Early January full of fishing events

Happy New Year from Osceola News-Gazette’s The Reel Deal with Cindy!!

The Kissimmee Chain of Lakes was host to a few tournaments recently. On Jan. 8 the Osceola Anglers High School Fishing Club hosted Bass and Badges on West Lake Toho. Th e tournament consisted of two anglers per team, with that team being represented by a local First Responder agency. A $1,500 prize, bragging rights and a huge trophy to display all year was awarded to the Team of Josh Wolf and Austin Marvuilli representing St. Cloud Fire Department. The duo brought an impressive 21.31 pounds to the scale.

All anglers were restricted to West Lake Toho due to the locks being closed for maintenance on the south chain. There was a 51-boat field, and it took over 10 pounds to secure a spot in the top 10. Placing second with 17.71 pounds and receiving $750 was Ben Paquin and Anthony Difonzo. Third place and $500 went to the father-and-son team of Robert and Bobby Bakewell with 14.60 pounds. Paquin and Difonzo also won a $500 prize for landing the big fish of the day, a 6.51-pounder, and Danny Hinton and partner William Barnes also received $500 for having the best “junk fish”.

Here are the combined weight results by agency: St. Cloud Fire Department (59.64 lbs), Osceola County Fire Rescue (54.77 lbs), Kissimmee Police Department (45.61 lbs), Osceola County Sheriff ’s Office (42.43 lbs), Osceola County Corrections (42.15 lbs), St. Cloud Police Department (38.04 lbs) and Kissimmee Fire Department (34.53 lbs). For more information on events sponsored by Osceola Anglers visit www. osceolaanglers.com.

While that took place, I was assisting with the Toho Marine and Outdoors two tournaments held the same weekend out of Camp Mack on Lake Kissimmee, down south on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. There was a great turn out for the first of four events of the Toho Marine Elite Team Trail Series with 75 teams. St. Cloud’s Bruce Bozman and his partner Fred Chivington took home the top prize of over $5,000 for their total weight of 26.68 pounds. Second place with 23.25 pounds, which included an 8.76-pound Trophy Catch Florida qualifier, was Keith Butts and David Graham. Troy Olivier and David Crews took third with 21.87 pounds. John Wayne had the Big Bass of the day, another Trophy Catch, with a 9.55-pounder and received $750.

The next day Toho Marine held the first One Man Elite tournament out of Camp Mack on the Kissimmee Chain as well. In this series, anglers fish alone. Chris Maxwell won with 23.50 pounds, second went to Warren Forsythe with 22.56 pounds and third was secured by a former Angler of the Year, Santos Solis Jr., with his sack of 22.28 pounds. Big Fish was awarded to Travis Finley for his 9.36-pound Trophy Catch! For more information on the Toho Marine Tournament trails visit www.tohomarine. com/tournaments.

If you get a chance to get out on Jan. 30, the Big Bass Challenge sponsored by Strike King will be at the Kissimmee Lakefront ramp. The action starts at 7 a.m., with a Big Fish award every hour and weigh-ins all day long. Visit www. strikeking.com to enter.

Until next time — tight lines, my friends!