Colorado River Guide Blog

When It Rains, It Pours — Texas’ natural resources showed their potential in 2004, thanks to higher than normal rainfall across most of the state. The abundance of water created lush habitat conditions, setting the stage for near-record production among many wildlife species, particularly quail and deer. While hunters were enjoying the rewards of a bountiful season, anglers and park visitors saw newfound opportunities as rivers and streams flowed again and lakes, like Falcon, returned to normal levels.

Rare Species Rebound — Several high-profile species of concern passed milestones in 2004, including record highs for whooping cranes and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. This winter, the world’s last natural wild population of whooping cranes flew past the 200 mark, a landmark event for an endangered bird species that has come back from the brink of extinction during the past six decades. Throughout the summer of 2004, the world’s most endangered sea turtle returned to nest on Texas beaches in record numbers. Forty-one Kemp’s ridley nests were reported. Also encouraging was the change in status of the black-tailed prairie dog, which was removed from the candidate list of species considered for threatened status under the Endangered Species Act.

Producing and Paying for Fish — The process to build and finance a new state fish hatchery got under way in 2004, with Jasper getting the nod as the site for the facility. To help pay for the new hatchery, the Texas Legislature created a Freshwater Fishing Stamp, providing the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department with an opportunity to reposition its suite of hunting and fishing licenses. The agency eliminated requirements for several specialty stamps and created license packages that better reflect a user-pay, user-benefit philosophy. Also making a big “splash” in a state fish hatchery this year was the donation of a new state record blue catfish to the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. The 121-pound behemoth was transported alive to the TFFC where it continues to be on display to the public in the facility’s aquarium.

New State Parks Pass Proves Popular — More than 50,000 state park fans have purchased the new Texas State Parks Pass that went on sale Jan. 1. The new annual pass is similar in appearance to a credit card and is designed to be easier to use. The Texas State Parks Pass costs $60 for one card and $75 for a two card family membership. It replaced the gold Texas Conservation Passport. The new pass provides free entry to all state parks and historic sites for members and their guests, camping discounts and “extra perks.”

Birds Take Center Stage — The long-awaited debut in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of the $7 million World Birding Center drew dignitaries from state and local governmental entities and interested ‚birders‛ to the Oct. 23-24 grand opening. The WBC headquarters in Mission becomes the second of eight sites to open along the Texas-Mexico border from Roma to South Padre Island. Another first in the Texas birding community also came along in 2004 with the inclusion of a blind and visually-impaired birding category in the 8th annual Great Texas Birding Classic’s team competition, which was held in April along the central
and upper Texas coast. The groups identify birds by sound instead of sight. The España Tweetybirds beat out two other teams in the category by identifying 40 species. A Texas birding team and a team of young birders from Illinois, Maryland, Michigan and New York tied for first, identifying 359 bird species. A total of 56 teams competed. Winning teams were awarded a total of $51,000 that they then donated to fund Texas coastal conservation habitat projects to benefit birds and birders.

Golden Alga Spreads — A naturally-occurring toxin that has become deadly to fish in North and Central Texas expanded its range in 2004, hitting Lake Texoma, one of the states’ biggest lakes, and spreading into Oklahoma. Resource conservation agencies from Texas and Oklahoma are now combining efforts to research and monitor golden alga there. Since 2001, golden alga fish kills have occurred at two dozen reservoirs in Texas.

Bighorn Sheep Hunt Giveaway Signals Species Comeback — Coincidentally, a pair of firefighters from different parts of the state were selected in a drawing of all licensed hunters in Texas to receive a complimentary desert bighorn sheep hunt. TPWD sheep census surveys in 2004 indicated record-high populations of desert bighorns and, in a gesture of appreciation to hunters whose license dollars have helped restore this majestic big game animal, the agency decided to give two hunts away.

Justice Served for Nature — A decades old legal dispute was finally resolved bya mitigation settlement. The case stemmed from mercury discharge into Lavaca Bay by Alcoa and a sister company. Alcoa has already spent $40 million and will spend another $11 million for remaining cleanup. The company will also compensate the public for lost ecological and recreational resources, including adding land to a national wildlife refuge, restoring marshes, creating a new oyster reef and funding a series of fishing piers and boat docks around the bay. Earlier in the year, four individuals who wounded and killed several state-protected trumpeter swans were brought to justice after an extensive and exhausting investigation by state game wardens. Three of the five swans, which are a protected migratory non-game species, died and the other two are being cared for at an Iowa rehabilitation facility. The poachers involved pled guilty to 20 various game law violations and were assessed more than $17,000 in fines and related costs.

San Jacinto Battleground Artifacts Uncovered — An unprecedented archeological project under way at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site near LaPorte led to the discovery of dozens of battle artifacts such as musket balls, belt buckles and Mexican coins. A display of some of the discoveries, which already are shedding new light on the decisive 1836 battle that led to Texas’ independence from Mexico, highlighted the annual San Jacinto Symposium held at the University of Houston April 23. The archeological project is the precursor to the implementation of the first part of a $47 million master plan for the park, which calls for restoring the battleground to its 1836 appearance, a new Visitor’s Center and Museum, among other improvements. – Lake Mohave

AUSTIN, Texas — TengoInternet and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are starting a pilot program to offer wireless Internet service at five Texas state parks — Choke Canyon State Park (Calliham) near Three Rivers, Blanco State Park near Blanco, Balmorhea State Park near Toyahvale, Goose Island State Park near Rockport, and Ray Roberts Lake State Park (Isle du Bois) near Pilot Point.

The pilot program is designed to determine visitor interest for Wi-Fi within the state parks system. Wi-Fi, short for wireless fidelity, allows computer users to share a high-speed Internet connection without the *****bersome wires or delays caused by dial-up access. The wireless service will allow park guests to access the Internet to gain park information, send e-mail or pictures, or just surf the Web, without having to plug cables into a network.

The TengoInternet service will be available for park visitors in the pilot parks beginning Jan. 1. Park visitors will be able to use the service for free during a promotional period and then pay for usage later in the spring.

