On Friday Night, March 22nd, 2024, 17 Teams gathered at Trinity Baptist Church of Keystone Heights for our Monthly Meeting and enjoyed some delicious BBQ by Trinity’s own Mr. Clay Robinson. The BBQ was phenomenal as were the fixings provided by Mrs. Cardwell and Mrs. Moyer. The Lord blessed us by sending us our guest speaker, Mr. Johnny Maxwell; Pastor, President and CEO of O2 Air-Sea, LLC parent company of Fish Lung! Mr. Maxwell shared his testimony with us, and a great devotion sent to him by the Lord for us to hear. 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.
On Saturday morning, March 23rd, 2024,17 Teams braved the Florida rain in their quest to be crowned Lake Santa Fe Champion. On a dark moonlit morning, men and women from the Florida North division of Fishers of Men descended upon the Lake Santa Fe little 21b boat ramp amidst the 62-degree rain that had started to fall. Just as the director was getting ready to have everyone ease out of the canal, lightning and thunder filled the air. Wisely, he called a pause to the launch and had the anglers retreat to their vehicles or the tent that he had set up where the weigh in area would be. As the anglers all chatted and shared fishing tales, the skies started to clear. Quickly, everyone dashed for their boats to exit the canal to prepare for prayer, the national anthem, and for the launch sequence to begin. At 7:35, the 17 teams launched in order upon Lake Santa Fe’s waters under the overcast skies dampened from the rain, 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 much of the day and at three PM the anglers returned to weigh in their catches. The scales would open and only one team could be at the top. Three teams would get paid, but only one team could be called Champion. Each team weighed fish at the scales with 13 of 17 teams bringing in a five fish limit totaling 142.66 pounds for the day. The team of Clint Joyner and Grant Colson would top the field with a five fish limit coming in at 18.47 pounds anchored by a 5.20-pound kicker which would hold on to be the big fish of the day. Jesse Cardwell would continue his hot streak coming in 2nd for the day just a mere .09 ounces ahead of third place with a five fish limit weighing in at 11.39 pounds. Ron Causey rounded out the top three and reeled in the last overall check of the day with a five fish limit weighing 11.30 pounds. Jesse Cardwell and Ron Causey were also 1st and 2nd respectively in the Bonus Bucks category with the 4th Place overall finishers of Billy Taylor and William McDevitt hauling in the third-place Bonus Bucks title. 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. Our Newest Members, Donald Dawkins and Turner Armstrong, wrestled with the Lake Santa Fe bass all day but came up a “Tiny Bit” short finishing the day with a five fish limit of 3.93 pounds earning them the “Tiny Bag” Title 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 as the anglers troll on over to Lake Weir in Leesburg.
We would like to thank our local sponsors, Hope 91.3FM, Trinity Baptist Palatka, Trinity Baptist Keystone Heights, Oranage Lake Baptist, One Life Fellowship, Bass Capital Tackle, Bald Eagle Bait and Tackle, and Fish 4:19 Perfrpomance Eyewear and Fish Lung!
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
Lake Santa Fe - 03/23/24
DIVISION YEAR TO DATE STANDINGS: | 2024 | 2023 |
| Place | Team | Members | # Fish | Big Fish | Gross | Penalty | Net Wt | Points | |
| 1 | 31304 |
Clint Joyner Grant Colson | 5 | 5.2 | 18.47 | 0 | 18.47 | 200 | |
| 2 | 31302 |
Jesse Cardwell | 5 | 4.25 | 11.39 | 0 | 11.39 | 199 | |
| 3 | 32390 |
Ron Causey Ron Causey Jr. | 5 | 0 | 11.3 | 0 | 11.3 | 148 | |
| 4 | 31241 |
Billy Taylor William McDevitt | 5 | 0 | 11.01 | 0 | 11.01 | 197 | |
| 5 | 31437 |
Cosby Mclendon Carolyn Mclendon | 5 | 4.21 | 10.72 | 0 | 10.72 | 196 | |
| 6 | 31391 |
James Williams William Sullivan | 5 | 0 | 10.7 | 0 | 10.7 | 195 | |
| 7 | 31280 |
Terry Mullis Kim Mullis | 4 | 3.31 | 8.7 | 0 | 8.7 | 194 | |
| 8 | 31325 |
Kenneth Hunnicutt Jack Myers | 5 | 0 | 8.67 | 0 | 8.67 | 143 | |
| 9 | 31240 |
Larry Wildes Terry Wildes | 5 | 0 | 8.32 | 0 | 8.32 | 192 | |
| 10 | 31994 |
Dennis Smith Bobby Fretwell | 5 | 0 | 8.24 | 0 | 8.24 | 191 | |
| 11 | 31306 |
Tony Davis Cody Davis | 5 | 0 | 7.81 | 0 | 7.81 | 190 | |
| 12 | 31392 |
James Winnings Shannon McDaniel | 5 | 0 | 6.91 | 0.25 | 6.66 | 189 | |
| 13 | 31368 |
Kevin Bass Rusty Fox | 4 | 0 | 6.03 | 0 | 6.03 | 188 | |
| 14 | 31997 |
Cody Gabbard Caitlin McLaughlin | 4 | 0 | 5.91 | 0 | 5.91 | 187 | |
| 15 | 31303 |
Bobby Patterson | 5 | 0 | 5.05 | 0.25 | 4.8 | 186 | |
| 16 | 31993 |
Donald Dawkins Turner Armstrong | 5 | 0 | 5.18 | 1.25 | 3.93 | 185 | |
 Winning Weight  Joyner/Colson 1st Place  Cardwell 2nd Place  Causey 3rd Place  Nothing gets by me, I'm the WeighMaster!  Myers/Hunnicut  Buddies  Little Director  Pit Boss  Telling Tales  Mr. Maxwell bringing the word  Sponsors  Williams and Sullivan  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God  Spiritually filled  The unmistakable sound of a....  The McLendons  Dynamic Duo- The McLendons  Gabbard/McLaughlin  Better than a pack of zip ties aintt it |
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