Just fishing means a victory

By John N. Felsher

Disabilities couldn’t keep 44 anglers from competing in the 23rd annual Central Florida U.S. Open Paralyzed Veterans of America fishing event, held on the Harris Chain of lakes out of the Hickory Point Recreational Facility in Tavares.

“It was actually three tournaments in one,” said Neal Lazarus, tournament director for the Central Florida Chapter of PVA. “The PVA Bass Tour consists of six two-day tournaments held at various locations around the country. Each tournament consists of an Open/Team competition for anglers who wish to fish from boats and a Bank Competition for those who prefer to fish from shore.”

In the Open event, disabled anglers paired with other anglers in a blind draw. The able-bodied anglers could serve as guides, operate the boat, net and unhook fish, make location or lure selections, but could not catch fish. On the second day, both anglers competed in a team event with a five-bass per boat limit, Lazarus explained. The bank anglers could fish for any legal species and could use live bait.

“For the first day, the able-bodied anglers were there to take care of the disabled anglers and assist them,” Lazarus said. “Some of the disabled anglers bring their own boats, but most need a boater to take them out.”

In the Open event, Dean Morris of Tavares teamed with Danny Reavis of Bastrop, Texas, to land a five-bass limit weighing 16.57 pounds. He caught most of his fish on spinnerbaits in Big Lake Harris, but one 4.5-pounder hit a crankbait.

“I caught a fish about every 30 minutes,” Morris said. “At about noon, I found a big bass on a bed in a canal and caught it on a craw.”

Chuck Hesse of Eden Valley, Minn., fished with Steven Jarrett of Valrico to bring in two bass weighing 9.15 pounds. One 7.30-pounder, the tournament lunker, hit a Producto Worm made in Sanford.

In the Team competition the following day, Stanley Boerner of Lynchburg, Va., and Dennis Galassi of Groveland landed five bass weighing 15.37 pounds. They fished docks along the northern shoreline of Lake Eustis. Boerner caught his biggest fish by throwing a white and gray spinnerbait under a dock. They also caught fish on chartreuse crankbaits or by flipping junebug worms.

“At about 1:30 p.m., I caught a good fish by flipping the docks and missed another good fish,” Galassi said. “It feels good to be Number 1, but I just enjoy fishing the PVA tournaments. Even if we didn’t catch a fish all day, we’d still have a good time. It’s a good cause.”

Jason Swanson of Plano, Texas, and Joe Ushko of Eustis took second with five bass weighing 12.28 pounds. The team ran an hour to Lake Griffin in the morning, but returned to Lake Harris where they caught their two largest fish.

“We caught a bunch of fish, but the two biggest ones came out of Harris in the afternoon,” Ushko said. “Coming in, I left just enough time to hit one more spot and it paid off. We fished canals in the morning with frogs and chatterbaits. Then, we fished docks with crankbaits all afternoon.”

“It was Joe’s first PVA tournament, but he was a good guide,” Swanson said. “He told me to pitch into one spot. I couldn’t pitch as well as he could so he pitched a bait in there and came out with a 4-pounder.”

            Swanson, a Quantum team pro, works with Turning Point, an organization in Texas that takes physically challenged children and adults on fishing and hunting trips. For information, see www.turningpointnation.org.

Jerry “Big Dog” Heidgerken of Tavares and Greg Allen of Atlanta, Ga., landed in 13th place with three bass weighing 8.39 pounds, but one weighed 5.88 pounds. They caught it in Lake Harris by flipping a 4-inch junebug craw in the grass. Heidgerken helped establish the Florida Disabled Anglers tournament circuit, which holds six events each year. For information, see www.disabledanglers.org.

“In pre-fishing, I fished across from the Hickory Point boat ramp with another angler and got into them,” Allen said. “When I hooked up with Big Dog, I showed him the spot on the map. He said that’s one of the best places on the lake to catch fish so that’s where we went.”

Nationally, about 20,000 people belong to PVA. About 75 of them fish the national tournaments, said Alan Earl, a PVA spokesman from Washington D.C. From Florida, the circuit heads to Rend Lake, Ill., in May.

