EDDIE'S LATEST FISHING
REPORT
Click
Here to see the Trophy fish
caught in 2012!
Click
here to see the 2011 trophy fish!
Click
here to see the 2010 trophy fish!
Click
here to see the 2009 trophy fish!
Notice that our Trophy
Bass photos have the date on each picture.
We do this so that you know the date these
Trophy Bass were caught. We do not use
old photos to entice you to hire Bass Challenger
Guide Service.
February 1, 2012
The fishing continues to be a little tough here on the St. Johns River as far as numbers of fish go,but as for the trophy fish
the past 5 trips in a row we have caught at least one fish between 8 and 10 pounds. They just aren't bunched up yet.
But when they do it will be on fire. I had Big Dave and his father in law out today for 6 hours and it was a little slow but the fish that
they caught were nice fish.Dave caught his biggest to date weighing 9 pounds beating his personal record 7.8. We also lost a couple
real big fish that just did not stay hooked up. That happens when they are spawning and not wanting to eat the shiner just carry them off the beds.
January 28, 2012
This is more of a story then a fishing report. Today, my grandson Devon, age 8, though it would be a good day to go fishing since it was mine and Jackie's 28 Wedding Anniversary and I had taken the day off from guiding. He told his Jackie that if he and I went fishing she could relax, and we wouldn't be around to bother her. It worked , Jackie fell for it without any questions. It was a little cold this morning, but Devon and I were up at 5:45 am ready to go. I had to explain that it was a little cold 44 degrees, and maybe we should wait until about 9 am when it warmed up a little. Finally, by 8 am, he was already driving me crazy to go so we loaded up a couple dozen shiners and headed out to the St Johns River. The fishing was slow as the water temps had dropped about 8 degree's over night. However, I was PROUD that Devon stuck with it and never gave up.
Around 1 p.m. Devon and I saw a Big Bass chase a bream out of the water in front of the boat, so out went a large wild shiner in the same area. Within moments, the bass had tracked down the shiner on Devon's rod, ran it to the surface, then just crushed it on top. Devon let the fish take the slack out of his line and gave a hook set that most grown men would be proud to have done. The fight was on! This fish jumped 4 or 5 times in the shallow water, but Devon handled this fish like a 30-year-old professional fisherman. Within a few minutes, I was able to lip his trophy bass weighing 8 3/4 pounds.
We called Jackie to meet us at the river to take a picture, but Jackie was at the hospital visiting one of the elder ladies she helps out. So the only other thing we could do was bring the fish home and put her in one of my shiner tanks until Jackie got home to take his picture. The picture was taken and tomorrow we will take his trophy bass back to the same spot in the river and release her. She has already gained a little weight as Devon was hand-feed her my wild shiners all afternoon. We are waiting until Devon catches a fish 10 pounds or better, and then we will have a replica mount done. At this rate, he is going, it won't take long as this is his biggest to date beating the 8 lb fish he caught at age 6. He told me today he thinks we need to fish a tournament this year. I think I have created a little fishing monster.
From One Proud Pop Pop
January 25, 2012
After a slow start for the month of January we are starting to see things turn around here on the St Johns River. The water is low once again after being flooded for 4 months. The past two days we have seen fish moving back into there normal living areas for winter and the spawn. I had a great group of guys in from Ohio the past two days. The fish were feeding on and off both days. You could go 30 minutes without a bite and then the next 30 minutes you could get 4 or 5 bites real quick. We fished shiner both days and caught some nice fish between 3 and 5 pounds and the biggest was 8.4 pounds.
January 23, 2012
Spent a couple more days on Lake Toho sense my last report and the fishing continues to be steady. Lots of fish up shallow and lots of fish out deep. We've been using both artificial's and shiners and the numbers are better on artificial's but the Trophy Fish have been caught on Big Wild Shiners. We have been finding the Bigger fish in less then 2ft of water for the most part. Bitters naked swimmers in the June bug color have been producing the best for artificial baits.
Today I had Lucas and George knott's of VA on Lake Toho and these guys caught a lot of nice fish but Lucas was after one over 7 pounds to top his personal best. Our 8 hour trip was with in 15 minutes of being over when a fish it the shiner on his rod. After a long fight Lucas landed a beautiful 9 lb Lake Toho Trophy Bass. Like the saying goes. Never give up!!