“The State Parks Division is excited to provide wireless Internet to our visitors at some of our state parks in Texas,” said Pam Carleton, TPWD’s state parks concession manager. “Though we realize many folks want to escape technology while at parks, this is an option for those who want to plan their next camping stop, check weather and get other information online.”

“This is a great opportunity for TengoInternet to help TPWD assess interest for Wi-Fi in its parks and to demonstrate our excellent service,” said Eric Stumberg, president and CEO of TengoInternet.

TengoInternet is the oldest and largest wireless Internet service provider for the campground industry, enabling campground operators to keep their customers connected. TengoInternet currently provides broadband wireless access service for campgrounds, hotels and apartment complexes throughout the United States.

For more information about TengoInternet’s wireless service, please call (512) 750-4979. For overnight camping reservations at a Texas state park, please call (512) 389-8900. For general state park information, call (800) 792-1112. – Lake Mohave

Most of our East Texas lakes have undergone massive changes in the last year, and none have been so severely affected as Sam Rayburn. The temperature is hot, the fishing is not; and, grass was hardly anywhere to be seen! With only one day to prefish before our last Anglers Choice Couples tournament before the championship, it was panic time – Rayburn caught us off guard, so we decided to get a guide and concentrate efforts. Thank goodness for the Internet, I did a quick search and came up with the name of David Scarborough who guides out of Jackson Hill Marina, just north of the 147 bridge. We emailed back and fourth several times and made our final arrangements to meet that Saturday. David agreed to go in our Skeeter so we could mark the areas he showed us on our GPS.

David Scarborough was very knowledgeable of Rayburn (“Big Sam” as locals affectionately call the lake), and he was most helpful in describing the why’s and how to’s of exactly what he was doing to catch his fish. He is a full-time guide and fishes exclusively Sam Rayburn. He is on the lake a minimum of 5 days a week; and, whether he has a guide trip or not, he feels it’s important to stay up with the fish movements and stay in touch with what’s going on. He took us to three of his key areas on the north end of the lake that he had found to be holding fish. Although the fishing was slow, we did catch several good bass (see photo) in the Black Forest area, some in the mouth of Julie Creek and a couple off the 147 bridge area. Since most of the grass is gone, the key was structure and cover on the structure. In all the areas we fished, there was very little grass, but there was some, which was extremely important. The grass is usually highly visible this time of the year and matted on the surface, but this year was different. We were lucky to find an area that had grass 2/3-feet deep. We left the lake feeling confident in our upcoming tournament and very thankful for David’s help and assistance.

The following Saturday morning found us on the lake before daylight. Norman headed off in his Skeeter 202, and I took the other Boots Follmar Marine Pro Staff Skeeter 210 (and the GPS), and headed the opposite direction to check on some of my old haunts. Because we have two boats, were able to cover twice the water in half the time.

I made sure I could find the areas we
had been the previous weekend with David plus did some exploration on my own and found an area in the Black Forest that looked to be quite promising. The area I found was surrounded by deep water and had a creek bend running through a little finger (underwater point) on the edge of the forest. Not only was there deep water nearby, but the water depth varied anywhere from 8-22 feet. The next day at weigh-in, a friend of ours said they had seen us on the lake and the spot we were fishing was one that a superteam tournament had been won on several years before. That made my day!

On our practice day, due to the heat (100+ degrees), we were on the lake only until 12:30. By coming off the lake early, we accomplished two major tasks, one allowed us to get back to the camp and get our gear ready for tournament day, and the second was to get a good night’s rest so we could be fresh for the tournament.

Tournament day was unusual in that a cold front had come through, the wind was blowing 30-40 mph (the wind had been calm for months prior to tournament day) and our primary areas were all mainlake spots. Thank goodness for the Yamaha 225, it got us to where we were going with no problems; however, due to the high winds these mainlake areas were shut down and nothing was biting except the wind. Tournament fishing is feast or famine with us and this one was a near disaster. We had to anchor on our spots to hold and had waves coming in over the bow. Norman was sick that day, but did manage to boat one keeper. We went into the tournament in 6th place and finished out the year in 9th place overall and qualified for the championship, which was our primary objective. Even though we didn’t load the boat with fish that day, we were winners in my book because we were versatile enough to make a change and make it work for us.

In spite of the dangerous conditions, the Skeeter/Yamaha was strong enough to get us there and back and made the ride in comfort. Many boaters simply just don’t know how to trim a boat in rough conditions and Norman is absolutely the best that I’ve ever ridden with. Not only does he trim the jack plate and the trim all the way down, he has a knack and instinct on how to handle each wave to get the smoothest ride and least amount of resistance. We’ve all seen boats going across the water pounding the waves, bow up in the air, bouncing across the water . . . that is simply just not necessary, and over the years, an anglers spine is going to pay the price for all that pounding. When it comes to buying boats, you can buy price or you can buy quality, and in the end, as the old saying goes, “. . . you get what you pay for!”
The following weekend we had a club tournament on Rayburn and Norman and his best friend, Bill Ritzell, fished together for the first time all year and won our local tournament with some 28 pounds between them. Bill is also sponsored by Boots Follmar Marine and is one of the best, and most naturally gifted anglers I’ve ever met (aside from Norman). Even though the heat was in excess of 100 degrees, Bill, found most of their fish in less than 2-feet of water and caught them on topwaters and Zoom Trick worms.

Bill also fishes the couples circuit with us; and he and his partner, Robin Johnston, finished 6th in the tournament the week before. They caught all their fish from the same location. They caught them on topwater baits, with high blue-bird skies, temperature soaring well over 100 degrees and the winds a howling, and they fished that shallow water all day long. Bill and Robin also qualified for the championship to be held on the Red River in October.

It just goes to show you that no matter how hot it is, or how rough it is, there are always some fish to be caught in shallow water! Most everyone I know was out looking for the fish in the deeper cooler waters using Carolina rigs, but not Bill, he found him a “sweet spot,” stuck with it and it paid off two weeks in a row! Never second guess as to what the fish are doing. You can always formulate a game plan, but if you can’t make it work, try something radically different and unexpected, the results may surprise you!

