Team Xtreme

Winning a team points champion-ship in the Xtreme Bass Series is an accomp-lishment that not many ang-lers can brag about. So when Jimbo Denton and Matt Beck, last year’s Xtreme Team of the Year champions, hit the water recently on Lake Okeechobee for the 2011 champion-ship, defending their title was definitely on their minds.

Special to the Chronicle

Lecanto resident Mattthew Beck, left, and Ocala’s Jimbo Denton display two of their five bass that comprised more than 23 pounds of fish during day one of the Xtreme Bass Series Championship on Lake Okeechobee this November. While eventually finishing seventh overall in the two-day tournament, the team won the overall points title for 2011, their second consecutive team of the year title. The Xtreme Bass Series conducts events throughout Florida, as well as in parts of Georgia and Alabama.

When day two of the tournament wound up, Denton and Beck, who are both pro staff members of Warrior Baits, had weighed in 40.39 pounds of bass, which was good enough for a seventh-place overall finish, and another team title champ­ionship.
“It has never been done before,” said Denton, of Oca­la, about the back-to-back Team of the Year titles. “After the first day, we were down 12 pounds to the lea­der and we were fishing just to cut a check. There were a lot of big stringers and we were hoping we could get the points championship again.”
Okeechobee was indeed giving up large stringers of bass during the championship. Gary Niemi and James Dyer brought in a five-fish bag on day one that almost tipped over the scales at 35.32 pounds. Out of the 73 teams fishing on the first day, 63 brought in five-fish limits that collectively weighed just un­der 987 pounds.
Niemi and Dyer wound up with a whopping two-day total of 61.34 pounds, which was good for the first-place prize money of $15,000.
Anglers Scott Bradley and Dan Blanchard were not to be outdone. On day two, the pair brought in a five-fish bag weighing an incredible 36.61 pounds. They would finish in second place with 60.82 pounds of fish.
Denton and Beck were sitting in ninth place overall after the first day, with a 23.36-pound bag of fish. They followed that up on the second day with five bass weighing 16.98 pounds, which was good for seventh-place prize money in the amount of $1,200.
Frontal systems and windy conditions muddied up Lake Okeechobee, so it was tough conditions for fishing, according to Denton, who is also sponsored by Deep South rods.
“The key was finding clean water,” he said. “We casted all day and figured it would be our best bet. We couldn’t get a fish to bite flipping, which is one of our strengths.”
Bass were in both a pre- and post-spawn mode. Hundreds of beds could be seen, according to Beck, who hails from Lecanto.
“To catch 36 pounds of bass, the stars have to line up right for you,” Beck said. “And even then, it does not happen very often. After day one, we set our sights on the points race and were able to catch enough fish to achieve it.”
Billy Jackson Sr. and Billy Jackson Jr. of Ocala placed fifth overall, with a weight of 45.21 pounds, good for $1,400 in prize money. Inverness’ Robbie Crosnoe and his partner, Rich Howes, came in eighth place behind Denton and Beck with 40.33 pounds of fish, good for a payout of $1,100. Father and son duo Shawn and Chris Keith of Gainesville placed 13th overall.
“They (Shawn and Chris Keith) were breathing down our necks all year long,” Beck said about the 2011 Xtreme season in the Lake Rousseau division. “It was a tough, grueling year this season and we had to work hard for every ounce of fish. I heard down at Okeechobee that we have a target on our back now. We are looking forward to another competitive year.”
The Xtreme Bass Series will kick off once again in January. For more information, go to www.extreme fishingseries.com.
Dan Hermes is an outdoors writer based out of Inverness. He can be reached at danoutdoors 2001@yahoo.com.