I was really surprised at the fish that came in at our St. Johns River, July event, out of Astor. Usually summertime on the river is slow fishing but our 22 boats disproved that notion. I talked with several teams and a few were catching scattered fish. Last year 12 lb won (with a 6 pounder). That was when Dexter had a ton of hydrilla. This time the ‘drilla was nowhere to be found. I practiced in Dexter and found no fish, but a few team found keepers at the confluence of the river channel and the island in front of the lake. Two of the top finishers went 20 miles south near Lake Beresford. Our winners went north for their winning catch. So we were spread out, and we were catching bass.

1st PLACE 19.84

Tyler ”damn, you got a haircut” Lovelace and Mike Tucker practiced north of the Astor launch and were looking for shell beds along the River channel. They tried several spot, primarily where tributary creeks flowed into the River. The caught a nice one at one location and decided to camp out on the spot during the tournament. The duo, who have placed best on the Harris Chain in the past, threw trick worms on Carolina rigs all day and only landed 4 keepers. However, they caught the correct 4 fish. Their bag had 3 5+ fish and their total of 19.84 was good enough for a nice River win.

2nd PLACE 17.68

Travis Kremer was without his primary team member, Brian Miller, for the River event. So he asked a guy who knows the River pretty well…his Dad, John. John has a long history of high places in tournaments on the river and the team did it again. They started out near Dexter, on the west bank of the channel and traveled all the way to Beresford. They scored on firetiger crankbaits and flipped a few fish for their finish. Most of their fish came in the River itself. Good job!

3rd PLACE 16.73

Steve & Neal Combs had found a few fish in Woodruff and also near the mouth of Dexter. They got 1 good keeper in Woodruff but the bite ceased and they went to their Dexter fish. They caught their best fish by buzzing a Zoom Speed worm near the small pad patches, which provided the only cover in Dexter since the eradication of the Hydrilla. Neal said the 2 biggest ones hit right at the boat.

4th PLACE 16.28

Chip Dover & John Ricketson ventured South into Beresford. They notched a 3rd place finish in a recent Courtesy Trail event from the lake but this trip did not yield a single fish. They had 4 nice fish early and struggled into the afternoon. At about 2 Chip hooked and lost a nice 5 ½ on a crankbait and the team figured that would be their big break. However, about 5 minutes later John nailed an 8.55, which proved to be the big fish, on the same type crankbait to finish off a nice limit.

Mario Mazzonetto and Rob Wilson remain in 1st place for Angler of the Year, they had 15.96 lb and came in 5th. Dover/Ricketson are still in 2nd with the Combs’ moving into 3rd. Team Power Pole ( the Warners) are in 4th with Joe Ventrello /Jerry Heidgerken holding the 5th place

NOTES: 6 teams had over 14 pounds, what a great bunch of limits for July……….evidentially, the bass were hitting all over the River, we caught ‘em from Lake George to Lake Beresford………what happened to all the hydrilla, it has always amazed me that other government efforts are so inefficient but when they want to get rid of hydrilla, they are masters!......30 mph saved a bunch of gas, but a few boats risked tickets……….see ya’ at ….oh boy…East Lake. …It took 7 lb to win there last week.