Orange Lake Story Board

The 2025 Season finale on Orange Lake did not disappoint! The final regular season meeting was held on Friday May 30^th, 2025, at longtime Ministry Partner, Orange Lake Baptist Church. Pastor Chris Moeller and Mr. Charlie Gates ensured our venue was top notch as usual with Pastor Chris in attendance along with a sister church interested in what Fishers of Men was all about. The anglers arrived at 6PM for check in and registration and fellowshipped with one another while others were checking in. Assistant Chaplain Miller Murdaugh, prayed over the food and the anglers enjoyed a nice Italian meal coordinated by fellow angler Jesse Cardwell and his wife Amanda. The Lord blessed us with a great meal and great guest speaker in Professional Angler Shaw Grigsby who allowed the Lord to speak through him and ministered to us all. We could not be more grateful for Mr. Grigsby and Pastor Chris’ willingness to humbly serve the Lord with Gladness. Thank you, gentlemen! After the message, we conducted a quick rules review, discussed the “offseason” and did our end of season raffle draw. Once completed, we conducted boat draw, and the anglers departed to their respective places for the night.

Saturday, May 30^th, 2025, the anglers descended upon Marjorie Rawlings ramp, greeted by rain, wind and 75-degree temperatures. 0530 live well checks were conducted by Director Joe and the anglers launched their boats into the Orange Lake waters in search of a giant bag that would prove to be elusive for some but not for all. All anglers idled out to the mouth of the creek to prepare for blast off. After prayer and a few reminders and the arrival of safe light, approximately 0615, the anglers blasted off to see who would be crowned Orange Lake Champions. 17 teams took to the waters but only one would return top of the class. Would the current points leaders prevail, or would there be an upset of the crown? The overall points champions would be decided by this tournament. The rain persisted until around 0800ish and then it would start to dissipate. Then it was cloudy overcast skies until around noon and then the Florida heat would begin. Would the rain and heat mix be a factor at the scales? Only time would tell. As the anglers arrived at 3PM, the weather would prove to be a factor, and the elusive giant bag would be just that… elusive! Three teams topped the scales in the 16-pound range, with two others being in the 15-pound range while the remaining teams stayed in low double digits. The team of Mike and Jeff Robinson would prove to have Orange Lake dialed in the best posting a 16.69-pound bag with a 5.68 kicker earning them the title of Orange Lake Champions. Congratulations gentlemen! Coming in second place for the day was the team of Billy Taylor and William McDevitt with a bag weighing in at 16.20 pounds with a 6.01 kicker that would hold on to be the big bass of the tournament. Their big bass of the season coming in at 7.39 would hold on to earn them the big bass of the season honors. Great job gentlemen! Rounding out third place would be the team of Clint Joyner and Grant Colson with a nice bag weighing in at 15.73 pounds edging out the fourth-place team of Ray Pack and Jerry Shawver with also a nice bag weighing in at 15.23 pounds. With everyone weighed in, the story remains…. Did the current points leaders do enough to hold on to their lead?

In an epic tale of “Worst to First” (Justin Bythwood said I could say that) and a testament to never give up and face adversity no matter what, the Team of Justin Bythwood and Patrick Pierce would in fact hold on to their lead proving that coming to the meetings matter as they would hold off the team of James Williams and Gerald Boyd crowning them YOUR 2025 FLORIDA NORTH DIVISION CHAMPIONS! Impressive job Gentlemen, way to do a 180! Congratulations you have earned a berth into the 2025 National Championship! Next stop, the annual Florida North Open in September 2025, then on to the Florida District Championship in October 2025 on the Winter Haven Chain! Stay tuned!