January 20, 2012
After returning from Lake Okeechobee on Monday I spent Wednesday and Thursday on the St Johns River and found over the past 12 days I was gone the water has dropped over 1 ft.
This has scattered the fish in a big way. Today I decided to do my trip on Lake Toho with Greg D of Maryland and it was a good decision as Greg had steady action all day
with both Shiners and Artificial Baits. Greg caught fish both deep and shallow the entire 6 hours. Lake Toho water levels are great and the water color is as good as I have seen it in years.
Total fish number was in the high teens and Greg's big fish was 8 pounds on the nose.
January 11, 2012
I had some clients wanting to fish Lake Okeechobee the past week so we made a 9 day trip to the Big O starting Jan 5th. I'm still here.
First clients were Deb and John from Virginia long time clients and friends. They were celebrating there 30th Wedding Anniversary and had never been to Lake Okeechobee. We spent two fun days and the fish were biting very well as they caught 25 to 35 fish each day on Artificial Baits. Then my good friend and client Gary C of Kissimmee FL made the trip down for a day to fish Okeechobee with me. It was a great day with highs in the 80's and fish biting like crazy lots of action during the full 8 hour artificial trip. Next up was Keith V of South Dakota and his son Tim and 8 year old grandson.
We opted to fish shiners and it was a great move as these guys had a ball. Nothing like watching big Trophy Bass bust shiners on the surface. These 3 guys had a 50 dollar big fish bet and the money was changing hands the entire day but when it was all said and done Tim walked a way with the 50 dollars and the Trophy Bass of a Lifetime.
Seven or Eight times a year I put together these Lake Okeechobee trips and they are always a lot of fun. If your interested in getting in on one of these trips please give me a call.
January 1, 2012
Spend New Years day on Lake Toho with one of my longtime customers and friends Gary C of Kissimmee. What a beautiful day with a high of 75 degrees and a low of 55 water temp started at 64 degrees and reached 71 by 2pm. We fished both shallow and deep and caught lots of fish doing both. Seen a few fish on beds and caught lots of smaller males near other beds we seen. Swim baits and a texas rigged worm were the best baits all day long. We never caught a big fish but the action was steady and very fast at times when we found the new beds the males were working on. The water on Toho is a little above average for this time of year but its very clear in certain sections of the lake and that's where we found the best concentrations of fish
Thanks From Captain Ed Bussard and Bass Challenger Guide Service guiding on Lake Toho and the St Johns River for over 31 years
December 8, 2011
As always the fall shad run is going on and the schooling bass are easy to catch when they are busting these shad on the surface. Top water baits are working well along with a Carolina rig on the bottom. And if you wish to sit back and take it easy these bass are really hitting wild shiners. My good buddy and client C. Williams was here the past two days and we fished for big fish most of the two days but did get in on some great schooling action this morning. Biggest fish was 7 pounds and that is understandable with a 40 degree temp chance over night.
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November 23, 2011
Its be a very interesting week. We started out filming a TV show with Bob Redfern Outdoor Magazine last Tuesday here on the St Johns River Its going to be a great Largemouth show with some great action and big fish being caught. On Wed Captain John Cox fished with Bob filming and I ran the camera boat for a second show. This was a Hybrid Bass Show and the action was again very good. On Thursday I guided Mark from Maine and Mark wanted to catch Hybrids and did he catch Hybrid Bass. Not sure of the count but at one point Mark caught 19 in a row I'm sure he caught over 60 in four hours all on Rattle Traps. He was catching them as fast as I could take them off. Friday it was back to Bass fishing and my client Dave of NC caught 8 in 4 hours on shiners. Biggest about 6 pounds. Today I had my good friend and client Jack G out for the morning and we caught a ton of Hybrids on top water baits and I broke out the Alabama Rig and was catching 3 at a time. I have days open in Nov and Dec and we are booking up fast for the 2012 season
November 15, 2011
As I have been saying in my last couple reports with the HIGH WATER we have on the St Johns River its going to be a great Fall and Winter!!!!! Today I guided John and his son Will for 6 hrs. This was the day I figured would be the toughest after our first real cold front of the Fall hit Friday night. Water temps dropped 8 degrees over the past day but that did not keep the fish from biting.Numbers were a little off with only 10 fish but the size was very good and John landed a beautiful 9 pound trophy during the last 5 minutes of the trip. We split the morning up with artificial and shiners and it turned out 50 \50 it was surly a day that shiners fished the entire trip would have been the key to better numbers. I have days open so please call if your`looking for that TROPHY BASS OF A LIFETIME.
