There were three fish over 7-pounds weighed in for this tournament which enabled the local onlookers the ability to see some big ones brought to the scales. This month’s incentive award for early entry drawing was won by the Husband-and-Wife team of Chip and Carolyn McLendon netting them a nice $100 Early bird Entry check. The father and son team of Jody and TJ Wildes fished hard all day but came up a “Tiny Bit” short finishing the day with a five fish limit of 3.58 pounds earning them the final “Tiny Bag” Title of the season and the $100 consolation prize. Overall, it was a great day in the Lord and all the anglers and staff enjoyed another fine day in God’s glorious creation chasing bass and sharing the gospel, one cast at a time! Stay tuned for more action next month (May 11^th) as we close out the season on the St. Johns River and crown a points champion in addition to the tournament champion.

We would like to thank our local sponsors, Hope 91.3FM, Trinity Baptist Palatka, Trinity Baptist Keystone Heights, Orange Lake Baptist, One Life Fellowship, Bass Capital Tackle, Bald Eagle Bait and Tackle, and Fish 4:19 Perfrpomance Eyewear, 44 Tackle, and Bookers Bait and Tackle.

We would like to thank all of our national sponsors, Basscat Boats, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Mercury, Realtree Fishing, Spiderwire  Durabraid, Firefly Marine, Power-Pole, TH Marine, X2 Power, Frogg Toggs