Lakes Orange, Lochloosa and Newnan’s In The Sunshine State Of Florida
This past Saturday January 31st Crappie USA held their first regular qualifying event of the year on Florida Lakes of Orange, Lochloosa and Newnan’s. Over 50 anglers from 8 different states were competing for not only the cash and prizes, but a chance to advance to the prestigious Cabela’s Crappie USA Classic. This year’s classic will be held October 7/10/2015 on Indiana’s Patoka Lake near Jasper, Indiana.
Semi-Pro Division Results
Taking first place was Rick Howard of Warner Robbins, Georgia and Tommy Cherry of Dublin, Georgia with a total weight of 8.39 pounds and earning $1,000.00 along with $500.00 for the Ranger Cup Award and $60.00 for capturing 2nd biggest fish of the event. Rick and Tommy fished Lochloosa Long Line trolling from front of their Ranger 618 and had all their good fish by 10:00 AM targeting 7-8 feet of water using Black/Blue/Chartreuse jigs to catch 40 fish all day.
Second place went to the Gilbert, South Carolina team of Joe and Janette Carter weighing in 6.97 pounds and earning $600.00 along with $250.00 for the Talon Bonus. Joe and Janette trolled from the front of their 620 Ranger using Southern Pro Ice/Silver Sparkle color jigs in 7 to 8 feet on Lake Lochloosa to catch 8 total fish for the day
In third place was the team of Enoch Harris Jr of Miami, Florida and John Henry Young of Lake City, Florida weighing in 6.49 pounds and earning $400.00. Enoch and John Henry fished Lochloosa tight lining in 9-10 feet of water using homemade hair jigs black /silver in color to catch 8 fish total for the day.
Amateur Division Results
First place in the amateur division went to the Satsuma, Florida team of Bill Fee and Wayne Loy with a total weight of 11.78 pounds and earning $600.00 along with the $150.00 Driftmaster bonus. Bill and Wayne were fishing Lochloosa, trolling in 12 feet of water using black/chartreuse Jiffy Jigs to catch 44 fish for the day.
Second place went to Fred Walker of Lizella, Georgia and Danny Siccon of Rural Hall, North Carolina weighing in 8.53 pounds and earning $400.00. Fred and Danny were fishing Lochloosa, trolling in 12 feet using Jiffy Jigs in black/chartreuse. The team won Driftmaster bonus of $150.00. Blue Ice worked best, said the team. The team is sponsored by Riverside Ford and was using a 621 Ranger 
boat to caught 30 fish for the day.
Taking third place was the team of Sam Adams of Tavares, Florida and Russell Cheatham of Eustis, Florida weighing in 7.62 pounds and earning $200.00. Sam and Russell were fishing Lochloosa lake slow trolling in a Ranger 618 boat in 8 feet of water and using pink Zip Jigs to catch 25 fish for the day.
Congratulations to all the teams fishing this event. For a complete list of tournament standings and downloadable photos for this event visit www.crappieusa.com then go to Tournament Results.
Crappie USA Free Kids Fishing Rodeo
In conjunction with the tournament Crappie USA held their Kids Rodeo on Saturday morning with several local children attending the event.. All the participants signed up for a chance to win one of 6-$1,000.00 scholarships to be drawn for at the Cabela’s Crappie USA Classic.
Crappie USA and our anglers have contributed nearly $322,000.00 to the “Crappie Kids” Scholarships since 1997. We are very proud to be a part of the education process for the youngsters who participate in our tournaments as adult/youth teams and those who fish in the Crappie USA “Kids Fishing Rodeos”.
Special thanks to Jolene and her staff with the Gainesville Sports Commission for hosting the event and Baymont Inn and Suites for serving as host hotel. The kids rodeo was moved to the hwy 234 ramp at the last minute due to 450 runners using the park area for a unexpected 5K run on Saturday morning. The kids who did manage to find us had great time.
Stats for the Tournament:
Weather- The temperatures on Saturday were in the 40’s early warming to the 60’s by mid day with winds 5-10 MPH and sunny all day.
National Sponsors of Crappie USA:
Cabela’s, Ranger Boats, Mercury, Mustad, B ‘n’ M Poles, Minn Kota, Humminbird Electronics, Gamma, Adventure Products EGO Nets, J.R. Mad’s, Charlie Brewer’s Slider Co., Big Bite Baits, TTI-Blakemore Road Runner, Driftmaster Rod Holders, Southern Pro Tackle, World Fishing Network-WFN, Cumberland Crappie Double Seat Mounts, Church Tackle Company, Crappie Now on-line Magazine, Stubby Steve’s, KAYAK KABOOSE, The Quick Cleat and Sunsect Sunscreen & Insect Repellent.
The following companies furnish product to help make these events possible: Kodiak Fish Attractants, Rigrap and Keep Alive.
For more information please call Crappie USA Inc. at 270-395-4204. Please visit our website at www.crappieusa.com.
