302 teams launched from Palatka City Docks along the St. John’s River on May 20th for the 34th Annual Wolfson Children’s Hospital Bass Tournament. An event that started when the director of the plant facilities department of Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, along with several others, wanted to raise funds for technological advancements at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, have some fun, and get some time on the water has turned into one of the top bass tournaments east of the Mississippi. Daniel Robertson and Steven Keith, both from Gainesville, FL, etched their names into the WCH Bass Tournament record books by winning the 34th edition of the Wolfson Children’s Hospital Bass Tournament. Robertson and Keith topped the 302 boat field by weighing a 25.11 pound, 5 bass limit to earn the top prize of $10,000.00. The duo has fished the event in the past, with their highest finish cracking the Top 10, but they’ve never had an opportunity to hoist the first place trophies, until now.
Steven Keith shows off part of the winning bag
Photo: Becky Williams With the Buckhead Lock to Rodman being closed for maintenance issues, all teams, including Robertson and Keith, had to focus on the waters of the St. John’s River. “Pitching pads and a buzzbait,” said Robertson on how they put their winning bag together in a post tournament interview on stage. The buzzbait used? A 3/8 oz Boogerman Buzzbait in a Bluegill/24K Gold Delta Blade combo.
Photo: Boogerman Lures Randall Alvarez and Jocham Williams took home the runner up spot with a 24.42 pound, 5 bass limit. “Everyone of them we had, we had in the boat by about 10:00,” said Williams about their second place bag, worth $4,000.00. Third place went to the team of Chris Cercy and Eric Roberts who brought a 21.75 pound, 5 bass limit to the scales to take home $3,000.00. Cercy and Roberts caught their bag ‘pitchin’ pads with creature baits’. Justin Woods and Clayton Woods earned a fourth place finish worth $2,500.00. They weighed a 21.65 pound, 5 bass limit, their biggest coming on a topwater bait around 11:00. Both anglers emphasized that ‘it was a grind’ to put together the bag they weighed. Rounding out the Top 5 was the team of Richard Kitchens & Nick Thliveros who weighed a 21.27 pound, 5 bass limit worth $1,750.00. “It was a grind,” stated Kitchens. “Very few fish throughout the day, but almost everything came on topwater.” Big Bass from the event came from the 30th place team of Tyler Calderone and Lance Nelson. The duo boated a 9.82 pound St. John’s River Lunker to earn $5,000.00 in addition to their Top 40 finish. “It was our second fish, right at 1:00, it was real hot”, stated Nelson. The fish fell for a swim jig under a shady tree.
Tyler Calderone holds up the Big Bass of the event
Photo: Becky Williams
Top 10
Place
Team
# of Fish
Big Fish
Total Weight
Winnings
1
Daniel Robertson & Steven Keith
5
7.46
25.11
$10,000.00
2
Randall Alvarez & Jocham Williams
5
24.42
$4,000.00
3
Chris Cercy & Eric Roberts
5
21.75
$3,000.00
4
Justin Woods & Clayton Woods
5
7.01
21.65
$2,500.00
5
Richard Kitchens & Nick Thliveros
5
21.27
$1,750.00
6
Justin Atkinson & Brett Bollinger
5
21.09
$1,250.00
7
Todd O’Guin & Michael Sikes
5
7.29
21.00
$1,000.00
8
Frank Streeter & Robin Hodges
5
20.24
$700.00
9
Eric Lewis & Phil Cury
5
6.56
19.61
$600.00
10
Joshua Potter & Parker Stalvey
5
19.17
$500.00
