Fishing retreat photos on Brian Barde’s Falcon boat.

@BFKfishing

Great day on the water yesterday

This little guy tried to eat an entire SMH worm! I think it’s a warmouth. Am I right?

One of the ones caught this past weekend in Lake Underhill in Orlando. I’m sure I would’ve caught more had I got to have gone to the retreat. However I did catch and also got a chance to get my boat checked out and put it in the water for a spin. Progress.

A few other great pics from the retreat and our cookout, along with the beautiful sunrise and sunset on lake Russell. Such a great time and loved meeting everyone

Wow, what a great outing it has been. I had a blast fishing and it was really cool meeting some of you that are on the app! Got to talk to Gene Jensen, that was cool seeing what he had to say! Brian, it was great getting to talk a bit more with you in person, thank you to you and your crew for what you all do to put this thing together! Russell was awesome, I'd be down again with it!

So my pick for the 2025 SUF event is this one, my new PB I had talked about at the awards event. Got it on a Zman gill colored sling bladez. Love that bait. I got to weigh it, but had nothing to measure length 😞 and I need to work on my camera skills but 5 lbs 1 oz. was the weight. I've measured some 20s in the past and doing the ol eye ball guesstestimate, this fish was over 22in. Yup my fish story!! 😆. BIGGEST bass I ever cought! That was on Sat, believe me I tried to pick that area apart on tournament day two or three times, lol... anyhow.. What a great event!! And for me a much needed vacation ! ( I'll put a pick of my tornament day go to baits in here also. The top water bite was so fun, we don't get that up here till mid May, and it only last for a month or so when a buzz baits really effective)

I took a local high school angler that reached out to me to a local lake to help him prep for his regional tournament. Showed him a few "secret" things to make his trip memorable. The next generation helping the next generation.

This tournament was a difficult one to swallow but it was also an amazing chance to learn and grow being that I considered Russell my home lake. But at the same time I couldn’t be more content I had a great time on the water with my buddy Barrett, learned a lot, and got to hang out with a bunch of great people from the SUF school. I’m excited to apply what I learned and take on the next tournament!

Breaking in the custom made Barde Rod at Lake Russell during the retreat. First fish was a 17 1/2 spotted bass. Not bad, Thanks Barde.