Our guide, David Scarborough, showed us some excellent areas on Rayburn, and we have since returned to those areas under conditions other than north winds, and caught lots of fish there! The Black Forest area has always been temperamental in a north wind, but if you can catch the wind and fishing conditions just right, it’s always a place to give serious consideration and attention; as some mighty big giants have traditionally come from these waters. David was an excellent guide. His knowledge of the lake is very good and he is willing to help you any way he can. If any of you would like to talk to him about a guide trip on Rayburn, his email address is: dgs@lcc.net or you can phone him at (409) 897-3140.
– Lake Mohave

Texas is abundantly blessed with many wonderful fishing lakes and recreational facilities. Lake Livingston is the last major lake on the Trinity River before it runs into the Gulf of Mexico. It is a great place to go for a family weekend or summer vacation getaway. Lake Livingston is located only an hour’s drive north of Houston. The area is rich in Indian history and it’s common to find arrowheads along the shoreline, around the swimming beaches, islands, etc. For those camping enthusiasts, there is a State Park located on the south end with campsites overlooking the lake. The one thing that separates Lake Livingston from all other Texas’ lakes is that the hotter the weather, the better the fishing!

The Black Bass and even White Bass fishing is really quite good during the summer. Black bass are fairly predictable, in that you will rarely find them deeper than about 5-6 feet, which narrows down the water you have to search. The lake can basically be divided into three fishing areas: The upper end, which is basically river fishing; the mid-lake area, which has an abundance of feeder creeks, timber and flats to fish; and the south end, which has lots of boat docks, bulkheads, flats and sloughs to explore.

When fishing the upper reaches of the Trinity River, the channel is well marked by buoys and is easily followed upriver to some of the premier fishing spots. There are three major creeks on the upper end of the lake and they are Carolina, Bethey and Harmon creeks. It is very common to find black bass buried up in the log jams up and down the Trinity River banks. The log jams may only be in 1-2 feet of water, but they will be right off the main river channel and the bass will be hidden in the cooler, shaded water of the log jams and can be caught by flipping a Texas rigged worm or craw worm with a heavy weight into the thickest of the timber.

Fishing mid-lake north of Hwy. 190 bridge up to the Caney and White Rock Creek areas can also be very productive. Due to the lake being stained to off-colored most of the year, the choice of crankbait colors usually centers around some version of firetiger. Usually shallow to medium running baits such as Bombers, Bill Normans’, Excalibur, Fat Free Shad or Bandit crankbaits will work the best for the water depth you should be fishing. If you can’t find them on crankbaits, don’t hesitate to throw a white and chartreuse spinnerbait, a Carolina rig with a light 1/2 oz. weight or a Texas rigged worm. Besides the two creeks mentioned above, other creeks that you should try in the mid-lake area would be Brushy, Palmetto, Poole’s, Brown’s and Hart’s. The mid-lake area is full of timber and laydowns and you’ll find rocky areas holding fish as well. When running the lake, stay within the red and green channel buoys and don’t run out of the channel on plane, unless you know where your going and even then, be careful, the lake is known for its many sandbars and flats.

The south end of the lake is always much clearer, and some of the major creeks and sloughs to fish are Kickapoo, Sandy, Penwaugh,
Alligator, Wolfe, and Indian. There are lots of boat docks with brush piles planted out in front that will keep you busy as well as standing timber, laydowns and flats.

When Norman and I practice on Lake Livingston, we usually take both Boots Follmar Marine Skeeter Pro Staff boats. The reason for this is that we can cover more water in a shorter time frame. Each of us fishes differently; and in separate boats, we can really get a good feel for what’s happening on the lake. Norman likes the Skeeter 202 powered by the 200 Yamaha because it’s a faster and more responsive boat and he can run way up river or down south and leave me putting around the mid-lake area and we both still have plenty of water to fish. I like the 210 with the 225 Yamaha because we have more options on the 210 along with the Lowrance Global 2000, and I also like the extra room. Because we really skip from one spot to another all over the lake, neither one of us could do without our MotorGuide PowerGator which really makes for a nice pleasant day of fishing without a lot of work on our part. We have switches on the console to raise and lower the trol motor and also have switches on the bow for the same purpose. There is no bending down 15-25 times a day, pulling a cord and lifting up the trolling motor. The older we get the more we’re into conveniences and comfort; and, the PowerGator is one item we just won’t leave home without!

Norman and I used to dread fishing Lake Livingston because we just didn’t do very well there, but I have to give a large amount of credit to the guides we’ve fished with over the years on that lake. Professional guides not only know the lake, but they know where and how the fish are and what baits will work for what type of water conditions. The information we gained from fishing with Slade and Randy Dearman has helped us over many years. Dad and son do not fish the same way either, but you could not ask for any more knowledge about that lake than what those two can provide.

Many of you will remember Randy’s B.A.S.S. win on Sam Rayburn a few years back and know that he has been a professional fisherman and B.A.S.S. touring pro for more than 20 years. Randy is sponsored by Stratos Boats, OMC, Strike King, Browning and Flowmaster. His son, Slade grew up fishing Livingston and now competes against his dad on the various circuits and has turned into quite a professional angler all on his own. They live in Onalaska and fish the lake whenever their schedules allow. Without a doubt, they are the best there is on the lake!

Learning some of the key areas to fish and baits to use will do nothing but improve your trip to Livingston. By hiring a good guide, your success and information gained will go with you and you can return another day to duplicate what you did with the guide. Why spend your vacation or tournament day being frustrated because you can’t locate or catch the fish? When you don’t have time to spend hours on hours, days, weeks and years learning a lake, why not invest in the knowledge gained by someone who has already done the homework and is a master of the lake?

