KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Southern Division event on the Kissimmee Chain offered great fishing for pros and co-anglers alike. Leading the way on the co-angler side, Jonathan Forrest blasted 22 pounds, 11 ounces to get in the game on Day 2, and finished strong with 15-2 on Day 3 for an even 47-pound winning total. For the win, Forrest earned a Phoenix Boats package, plus $150 for his Big Bass of 8-2. Finishing second, Stephen Draghi weighed 42-8, and William Payne rode a 24-2 bag on Day 2 to a third-place showing.
A nurse who works in informatics, Forrest lives in Sanford, Florida, and is pretty familiar with Toho and the entire Kissimmee Chain. On Day 2, paired with Mark Lamb, he struck fast at their starting spot.
“It was submerged peppergrass in 5- or 6-foot of water, and when I got there, I noticed the water was super clear, and there were tight clumps of peppergrass that we were targeting,” he said. “I tied on a 6-inch fluke, first thing in the morning – on the second cast throwing the fluke out there, almost an 8-pounder blew up on it. It was one of the biggest explosions I’ve seen.”
After catching a few more on the fluke, Forrest made a savvy adjustment.
“Around 8 o’clock in the morning, I started flipping a (stickworm) around, in between the tight clumps,” he said. “About 15 feet from the boat, it gets tight, and I set the hook, and she drives herself under the boat, into the peppergrass. I couldn’t get leverage on the fish to pull it out. I ended up pulling the peppergrass up, and I’m looking at it, and I think I lost the fish. All of a sudden, I see her tail kick out from under the grass, and I just grab my 17-pound fluoro and lift the whole thing into the boat, and there’s an 8-2 sitting in the boat. I was like ‘What just happened?’”
Two kickers in the 8-pound range go a long way, and his Day 2 bag moved Forrest up from 49th to fourth. On Day 3, fishing behind Anderson Jones, he stayed steady and wrapped up the win.
“We started right by takeoff, and he sacked up 23 pounds, and I sacked up 14 pounds by 10 o’clock – just randomness – picking of random fish roaming,” Forrest said. “In the afternoon, he took me to a spot, some submerged hydrilla, and we just kept catching fish after fish at the end of the day. And, I culled out one of my fish there on a lipless.”
On Day 2, Forrest used two different flukes – a Bitter’s Mega Shad in the Toho color, as well as a Zoom Magnum Fluke in junebug. He rigged both on a 5/0 screwlock hook, with a 3/32-ounce belly weight. His stickworm of choice was a Bitter’s Mega Sling in the Christmas color.
An experienced Florida angler, Forrest had plenty of friends at weigh-in and had a lot of support.
“My wife Jessica is always supporting me and wants to see me out here,” he said. “And, my best friend Joe Carter, he encouraged me to enter the tournament, and he even said he thought I could win.”
Now, though he’s got some decisions to make, Forrest will also be able to get his boat up and running again thanks to the payout.
“I’ve been stressing about trying to get my boat back on the water over the last couple years,” he said. “Being able to get back on the water again is just amazing. All my buddies are making plans for what I should do, what tournaments I’m going to fish. It’s opened the door for me to get back on the water on the boater side in tournaments.”
Top 10 co-anglers
1. Jonathan Forrest – 47 – 0 (13) – $33,650
2. Stephen Draghi – 42 – 8 (15) – $5,000
3. William Payne – 41 – 7 (15) – $4,000
4. Brett Hobson – 40 – 14 (15) – $3,500
5. Pat Herolt – 40 – 6 (12) – $3,000
6. Walter Thompson – 39 – 5 (15) – $2,500
7. Larry Mullikin – 38 – 15 (13) – $2,000
8. Roger Stubbs – 38 – 3 (14) – $1,850
9. Travis Cato – 37 – 3 (12) – $1,500
10. Alan Hults – 36 – 7 (14) – $1,250