Lake Garcia Shaping Up to be a Championship Sunday Slugfest
FELLSMERE, Fla. – The 10 anglers who made it to the final day of the Bass Pro Tour B&W Trailer Hitches Stage One Presented by Power-Pole have been thrown curveballs all week long, and now they have another coming right at them.
From the weather and the last-minute surges that have determined the cuts, the Top 10 will now be starting fresh on a new lake. Approximately 75 miles and a little over an hour away, Ansin Garcia Reservoir (also known as Lake Garcia) will be the body of water that determines our winner.
About Lake Garcia
Looking at the map of this lake, you’ll see some unique features. For one, it’s a perfect square as it is actually flooded farmlands. It’s part of the Blue Cypress Management Area, and Garcia is close to it’s better-known relative: Stick Marsh.
You may also notice that it is a small body of water. At 3,100 acres it’s tiny compared the entire Kissimmee Chain of Lakes that encompasses over 100,000 surface acres of water. Stage One anglers were given the opportunity to visit Garcia on one of their off days with one catch: they could not fish. They were given up to four hours to drive around and develop a plan in the event that they made it to Championship Round.
Some anglers took advantage of this and others opted not to, but MLF has a history here as it hosted the opening rounds of last year’s Shotgun Rounds of the 2018 General Tire World Championship won by Greg Hackney.
The good news, according to MLF NOW! live stream analyst and Garcia Reservoir angler JT Kenney is that just about every inch has potential, and he expects it to be a great place to determine our winner this week.
“It’s a small lake, but for ten boats, it’s awesome.” Kenney said. “The other thing is that because it is small, guys will be able to find fish quickly. The whole lake is fishable – it’s not just fishing the shoreline, the entire lake has vegetation.
“It is just a little water holding tank basically, but it is home to tons of bass and some huge ones. We saw some big fish the last time we were there, and it was not prime time. With the warm weather we’ve been having, Garcia should be setting up perfectly for the Top 10.”
Current conditions, predictions
Although the anglers have dealt with multiple cold fronts on the Kissimmee Chain, Kenney says Garcia bass are not as affected due to their closer proximity to the ocean, which helps to create a milder climate.
“The bass are further along in the spawning cycle, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we are watching them sight fishing for bedding bass tomorrow afternoon on MLF LIVE!,” said Kenney. “We’re also going to see flipping, punching mats and fishing around lily pads. I think the pads are going to play big tomorrow,” he said. “The other patterns should be fishing a stickworm around isolated grass and also topwater lures like we saw some of our anglers do in Saturday’s Elimination Round. It’s typical Florida-style fishing, and a topwater prop bait is one lure that may make a difference.”