“The PVA Bass Tour has been around for about 15 years, but PVA has been involved in fishing for 23 years,” Earl said. “It started right here at Lake Harris. The majority of our anglers are veterans, but people do not need to be veterans to fish the tour. Anyone with a significant mobility impairment can fish the tournaments. Our Angler of the Year goes to the Federation National Championship, which is a qualifier for the Bassmaster Classic.”

For more information, see www.pva.org or call 800-424-8200. For more information on the Central Florida Chapter, call Lazarus at 407-383-4223 or visit www.centralfloridapva.org.

 

 

 

Results of the 23rd annual Central Florida U.S. Open PVA Open Tournament

1 Dean Morris, Tavares, Fla. with Danny Reavis, Bastrop, Texas, -- 5 fish/16.57 pounds

2 Chuck Hesse, Eden Valley, Minn. with Steven Jarrett, Valrico, Fla.-- 2 fish/9.15 pounds

3 Kurt Glass, Grovetown, Ga. with Edward Hook, Mount Dora, Fla. 4 fish/9.14 pounds

4 Ron Ryals, Live Oak, Fla. with John Hall, Kissimmee, Fla. -- 4 fish/7.48 pounds

5 John Holder II, Rome, Ga. with David Driggers, Orlando, Fla. -- 5 fish/7.16 pounds

6 Eddie Camara, Shawnee, Okla. with Glenn Pilkinton, Kissimmee, Fla. -- 5 fish/6.43 pounds

7 Frank Vogeli, St. Pete Beach, Fla. with Donald Lynd, Alachua, Fla. – 2 fish/5.29 pounds

8 John Clark, Bossier City, La. with David Schlachter, North Augusta, S.C. – 3 fish/5.15 pounds

9 Maurice Phillips Jr., Southfield, Mich. with Jim Roach, Leesburg, Fla. – 2 fish/4.95 pounds

10 Tony Choe, Fairfax Station, Va. with Larry Clark, Leesburg, Fla. -- 4 fish/4.89 pounds

 

 

Results of the 23rd annual Central Florida U.S. Open PVA Team Tournament

1 Stanley Boerner, Lynchburg, Va./Dennis Galassi,  Groveland , Fla. – 5 fish/15.37 pounds

2 Jason Swanson, Plano, Texas/Joe Ushko, Eustis, Fla. -- 5 fish/12.28 pounds

3 Jerry Daniels, Groveland, Fla./John Brown, Deltona, Fla. -- 5 fish/11.97 pounds

4 Kurt Glass, Grovetown, Ga./Edward Hook, Mount Dora, Fla. -- 5 fish/10.89 pounds

5 Don Jenkins, Wernersville, Pa./Herman Young, Ocala, Fla. -- 5 fish/10.87 pounds

6 James Richerson Jr., Pensacola, Fla./Neal Mccullum, Tavares, Fla. -- 5 fish/10.58 pounds

7 David Johnson, South Haven, Minn./Toby Young, Ocala, Fla. -- 5 fish/10.41 pounds

8 Cal Plienis, Daytona Beach, Fla./John Barbaro, Leesburg, Fla. -- 5 fish/9.46 pounds

9 Curtis Bell, Moreno Valley, Calif./Paul Guimarin, Orlando, Fla. -- 5 fish/9.39 pounds

10 Jerry Slusher, North Augusta, S.C./Daniel Hewitt, Osteen, Fla. -- 5 fish/9.24 pounds

 

 

 

Results of the 23rd annual Central Florida U.S. Open PVA Bank Competition

1 Larry Dodson, North Augusta, S.C. -- 2.58 pounds

2 Harvey Butler, Mount Dora, Fla. -- 1.59 pounds

3 Steve Kirk, Deltona, Fla. -- 1.32 pounds

4 Thomas Grant, Blairsville, Ga. -- 0.70 pounds

5 Donna Hendrickson, Garland, Texas -- 0.30 pounds

6 Keith Coats, Shawnee, Okla. -- 0.15 pounds

7 Buford Blizzard, Orlando, Fla. -- 0.00 pounds