Tournament Update
I've had a lot of my website readers ask for a report on how my return to tournament fishing after a 10 year break ended up for 2011
Well here it goes...
It was a good year, not great, but good. My only win was the 2011 Bass Champions Senior Classic held on the St Johns River.
I had a bad first day in this two day tournament catching only 9.23 lbs after making some bad decisions. Day two I was able to finish the day with a 5 fish stringer weighing 32 pounds, and ended up winning the $10,000 first place prize.
FLW BFL Tournaments
My highest finish in the 2011 BFL Gator Division tournaments was 7th on Lake Toho with 18.03 lbs. I also had a 14th place finish on Lake Toho weighing 14.78 lbs. I came in 46th on the Harris Chain and didn't do very well on the two Okeechobee tournaments. That was a big disappointment for me because I love that lake and have done well in the past. I did manage to catch a 5 bass limit in all 5 regular season BFL tournaments and finished 21st in points earning a spot in the 2011 Southeast Regional FLW BFL Tournament in South Carolina on Lake Hartwell.
FLW BFL 2011 Southeast Regional Tournament Lake Hartwell, SC - Nov 3--5 2011
I just returned from the tournament on Lake Hartwell, and it was a bitter sweet.
With only one tournament left in the regular BFL season, I went up in September to practice after figuring I would make the regional. After doing a lot of studying for Lake Hartwell, I made the decision before practice to fish for largemouth bass and stay away from the great population of spotted bass that Lake Hartwell in known for.
It was the right decision. I was able to locate two good schools of largemouth in the backs of two of the major creeks. I would have to wait two happy to find out that the fish had remained in this same area after two months.
For the first day of the tournament, I concentrated on a shoreline. I was in only around 2 feet of water with a few stumps scattered about, but there were lots of shad. I was able to catch a 5 fish limit of largemouths weighing 11.90 lbs that put me in 5th place after the day one weigh-in concluded. On the second day, I returned to the same shallow shoreline and was able to catch another limit of largemouth weighing 15.09 lbs moving me into 2nd place. One more day to go.
On day three as I returned to my shallow shoreline, I was faced with strong northeast winds and a nasty cold front. It was a tough day and I only ended up with 3 little largemouths that weighed 4.09 lbs. After the hot seat weigh-in that FLW is noted for, I was knocked out of the hot seat by the day one and day two tournament leader David Williams. I ended the tournament in 2nd place with a 3 day total of 31.90 pounds. Now for the bitter sweet part. First place prize was a 2011 Ranger 198 Bass Boat rigged with a 200 hp Mercury or Evinrude outboard and a New 2011 Chevy 1500 pick up truck total value over $60,000. Bitter part, second place only paid $1,500 in cash. Sweet part is I did fish my way into the 2012 FLW All American to be held on the Potomac River on May 16, 2012.
This is a great accomplishment considering over 30 000 fisherman fish for only 50 spots in this tournament. The FLW All American Tournament is one of the top three bass fishing tournaments in the World and I am looking forward to fishing it next May.
I feel good that I accomplished my goal in 2011. That goal was to make a good return to tournament bass fishing after taking a 10 year break. I did finish high enough to be eligible to compete in the FLW Everstart and FLW Open tournaments next year in 2012. I haven't been able to put together the sponsorship to pay the entries into these Major Tournaments as of yet. Bitter Sweet it is.
Thanks to all my followers for keeping up with me in 2011. It was great support getting the hundreds of emails from everyone showing their support.
Captain Ed Bussard
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Thanks
From Capt Ed Bussard and Bass Challenger
Guide Service Guiding Clients To Trophy
Bass In Central Florida For Over 31
Years
See
Ya out there!!!
GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS
THANKS
SEAL TEAM SIX FOR A JOB WELL DONE.
If
you would like to book the bass fishing
trip of a lifetime with one of Florida's
oldest guide services please call Capt
Ed Bussard at Bass Challenger Guide
Service.
