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Tough Time at Toho

Category: article

 Jan 14th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Jan 14th, 2009 at 12:00 AM

Cold fronts are the bane of most anglers early in the season. They are especially tough on Florida strain bass in the state of Florida. Well, it just so happens that the opening event for the 2009 PAA season is on Lake Toho out of Kissimmee Florida.

Guess what, there is a massive cold front sweeping through the country and the anglers fishing this event on Toho are a bit worried about the potential results.

	Velvick feels big bass might be hard to come by (Photo BASS Communications)

Byron Velvick says the overall outlook doesn’t look great.

“We are hearing weather reports that we might get a real bad cold front blowing in by day one,” said Velvick. “Florida fish are persnickety anyhow; the cold front could really slow them down.”

Velvick isn’t on a big bite right now. The largest fish he’s caught are around 2.5 pounds. He’s been breaking in his boat while pre-fishing.

Some anglers may go deep.

“There are reports of some spraying of the shallow water weeds,” said Velvick. “This may cause some anglers to fish the deeper shell beds or find some isolated offshore cover. Although with the cold front some guys may just head out with their flipping stick and fish the real thick cover.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think we will see a lot of big fish. A 6, 7 or 8-pounder is going to be something special and will really move you up in the standings. “

	Crews says bite is tough (Photo www.johncrews.com)

John Crews is finding the fishing tough as well.

“The fishing is tough with a capital T,” said Crews. “I’m not on squat! Who knows, I may end up having a good event. Sometimes when you have poor pre-fishing, you go and out and do well.

“I think if an angler gets 14 or 15 pounds per day that’s going to be real strong. Ten pounds per day will be solid and there will be a lot of guys bringing in less than that each day.”

	Stone is excited about what the future holds for the PAA (Photo BASS Communications)

Marty Stone reflects on the events unfolding.

“This event is something I never thought I would see in my life time,” said Stone. “I am so happy for our anglers and so proud of our elected officials of the PAA. From their hard work we are having our angler-owned tournament trail.

“In this economy with so many sponsors cutting back, it is great to see how our guys are going out finding new sponsors. I can only imagine what this is going to be like when the economy turns.

“This trail has now arrived. It was neat when I was standing in line to register tonight looking around. It hit me like a ton of bricks. This is an all-star field of FLW and BASS guys. As our President (Timmy Horton) said on stage, we are going to find who has got the better anglers. I have a feeling we are going to see a huge mix at the top of the leader board and that would be great. Then we can continue to have the Chevrolet/ Ford debate.”

Stone’s fishing? Not so great.

“As far as fishing goes it went from tough to really tough,” said Stone. “When the best day of the tournament will be the second day of a cold front, then we have problems in Florida. Tomorrow will be day number two of the major front from up north. Friday it is suppose to be cold and cloudy. That is a double negative in Florida. With that said, I will predict 39 pounds for a three day weight to win.

“As far as the winning pattern, I have a feeling the open water hydrilla fish in Toho have the best chance to survive the weather.”