Anticipation

It's hard to convey or even imagine the sense of anticipation that has to hanging over Toho area campgrounds, motel parking lots, gas stations and lots near Big Toho Marina about now. The first official launch of the 2015 FLW Tour season is less than two hours away.

Some pros undoubtedly didn't sleep -- or slept very little -- as they wondered how practice finds would translate today or imagined what the season could bring. By now those same pros are likely checking tackle they've already checked five times, just to keep hands and minds occupied, maybe by flashlight in the ramp area.

Others slept soundly and are getting ready for another day at the office. Don't let the coolness fool you, though. Their excited and at least a little bit anxious as well.

Six events all have to be won by someone. Those who perform best over the course of the season will qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup, and the best of the best will take the Angler-of-the-Year title. The year's biggest story lines are all total unknowns right now, and they'll begin to unfold this weekend.

For now, though, the focus must be on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, where the full field will fish for the next two days and top performers will continue through Sunday. It's about time to decide whether to stay close or make a run and play the locking game, whether to cover water or concentrate on a spot, whether to punch mats, target spawners, throw moving baits or mix it up... So many decisions. Such large ramifications.

Several big bags will be brought to the scales this afternoon, but some pros are apt to return disappointed and trying to figure out how to regroup and salvage tomorrow. I saw a few photos of big bass from practice. I also read more than a few reports about tough practices.

I'm fairly eager for things to get started, and I'm 500 miles away and with nothing at stake. I'll keep an eye on the FLWFishing Twitter feed through the day. For now, like the anglers and folks who are on site. I can only wait and anticipate.

It All Begins Today

Day one of practice for the @Walmart FLW Tour event on Toho is underway! Good luck to all! #FLWFishing pic.twitter.com/ivhGLkxivg
— FLW (@FLWFishing) March 1, 2015

Things have started! FLW Tour Pros have launched or are launching all over the Kissimmee Lakes chain in central Florida to practice for the tour opener, which begins on Thursday. Despite patches of snow that linger outside my window at home, the start of the FLW Tour season suggests that spring really is coming fairly soon.

I haven't looked at Kissimmee weather, but I suspect the pros will be targeting pre-spawn and even spawning fish. And as the tour itself moves north, so will warmer conditions. The excitement isn't just about spring and warmer weather, though. If you read this blog from time to time you know that I don't really mind cold and even go north instead of south through the winter so I can ice-fish. I just look forward to beginning of each new season, as a fishing writer and as a fan of the sport. I'm eager to see which pros figure things out at each tournament and how the fish behave, and to watch the many story lines that unfold through the season.

Even though the Bassmaster Classic was last weekend, that's a season cap for last year, not a fresh start, so it doesn't satisfy my desire to get things started anew.

I don't know which events I'll attend in person this week, but I'm always tracking them from wherever I am, both through the official tour feeds and through social media from various anglers. I suspect that in all the new excitement, a lot of cool Toho photos and notes will get posted today -- even more than normal for practice -- so I'll definitely have my eyes open!

Tournament Time Approaching

Once we take down the old calendar and replace it with a new one, it's never long before the year's first major bass tournaments begin happening in the Sunshine State and other warm locations. The first Everstart Southern, which will be held on Lake Okeechobee, is only a little more than a week away, and I'm beginning to see Tweets and Facebook post by pros who are heading south to fish the Everstart or the FLW Tour event that will be held on the same waters less than a month later.

On the B.A.S.S. side, the first Southern Open begins Jan. 31 on Florida's Lake Toho, but the bigger early-season buzz is always about the Bassmaster Classic. This year's Classic is scheduled for Feb. 22-24 on Oklahoma's Grand Lake, and pros who will compete are already in full anticipation mode. Classic waters have been off limits to competitors for a couple of weeks, but you can bet that most are busy gathering tackle finalizing travel plans and thinking about things they saw in pre-practice, all the while keeping an eye on weather patterns and lake conditions as they evolve through late winter. I know I'm already working on my Bassmaster Classic plans and am beginning to think about how I think the lake will fish and the types of patterns that will be used too win the event.

Double-Digit Repeat

Photo courtesy of PAA

Gerald Brown and Bobby Lane brought a 10-pound-plus largemouth to the scales for the second day in a row today and overtook the lead in the PAA Tour Team Challenge on Lake Toho. The team's two-day total of 49.65 pounds puts them a little more than a pound ahead of first-day leaders Glenn Browne and Chad Morgenthaler with one day of fishing remaining.

Today was rainy and windy. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and calm. Will Brown and Lane bring double-digit fish No. 3 to tomorrow's weigh-in and enough pounds of total weight to take the crown?

While the teams are fishing, I'll be traveling, and my plan is to be at Bass Pro Shops with my camera in hand by 4:30, when they begin weighing fish.

Toho Delivers Big on Day 1

Photo courtesy of PAA

Plenty of pigs were held high for pictures as PAA pro teams brought their catches to the scales yesterday. It was Day 1 of the PAA Tour Team Challenge, and the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes did not disappoint. Glenn Browne and Chad Morgenthaler took the early lead, with a five fish limit that weighed 31.89 pounds. Gerald Brown and Bobby Lane brought in the day's biggest single bass, which weighed 10.59 pounds.

The pros came to the scales as teams and talked about their day on the water -- not only about the fishing but about the unique dynamic of fishing together. For some it was natural, like buddies just fishing together; for others, who are used to always running the boat and making every decision, fishing together was a challenge and required some adjustments.

Today is supposed to be windy and rainy. That could make navigation rough, and it certainly won't favor sight-fishing; however it could turn on a different bite and create some pretty exciting fishing.

For updates throughout the day today and tomorrow, visit the PAA's facebook page. Yesterday, they were able to post shots of some hawgs right after they were caught -- stuff that made it pretty clear that the weigh-in would be exciting for fans. To see great photo galleries and more detailed reports, visit fishpaa.com.

Toho Practice Begins Today

The current Kissimmee outlook warns of heavy fog, so the going might begin a little slow as PAA teams launch into first official practice day for the unique team event that begins on Thursday. The good news in the same forecast from a fishing fan's perspective is that the 5-day is full of sun and 80s. That means the Kissimmee Chain's fabulous bass fishing should show itself well and that some of the big girls in the system should be moving up onto their beds.

The PAA Tour Team Challenge promises big fun for fishing fans and for the fishermen themselves, who rarely get to fish together. Most pros have fished countless team tournaments over the years, but not at this level and with so many top names in the field. Add prime time for big fish on the legendary waters of Lake Toho and the rest of the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes...

Terry Scroggins and Gerald Swindle, good friends who travel together and share information during the Elite Series season, ended last year having to compete head-to-head in a B.A.S.S. play-off format tournament. This week they not only get to practice together, they get to compile their shared findings into a single strategy and fish side-by-side as a team come tournament time. Scroggins and Swindle have both won B.A.S.S. events on Toho, by the way.

Pairings also include Shaw Grigsby & Paul Elias; Russ Lane & Derek Remitz; Mike McClelland & Jared Lintner... And then there are the top pros that you can bet have matched themselves with the best local angler whose name I don't know but whose faces are very well known by anyone who ever fishes tournaments on the Kissimmee Chain. Should be exciting.

I'll have to learn all I can and report from home through most of the week, but on Saturday I'm Florida bound to watch the final-day stories unfold live!