Randy doesn’t have time to guide much anymore, but from time to time, you might be able to twist his arm, and if he and Slade aren’t pursuing the professional tournament tours, you might get one of them to take you out. If you would like to book a trip with one of these proficient and expert guides, call (409) 967-0460 or (409) 646-5207. – Lake Mohave

It’s summer, the winds have died, the days are unbearably hot, the fishing gets R E E L slow (pardon the pun), and you just have to adjust, so what do the diehards do? You can get an earlier start and take advantage of great topwater action (buzzbaits, spooks, Rogue’s, Pop R’s, Chug Bugs, etc.) until the sun gets up; then, its time to take drastic measures. In lakes with vegetation, you basically have four options: Plunge the grass, drift the mainlake flats and ridges along the edges of creek channels, fish the points or go to the house and get in the air-conditioning until about 8 p.m.!

Some lakes don’t have an abundance of vegetation, and in those situations, look for the fish to be suspended over deep water ledges, humps, deep water pond dams or along creek channel edges. The fish will be holding in these areas on cover such as rocks or timber near the deep water. You can also locate the fish under the deeper boat docks; or, possibly find them in the mouths of cuts, guts, drains and old sloughs upriver. Regardless of where you find them, the fishing is going to be slow and methodical and the catching is always iffy at best!

If you ask any “grass fishermen”, what’s the key answer — without a doubt, it will be PLUNGE THE GRASS. This means, get out your flipping rod, have heavy line on (17-20# test), take a 1 to 1 1/4 oz. bullet weight with a 4-5/0 wide gap flipping hook and rig a Gene Larew Hawg Craw Texas style. Find yourself a grass bed (this time of year these beds are visible on the surface) and look for some unusual features such as cuts, drains or small creeks running through the massive grass beds, points jutting out from the edges, pockets, etc. Position the boat near the area you want to fish, drop the line over the side and vertically fish or flip to the edges or pockets of the grass and work the bait back to the boat. Let the bait hit the bottom, bump it up one or two times and reel it back in and repeat. You may not get many bites, but they are usually good ones!

Last summer, plunging the grass was not nearly as productive as using spinning gear, light line and “wacky worm” fishing these same areas. The reason this method seemed to produce more bass was because of lake drawdowns, drought conditions and the disappearance of the normally dense vegetation we were used to fishing. There simply was not as much grass to fish.

One of our favorite methods to fish in the summer is to “drift fish”. Experience has taught us that in different parts of the country this means different things. Don’t ever ask an Okie if they want to drift fish, it doesn’t even come close to meaning the same thing! Here in Texas, Norman and I point the nose of our Boots Follmar Marine Prostaff Skeeter 210 or 202 into the wind, turn the Yamaha motor towards the wind (if any) and position the boat to drift the mainlake flats and ridges along the edges of the flats and near deep water. The reason for turning the motor towards the wind is to keep the boat drifting parallel to the area your trying to fish with the least amount of effort and trolling motor usage. We usually fish these areas with either a Texas rig, Carolina rig, or “Wacky Worm.”

For fishing mainlake points, this time of year we look for long sloping points that extend a great distance out into the deeper water. Look for the dropoffs where the concentrated grass ends and the scattered grass begins. We fish these
areas with our same basic arsenal, Texas, Carolina or Wacky rigs. Any or all three of these methods will work even in the hottest part of the day!

When fishing lakes without a lot of vegetation, concentrate on finding long underwater points extending way out into the lake but have some sort of breaking cover, i.e., stumps, rocks, fence lines, etc. Use the same rigs as mentioned above and concentrate your efforts on the cover that will be holding the fish. Don’t overlook mainlake humps, deep water pond dams and along the edges of the creeks, creek junctions (where two creeks come together), as they are also good producers this time of year.

Get your flipping stick out and use in and around the boat docks with deep water close by. Also look for docks that are older, have X cross members underneath and are set on pilings (not floating docks.) Also avoid docks in the backs of the creeks/coves or in the shallow waters, they usually don’t produce this time of year. Other good indicators are to look for docks that have some evidence of regular fishing use, such as rod holders or fishing rods dangling off the ends. If you can find these docks in areas near deep water, it might be a wise decision to turn on your electronics and look for brush piles off the ends. And if all else fails, get out your Carolina rig or crankbait and you will soon discover the brushy areas. Fish this type of brushy cover very thoroughly as well as under the docks as these are areas that are sure to be holding fish.

One other method to try in areas of little vegetation is to go upriver until the lake narrows down into a defined channel and look for cuts, guts, drains and sloughs (“funnel points”, as our friend John Hope would say). Try the mouths of these areas and look for logjams, stumps, rocks, etc. These are very good areas to fish and are easy to fish.

As the day progresses and the heat really sets in, keep a towel in the cooler and ring it out over your head to get your body temperature down, or dip a towel in the lake. It’s not a pretty sight, but it is effective. Drink lots of fluids and pay particular attention to what your body is telling you. If you start feeling dizzy, sick at your stomach, or light headed, get your body heat down quickly, anyway you can. You can always take a quick dip over the side and climb back in and fish awhile longer. Sun stroke or heat exhaustion is no laughing matter and can make for many uncomfortable days after the fishing is over. If the heat gets to be too much, or you just can’t make the fish cooperate, it’s time to go to the house, put your feet up and sit in the a/c and watch fishing shows on TV! Don’t let the dog days get the best of you, learn to take advantage of the many opportunities available and try to stay C O O L! – Lake Mohave

“Woo, Woo, Woo …” is all you could hear from the crowd as seasoned veteran pro angler, Woo Daves, from Burrowsville, Virginia, entered Soldier Field stadium in Chicago on the final day of competition to take the World Championship BASS Masters Classic title with 27 lbs. 13 oz.
“I primarily targeted exclusively smallmouth, using 6 lb. line and a Zoom tubejig around an abandoned seawall in front of Chicago’s Sears Tower. On a tournament like this, you’ve got to battle the winds and the odds with no sleep, and there are just so many things…fishing is such a mental thing, and that’s what so great about Rick Clunn, he’s a mental man. I fished my first BASS Classic in 1975…back then, we didn’t see the Timmy Horton’s, Kevin VanDam, Aaron Martens or Michael Iaconelli’s. What I’m talking about is all these young fishermen out there today….BASS has done an outstanding job over the years of promoting the sport through television and with BASS MASTERS Magazine, and it’s because of BASS that we’re seeing so many young anglers. What a great sport it is when you can tell these young fishermen that you can make a living doing this….Kids want to know what they can do to become a professional bass fisherman, that’s the number one question we get asked. The first thing we always tell them is, get a college education first, then if it is still your desire, get into professional fishing. Timmy Horton really had a tough tournament this week…but I told him he had nothing to be ashamed of, taking the Angler of the Year title in the 1999-2000 season is a major accomplishment, and something in which he could be very proud.”

