Florida Fishing Tournament Insider: Hitting Big on Fresh and Salt

Classic froggin' produces big-money limit on Toho. Plus: Potential new record blackfin caught in Dolphins charity tournament off Miami.

September 17, 2024 By Matt Badolato

What angler doesn’t have one technique they’re completely confident in?

For pro bass angler Jordan Lee, it’s frogging.

Casting a topwater frog earned Lee his third Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour win and $100,000 while fishing on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in May during the General Tires Heavy Hitters event (May 18-23).

Lee, who lives in Cullman, Alabama, won his first-ever tournament victory throwing a topwater frog at age 17, and he’s continued to hone his skills. Focusing on a vast area of matted hydrilla on the southern end of Lake Toho, Lee was on an incredible frog bite during the Central Florida event.

“It was insane how many bites I got when the week started. It was 60 to 80 a day, but progressively went down each day,” he said. “The mats started changing with anglers fishing, airboats and bass boats running around it.”

While it looked the same everywhere with matted grass on the surface, Lee found sweet spots among the hydrilla. “It looks the same from above, but the best areas were hollow underneath,” he said. “It couldn’t just be laid over hydrilla; you also had to find the cheese.;

He mixed it up with several colors of a Berkley Swamp Lord frog and made a few modifications to get more bites.

“I always say that a brown and black frog is all you need, and I used several with those colors,” Lee said. “I started to add jig rattles where the legs came out to add some noise, which seemed to help in the thicker mats.”

bass frog lures — Jordan Lee converted a handful of frogs into an armload of trophy (and cash) at Heavy Hitters on Kissimmee Chain.

To fish the thick Toho hydrilla beds, Lee relied on heavy Abu Garcia Signature Series Jordan Lee casting rods paired with an Abu Garcia Revo STX reels. Each rod-and-reel was spooled with 50-pound Berkley X5 braid to winch bass out of the heaviest cover. “The hydrilla I was fishing was so thick I had to do everything I could to keep those fish on top of the mat when I hooked them, and winch them out of there. It was such a key aspect for me all week, and it was special getting it done with a rod I helped design.”

The win keeps Lee in second on the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year race of the Bassmaster Elite Series. His focus now is to stay consistent and secure his second Angler of the Year title of his career.

,am holds champion belt — Jordan Lee won his third Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour event this summer, winning at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in May.

“It was such a surreal experience being able to win this tournament on a frog,” said Lee. “I grew up doing this exact same thing on Lake Guntersville and won my first tournament fishing mats with a frog. To be able to have all of that transfer to a tour level victory at one of the biggest events in the sport is just so special.”

Dolphins’ Weekend Tournament

Fishing meets football each year during the annual Fins Weekend Tournament. On June 1, teams made up of Miami Dolphins players, coaches, and alumni set out from Grove Harbor Marina vying for a piece of a $155,000 purse.

The annual fishing tournament, started by then-Dolphins head coach Jimmy Johnson 25 years ago, raises money for the Baptist Health Foundation, which has trainers working with South Florida high schools. Among anglers and attendees were the ’Phins defensive tackle Zach Sieler, running back Raheem Mostert, and quarterbacks/passing game coordinator Darrell Bevell.

Teams were allowed to weigh a total of eight fish for the heaviest bag limit, but only three of each species. All fish had to meet a 10-pound minimum to be eligible.

Team SO RARE, led by captain TJ Guesstyn Vaughns, came in third place overall with two dolphin, two kingfish, and three tuna with an aggregate weight 101.2 pounds. They also took second and third place in the Heaviest Dolphin Division, and third place in the Combined Weight Calcutta for a payout of $11,160.

Taking second place was team Macdaddy, captained by Mac Herman. Their crew landed three kings and three tuna for a total weight of 142.2 pounds. Their catch also earned them first and second in the Heaviest Kingfish Division, first place in the Big Fish – Winner Take All Calcutta, first and second place in the Big Fish Calcutta, and second place in the Combined Weight Calcutta for a payout of $40,010.

First place went to the smallest boat in the tournament, the 29-foot Seapremacy, led by captain Alex Burgess. His crew hit the scales with three kingfish and three tuna for a total weight of 165.9 pounds, earning first place in the Team Division, second place in the Heaviest Tuna Division, third place in the Heaviest Kingfish Division, and several Calcutta wins for a payout of $31,780.

Stealing the show was the 50.1-pound blackfin tuna caught by angler Bob Kowalski aboard the Miss Britt Express. The tuna’s identity was verified by an IGFA biologist and is currently an unofficial world record. Kowalski was fishing alongside the Sinnick family, longtime Dolphin fans from Chicago. They were led by Captain Gareth Haddam of Grove Harbour Marina in Coconut Grove. Their giant blackfin took first place in the Heaviest Fish Overall Division along with 1st Place in the Heaviest Tuna Division and a $30,000 payout.

Key Largo Skippers Event

Skippers Dockside Restaurant in Key Largo hosted the 10th Annual Skippers Dolphin Tournament (May 31-June 2) with 73 teams made up of 278 anglers. Teams were allowed to weigh two fish on Saturday and two on Sunday, but the combined weight of the three largest determined the winners.

Captain Skye Stanley of the Hurricane II led anglers Matthew Carlton of Tallahassee and Josh Hufstetler of Thomasville, GA to a trio of dolphin weighing 41.1 pounds to win first place and $27,890. Their largest of three fish, a 29.9-pounder, was also the largest dolphin caught on day one.

Second-place team was Shaka Kai captained by Joshua Holmes with an aggregate of 39.5 pounds.

fs-septtourn-2 — Hurricane II won the Skippers Dolphin Tournament in Key Largo, besting a fleet of 73 teams. Biggest of Hurricane II’s three fish weighed 29.9 pounds.

Third-place team was Crazyfish with anglers Per Pedersen from Ft. Lauderdale, Sebastian Pedersen and Kent Pedersen of Miami and Alec Ramoski of Key Biscayne catching a total of 36 pounds and winning $5,000.

Top lady angler was Jill Paglia of Ocala, who won $2,000 for her 13.6-pound dolphin aboard the Executive Decision. Kylie Cochrane of Miami took second place and $1,000 aboard the Reel Good.

The top senior angler was Paul Knapp of Pompano, FL fishing aboard Pauly’s Girl, winning $1,000 for catching an 8.2-pound dolphin.

Brock Stoky of Key Largo took first place junior angler with his 7.3-pound dolphin. Second went to Matthew Rangel of Key Largo with a 7.3-pounder and third to Tavernier angler Reef Bennett with a 5.4-pound dolphin.