Even under the post-frontal conditions that rattled the Harris Chain of Lakes, this Central Florida gem has kicked out several impressive bags for the Strike King Bassmaster College Series at Harris Chain presented by Bass Pro Shops.
Notwithstanding this strong showing, which includes the 29-pound limit weighed by Blake Bullock and John Mark Berry of Blue Mountain Christian University, the question remained: Will we see one of those double-digit donkeys that should be snooping around the shallows this time of year?
Forty minutes into the Day-2 weigh ins, University of Montevallo’s Dalton Head answered with a 10-pound, 8-ounce Sunshine State sweetheart.
Fishing with Peyton Harris, Head caught their kicker on a 1/2-ounce Queen Tackle Switchblade with a Big Bite Baits Fighting Frog. The big fish bit around 9:30.
“I rigged the Fighting Frog sideways, so the legs were (vertically aligned),” Head explained. “That makes the legs kick like a bream tail.”
But that’s not all..
About an hour after the Montevallo monster, Anderson Jones of Landers University electrified the crowd with a professional bream killer that went 11-5. The tournament’s biggest (as of 5 p.m.), smoked a Sixth Sense Draw glidebait.
“It was a great bite; she thumped it,” said Jones, who fished with Max Muzones.
Pretty cool, huh?
Hang on, we’re not done.
Five minutes after , Auburn University’s Garrett Warren brought a 10-7 to the scale. Fishing with Jake Peck, Warren caught his big’n by flipping near a bed with a Texas-rigged Strike King Rage Menace in green pumpkin blue swirl.
Well, that should do it.
No, no, wait, we got another one.
Culminating an absolute power hour of Florida big bass smackdown, Colton Hill of McKendree University came close to bumping the Landers guys with his 11-pound, 5-ouncer. Partnered with Tomas Matual, Hill caught his giant on a Carolina-rigged 10-inch curly tail worm.
Day 1 saw Logan Barrett and Luke Glasgow of Mississippi State University take Big Fish honors with their 9-9.
Notably, the bait that produced the event’s first double digit fish was made by Head’s stepbrother, Bassmaster Elite Series pro, K.J. Queen.