In prior BASS classics, Woo has had a 2nd and a 3rd place finish on his home waters in Virginia, but the 1st place victory kept slipping past by mere ounces, but not this year. He goes home with $100,000 as first place prize money; and, with additional endorsements, his victory in 2000 could easily amass to over $1,000,000. Not bad for a 25-year BASS veteran who already had two national championships and 15 classics under his belt. This hard work and dedication proved his strength and abilities are only getting better every year. Woo’s sponsors going into this event
were: Tracker Marine, Mercury, Zebco, Quantum, MotorGuide, Hendrick Motor Sports, Flowmaster, Diehard Batteries, Zoom Bait Co., Stren, Strike Zone Lures, Gator Grip Measuring Boards, Plano, Jack’s Juice and Striker Jigs. Woo’s final weight of 27 lbs. 13 oz. eased out 2nd place pro angler, Mark Rizk, from Antelope, California, who finished with 26 lbs. 11 oz.
At 37, Mark Rizk has only fished the BASS Western Invitationals for three years and has qualified for the Classic twice. Mark said his usual style of fishing is a very aggressive “assault pattern” but, due to conditions, he had to switch over to the new “drop-shot” finesse fishing pattern in order to find his fish. Amazingly, he had only used the drop-shot rig in one other prior tournament. He had the heaviest five-fish limit the last day of 10.1 lbs. which propelled him from third place to a second place finish.
Mark learned to fish from his dad when he was only 8. He gave up being a marine technician to follow his dream along the tournament trail and finished 7th in his first Classic. In the ‘99-2000 season, he finished in the top 25 and placed in the money in each of the BASS events he fished. His sponsors are: ProCraft Boats, Mercury, Snag Proof Lures, Worldwaters.com, Revolver Rods, VPR-Pro Team Magic, Wacko Tackle, Assault Lures, Phil’s Props and Value Plumbing.
Shaw Grigsby, who was in second before the final round of competition on Saturday, was bumped down into third place, with a total weight of 24 lbs. 7 oz. Shaw, being another seasoned veteran and truly the showman, struggled the last day to come in with just four bass, dropping him into third place. He caught both largemouth and smallmouth bass on a Luck ‘E’ Strike G4 tubejig. Shaw, at 44, has won over $1,000,000 on the BASSMASTER Tournament Trail and has his own TV Show, One More Cast With Shaw Grigsby. He is no stranger to the limelight and the promotional end of the business and his sponsors include: Triton Boats, Mercury, Zebco/Quantum, MotorGuide, Stren, Strike King, Lowrance, Luck “E” Strike Lures, Ocean Waves, Flowmaster, Hawker Energy, Ford and Team Joe Smith.
Tied for fourth place was Rick Clunn and Kotaro Kiriyama with 23 lbs. 14 oz. each. Rick was also fishing on Lake Calumet in shallow water with broken rocks. He primarily used a Bill Norman Tiny N and a Balsa BII crankbait. Being the true sportsman that he is, he admitted to two mistakes during the tournament. The first was not using enough light line and the second was not spending enough time on the main lake, obviously, he was disappointed. Rick Clunn is one of the best anglers to ever compete in BASS tournaments. He has won over $2,000,000 on the tournament trails, and at age 53 is still going strong. He has won 12 BASSMASTER tournaments and four BASS Masters Classics. He has finished in the money 71% of the 250 tournaments he has fished with BASS. His sponsors include Tracker Boats, Bass Pro Shops, Stanley Jigs, Lunker Lure, Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, Luck “E” Strike Lures, and Rick Clunn Signature Rods and Reels.
Kotaro Kiriyama is a native of Japan but spends half of his time in California competing in the Western Invitationals. He has only fished the BASS circuit for two years. He has earned a paycheck in six of the nine events he has fished and at 29, he is moving up in the ranks at an amazingly fast pace. Kotaro also used light 6 lb. line with zipper worms in either watermellon or chartreuse colors and he used a popper by Lake Police and jerkbaits in the main lake. He also used the drop-shot rig on a 6-inch leader. Kotaro’s sponsors are: Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outbords, Restaffine Custom Rods, Zipper Worms, Shimano, Zappu, Varivas Line and Nogales Hooks.
“Winning the Classic is the dream of every bass fisherman in the world…and my dream came true today,” commented Woo Daves. And during the opening comments following the Classic, Woo went on to say,
“I have a son who is involved in fishing…He is a super fisherman and I’m really proud of him. Probably one of the most exciting days of my career, aside from winning this Classic, was when my son made the Classic. Now, with the help of all this money, I’ll be able to back my son and get him up here fishing with me. These young anglers come along and it takes four or five years of hard work on the tournament trail to make it, and it’s really hard to get sponsors. For some reason, a lot of company’s in this industry won’t take a chance on young anglers; and, these young fishermen really have to struggle for years to compete. These young fishermen look up to us as being old pros, but I look up to them to come out here and compete against the old pros and do the job that they do.

In my first Classic, in 1975, there was a high-school band and maybe three people who met us when we got off the airplane. There probably wasn’t 180 people at weigh-in and 150 of them were kin to me. BASS has come a long way since those days and taken the Classic to new levels. Back then, I was one of the youngest competitors, now I’m almost the oldest. It [the Classic] means a lot more to me now, because I’m no spring chicken, I’m 54 years old. One thing about it, an old guy can still catch fish!” – Lake Mohave

Many inner city children don’t have opportunities to explore nature and the water outside of city sidewalks and rain filled ditches, but thanks to corporate sponsor, Baker Botts, L.L.P. and their staff volunteers, along with event sponsors: Zebco/MotorGuide, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Motors, Boots Follmar Marine, Pradco, Riverside Bait Company, Academy, Honor Trophies, Texas Parks & Wildlife and the “Get Hooked on Fishing – Not Drugs” Future Fisherman Foundation Program, the children at E. J. Scott Elementary in Houston experienced first hand a day of fun and the pure excitement of fishing.

