Stop Number 5 is in the books! Lake Panasoffkee was a success, and the anglers enjoyed themselves.

The weekend started off with the anglers meeting at First Baptist Church of Lake Panasoffkee for the Friday Night Fellowship. Men’s Ministry Leader Mike Brothers welcomed us with open arms as we arrived. The anglers fellowshipped as check in commenced and the food was served upon completion of check in. Pastor McAdams prayed over the food and the night’s meeting, and our guest speaker was introduced.  Mr. Paul Hilson from Mission Fishing was our guest speaker and gave a wonderful testimony of what God has done in his life and then gave us a great word on lack. The message challenged us all and left us longing for change.

Saturday morning the anglers were met by our live well check team, overcast skies, and 75-degree temperatures. When the anglers arrived at 05:30 they launched their boats, visited the onsite tackle store, finalized their plans of attack then fellowshipped for a bit while we waited for safe light. 06:00 AM, we conducted a quick rules review and had our opening prayer. 06:15 AM the anglers took flight upon the Lake Panasoffkee waters to see who would be crowned Lake Panasoffkee Champions. The overall points chase would come down to whether the current points leaders would make a mistake or not. Only time would tell as the anglers fished and tried to put their best five fish on the scales.  The skies would stay cloudy for most of the day, winds would fluctuate in the morning and then become a steady north northwest wind for the remainder of the day with temperatures topping out around 85 degrees. The anglers returned at 3:00PM to weigh their fish as onlookers waited to see the fish themselves. Who would win? Would the points leaders faulter? We would all have to wait and see. At the conclusion of the weigh-in, the Panasoffkee Punisher would end up being the team of Billy Taylor and William McDevitt with a bag weighing 19.14 pounds with a 6.10 kicker that would hold on to the big bass of the tournament honors when all was said and done. The tournament race for second was a narrow one with second and third place teams being differentiated by .01 ounces. Second place honors went to the team of Dan and Ben Smith with a nice 16.98-pound bag with the third-place team of Mike and Jeff Robinson extremely hot on their heels with a nice16.97-pound bag. The team of Don Fisher and Bryan Nelson would come in fourth with 16.86 pounds and the current points leaders John Brazzell and Josh Davis would round out the top five with 16.45 pounds, enough to give them the Angler of the Year (AOY) or Points Champions honors with a combined total points of 988 points edging out Mike and Jeff Robinson who finished with 983 points and Don Fisher and Bryan Nelson with 982 points.

Overall, it was a great stop on the trail and a great finish to the season with all anglers catching fish and having a great time. Great camaraderie and fellowship were had by all and the anglers stayed around and fellowshipped afterwards. Now on to the district championships on the Winter Haven Chain in October, stay tuned! God is good!

We would like to thank our local sponsors, Tracys Point Fishing Lodge, Mission Fishing

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