You don’t have to have special athletic skills or abilities to fish, nor do you have to have prior experience, just the desire and a little help from friends like Ms. Jordan, from E. J. Scott Elementary School, and Baker & Botts volunteers. Kids, water and fishing just naturally go together, but a little experienced help and preplanning assure positive introductions to this fun-filled sport. Each volunteer to the Scott School fishing derby contributed their time and effort to help the children not only with fishing, but the overall experience strengthened the children’s sense of self awareness, self esteem, self reliance, and confidence.

A classic example is Victor Bedolla, who not only caught a fish, but he caught the most fish and landed first place and a trophy on his very first time to go fishing! Jose Vasquez, not to be outdone by Victor, caught the biggest fish, a 2 1/2 pound catfish and received a trophy. Jesse Nava tried as hard as any child that day to catch a big fish, and he earned the Good Sport trophy for the one that got away! We had a four way tie for second place with Jaime Hernandez, Glen Simpson, Alma Ventura and Roxanne Soreque, all landing five fish apiece. All the winners above received Zebco 33 combos for their efforts.

In addition to breakfast, lunch, sodas and water, provided by Baker & Botts, the kids received “First Fish” Awards from The Future Fisherman Foundation, caps from Skeeter Boats and Zebco, tackle provided by Riverside Bait Company, Quick-Hit catfish and panfish bait provided from Pradco, and CastAway decals and patches and other stickers were all given away as door prizes. Every child left with plenty of goodies as reminders of their fun-filled day.

It’s the tug on the end of the line that matters and the memories and bonds that are created between the children and adults. Fishing is a nondiscriminating sport. It knows no boundaries of age, sex or nationality. It’s feeling that telltale signal of a fish at the end of the line that gets both young and old anglers excited.

Our fishing event was held at Sheldon Lake State Park in the Sheldon Lake Environmental Education Center, located 13 miles east of downtown Houston. The facilities were perfect for our outing. There were two stocked one acre ponds with lots of shade trees, picnic benches and tables, restrooms, and plenty of parking. Thomas Olson, the Education Director, and Susan Webb, a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Game Warden, were instrumental in helping with the children. It wasn’t too hot or windy and we couldn’t have asked for anything more. Even if some of these kids didn’t get their fish to the bank, they experienced the thrill and they were all successful in trying. The volunteers left feeling they had done a good job in helping the children. We all spent some real quality time with kids that might not
otherwise have been able to go on such an adventure. Even though the kids don’t realize it, that day helped set a precedent for the rest of their lives!

Through programs such as Zebco’s All-American Fishing Derbies, Hooked on Fishing Not Drugs, Bassmaster’s CastingKids contests, Kid Fish, and National Fishing Week, all children should have the opportunity to learn about fishing and be exposed to these wonderful programs!

Zebco is so dedicated to kids and fishing that they spend more than $250,000 annually in support of these programs. To celebrate Zebco’s 50th Anniversary, they created a “Best Fishing Photo and Story” contest. Entry forms can be obtained by purchasing one of the new special series Zebco commemorative 202’s, 33’s or 50CLS. After purchasing any of these Zebco products, all you need to do is complete the entry form, submit a photo and an essay in 50 words or less describing the outing, and the grand prize winner will receive a Chrysler Jeep Cherokee! Other prizes include MotorGuide trolling motors, digital cameras, Limited Edition reels, etc. Winners will be notified by mail in October of this year.

Even kids from single parent homes can experience the joy of fishing by writing to Zebco Single Parent Offer, P.O. Box 270, Tulsa, OK 74101. Zebco will send them a complimentary brochure on fishing and lend them a video to show them how easy it is and how much fun kids and fishing can have when joined together.

One need not have a large organized group to plan an outing for youngsters. A small group can get together to accomplish the same purpose, that is, introducing children to the fun and sport of fishing. Perhaps one of your neighbors would like to go with you and help teach several of the children in the neighborhood how to fish, or your own kids, no matter how many, the essential factor is sharing in the love of the outdoors and of fishing.

There are some basic guidelines that should be considered when planning an outing for kids: First and foremost, make it fun for the children, don’t make them go out there and spend a whole day dredging up the bottom of the lake or pond. Second, build the activity around their attention span, not yours! The younger the child, the shorter the time-frame should be. Third, make sure you have plenty of beverages, ice, snacks, sunscreen, caps and a life jacket for each child if your taking them on a boat. Fourth, children don’t care if they catch small panfish, bass, catfish or any other kind of fish, just so long as it swims and has fins!

If you need help putting together a fishing activity for a group of children in your area, please call me at (281) 441-7266 and I’ll be happy to assist you with more information.
– Lake Mohave

Sounds like a furniture store advertisement, but if you were to ask Charles Latham from Orange, Texas or Tim Palculict of Beaumont, Texas, they would both tell you it was true, Skeeter Boats and Yamaha Motors makes you money! This Texas duo teamed up to win the first Bass-N-Bucks 2000 East Texas Team Tournament with a 5 bass limit weighing 23.61 pounds, including 2 kicker bass weighing over 7# each. The tournament was held at Lake Sam Rayburn on Sunday, December 5th. with 290 teams entered in the first of seven tournaments. They competed in some of the worst conditions Texas has to offer, double cold fronts and winds in excess of 25-35 mph. The tournament payout was guaranteed at $40,000, but, because of the high turnout, over $52,000 in cash and prizes were actually paid out to the top 40 places. The new Bass-N- Bucks format with help from Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Motors, Houston’s Boots Follmar Marine and Dawson Marine from Beaumont, kicked in additional
bonus money of up to $3,500 for each event. The lucky team of Latham and Palculict won a Skeeter/Yamaha SX 186 valued at $20,000 and an additional $250 for the 3rd biggest bass of the event, which was a beautiful 7.78 pounder. On top of that, they won additional bonus money because they a) fished in a Skeeter Boat powered by a Yamaha engine and it was purchased within the last three years, b) the boat was purchased from either Boots Follmar Marine in Houston, or Dawson Marine; and, c) they met all requirements for the Skeeter Tour bonus money which entitled them to an additional cash award of $3,500! And, to top that off, their win entitles them to fish as a competitor in the “Skeeter Tour Championship” next fall which will be offering over $85,000 in cash and prizes and includes two fully rigged Skeeter ZX202s with Yamaha 225 horsepower engines.

The winning patterns were reported to be Carolina rigs off main and secondary brushy points with grass nearby. The first place team had an 18 pound limit within the first 15 minutes of fishing. The second place pattern was fishing willows on the north end of the lake with spinnerbiats and small crankbaits and the third place winning pattern was working Rat-L-Traps and medium diving crankbaits on the grass edges. The winning teams earned there prizes and competed against some of the best anglers in the State. Those newcomers to the tournament got to witness some of the best bass fishing that Big Sam has to offer and you can bet with the payback system set up as it is, they will be back for the second tournament.

Skeeter Boats was officially announced as the major sponsor of the Bass-N-Bucks Tournament Trail on November 30, 1999, and since then, David Concienne’s phone has not quit ringing. He puts on a classy event and is a well respected promoter. Much thought, planning and effort went into the new format and the objective was certainly fulfilled when 290 teams entered the first tournament. This was a major undertaking on Skeeter’s and Bass-N-Bucks part to blend the old and new tournament competitors into a united effort making David Concienne’s Bass-N-Bucks tournament trail the richest payout team tournament trail in Texas. What was really neat, was the blending of the old and new. There were anglers competing that haven’t been to a bass tournament in years, some of them haven’t been seen since the days of the old U.S. Bass or Lonestar Bass trails. Then, lots of new folks were also there that had never fished a tournament before. They were welcomed and had just as much of a chance as any one else did to take home the bounty! People are coming out of the woodwork to be a part of this tournament organization and the rewards to the fishermen/women have never been this high on the state level. Every tournament on the circuit is a guaranteed purse of over $40,000 in cash and prizes.

Even though the fishing conditions were less than ideal, the event was first class all the way. There were lots of fish caught and released after the weigh-in. The crowd was estimated to be near 2,000 spectators and competitors which banded together in spite of the cold and wind to witness the first and largest payback in the history of Bass-N-Bucks tournaments! Generally, the only tournaments that draw that kind of a crowd are the B.A.S.S. tournaments held on Sam Rayburn during the spring. A total of 540 bass were weighed in at whopping 1,163 pounds, which were all live released by the Bass-N-Bucks recovery crew. The fact these kinds of weights came to the scales was spectacular in itself. There were two 20-pound+ limits weighed, 24 teams weighed in over 15+ pound limits; and, amazingly 95 teams with catches of over 10-pounds.

As for the big bass, there were 16 bass weighed in over 5# with the biggest being weighed in by the team of Mike Wheatley of Keachie, Louisiana, and James Hewitt of Devers, Texas, weighing in at 8.26 pounds and earning them an addition $1,000 in big bass money, plus they took second place honors overall with total weight of 21.31 pounds earning them another $4,800, for total winnings of $5,800. The second place big bass was caught by the team of David Boudreaux and David Lacy and earned them an extra $500.

Third place went to the team of Brandon Breaux and Jesse Johnson who weighed in a limit of 19.83 pounds including a 6.11-pound kicker fish for a take home check in the amount of $2,000. Fourth place team honors went to Tommy and Connie Ward who weighed in their limit at 19.53, with a 5.87 pound kicker and they made $1,600. Fifth place was taken by the team of Russ Carter and Mike Cannon with 18.33 pounds for a purse of $1,400. Prize money was paid all the way down to 40 places.

The fishermen/women are definitely getting their monies worth out of the new Bass-N-Bucks East Texas Team Circuit and the fun is just beginning. There are six more events left before the championship, and as the saying goes, “On any given day, anyone can win!”
Date Lake Ramp
2-06-00 Toledo Bend Cypress Bend Park
3-19-00 Richland Chambers Oak Cove Marina
4-02-00 Sam Rayburn Twin Dikes Marina
5-07-99 Toledo Bend Cypress Bend Park
6-04-99 Lake Livingston Waterwood Marina
7-16-99 Toledo Bend Cypress Bend Park
The team entry fee is $250 per tournament and membership is an annual fee of $10.00 per angler. There is a two day optional practice of Friday and Saturday and the tournaments are set for Sunday. Also, the next time the opportunity arises, would you please give a word of praise to the sponsors of David Concienne’s Bass-N-Bucks E. Texas Team Circuit, and they are: Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, Boots Follmar Marine, Dawson Marine, Latch Oil, Inc., Shimano, Exide/Nautilus, MotorGuide, Zercom Marine, Dual Pro Charger, Bumper Stumper Lures, Triple Fish line, Philpott Ford, Pro-Fishin’ Report, Check-It-Stik, McFerrin Insurance, Piney Point Plaza, Holiday Inn Express and the Ramada Inn of Jasper. These sponsors have made it possible for this circuit to be the best Texas has to offer the fishermen/women and the payback is certainly worth the effort.

If you would like more information on this circuit or would like to fish one or all of the upcoming events, please give David Concienne a call at (409) 727-8941, or look up his website at: www.fishingworld.com/bassnbucks. You can also e-mail him at BassNBucks@fishingworld.com.

Since Norman and I are both proud owners of Skeeter/Yamaha rigs, and are sponsored by Boots Follmar Marine in Houston, we will not only be fishing all of the upcoming tournaments, but if you have any questions regarding these rigs or their performance, or would like to make arrangements for a demo ride in one of these fine boats after one of the tournaments is over, please call us at (281) 441-7266, or e-mail us at Bbass98@aol.com. We would like to see you get in a Skeeter boat powered by a Yamaha outboard and take advantage of some of this extra bonus money that will be circulated at the next six tournaments. We know that the folks at Boots Follmar Marine in Houston are dedicated to you the fishermen and women; and, are willing to help you get your new boat financed, ordered and delivered in the shortest amount of time. If you want to talk direct to the dealership, please call (713) 910-1081 in Houston, “you will be glad you did!” Both Boots Follmar and Dawson dealerships are both committed to this tournament trail and are wanting to get you into a new Skeeter Boat. Norman and I will personally make you a promise that we will do everything we can to prove to you the performance features of these boats. Skeeter Boats and Yamaha Outboards can make you money, won’t you give us a try! – Lake Mohave

We fished Sam Rayburn last weekend during the Anglers Choice East Texas Amateur Team Tournament on Saturday, January 30, and it was some pretty tough fishing. It rained and stormed Friday night with 8+ inches giving cause to Rayburn’s turbulent waters rising one foot overnight! We started out the tournament with drawing boat number two; and, because we were warned another band of rain was expected around 8:00 a.m., we headed our Skeeter 210 north and went directly to our fishing spot up near the Hwy. 147 bridge. The winds were howling and the Yamaha 225 was handling the 2-6′ swells with no problem. We reached our destination and followed our game plan of fishing secondary points with scattered grass using Carolina rigs the rest of the day.

The fish were not very active to say the least, and we were only catching a keeper fish about every 45 minutes and the primary bite was between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m., which made for a very slow day. We ended up catching 30 or more bass all day with only six keepers. We were able to cull one of the keepers to give us a final weight of 9.64. The bite was very soft and it was hard to detect the hits. Norman and I both connected with at least two big fish but never got them to the boat. It was hard to stick with our Carolina rig pattern but that seemed to be what the fish wanted and we just kept chunking and moving. Unfortunately our time ran out before we could get a lunker in the boat and we ended up in 14th place out of 96 teams.

We stuck with our secondary points all day and kept moving between four locations that were all very close together. We were only able to get two to three fish per point, but at least we were able to catch a small limit and we were quite proud of that accomplishment. Fishing under adverse conditions is never easy and that judgment call on when to go and when to stay is always very tricky. With perseverance and determination, we stuck it out and landed a small check for our efforts, but we have to share the credit.

We were fishing with CastAway Honey Carolina rods with Team Daiwa reels spooled with 12# Trilene Big Game line and using lizards and centipedes. There is no doubt in my mind that had that storm not blown in, we would have done much better. To tell you how tough it really was, there were only 20 teams out of 96 that caught limits of fish. Heavy stringer was just over 15.39 pounds for a five-fish limit. Big bass was just over 6 pounds which is really small for this time of year.

It seems the massive fish kill on Rayburn has really affected the fish and the fishing. This same time last year, it was taking 25-30 pounds to win a tournament and it’s really hard to find a big string of fish anymore. Most all the anglers who got checks contributed their success to Carolina rigs, crank baits, and Rat-L-Traps. There were a lot of one and two fish stringers weighed and more than two thirds of the field of 192 anglers that caught three fish or less.

Norman and I were very fortunate to do as good as we did. We have to pass along much of the credit to a good friend of ours, Steven Johnson. Steven is a full-time guide on Toledo Bend and Rayburn and is sponsored by the same marine dealer, Boots Follmar Marine out of Houston, Skeeter Boats and Yamaha Outboards. Since neither Norman or I had been on Rayburn for three months prior to this tournament, we thought it would be of great help if Steven took Norman out the weekend before the tournament and showed him some new areas. Believe me, it did make a big difference.
No matter who you are how good an angler you are, there are times when it would help if you would consider using the resources available to the guides. A professional guide is on the lake 350+ days a year. They stay in touch with what the fish are doing, the patterns that are working and the migration routes the fish travel. I’ve always said, you can never know it all and you can always learn something new every time you go out. With adverse conditions, rising and muddy waters, inactive fish, etc., you need all the help you can muster when fishing one of these tournaments. When you invest in a good guide, you increase your chances of being able to have a successful day, and if you are familiar with the lake, of being able to go back to the areas and catch fish on your own. That’s where the investment in a guide pays off. Without Steven’s help, Norman and I would have been able to produce some fish, but I’m convinced it would not have been as good a day had we not had help. Utilizing the services of a guide is an investment in future productivity. One must weigh the relevance of the help received and offset the cost in order to
justify the expense. But, when you consider you will be returning to those areas over the course of your lifetime, how much really did that guide trip cost? If your wanting to book a trip with Steven Johnson, you can reach him at (409) 579-4213.
– Lake Mohave

No matter how experienced you are as an angler, you can always learn something new with every partner. In October, bass find topwaters, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, finesse baits, worms and jigs irresistible. You throw it and bass bite it, especially in October. The lakes are scarcely populated due to many anglers being off into deer season and the kids have retired the jetskis for the summer, so it’s really quiet and peaceful. Cool days, active fish, grass to the surface, and beautiful foliage . . . it can’t get any better than fishing in the fall.

Most of the time, Norman and I take both Boots Follmar Marine Pro Staff Skeeters, however, my Ford Excursion was in the shop being painted so we pre-fished in Norman’s 202. First, we went to Five Fingers, then moved back out to Farmers flats. We had the Yamaha idling around, zig zagging back and fourth looking for grass until we found an 8-10 foot ridge with isolated grass clumps surrounded by water depths of 12-21 feet. Once we killed the engine, Norman looked up, and just across from us was one of his friends from back in his car racing days, Marvin Konecny. Marvin also fishes many of the same tournament trails as we do and it’s not uncommon to share the same waters. Marvin put two, back to back bass in the boat, and then Norman hung a good one. We had fun talking and fishing and trading information until the sun got up and the fish turned off. As it turned out, Marvin had a tournament the next weekend just like we did.

Our local Houston bass club, Port City, had a draw tournament scheduled for Rayburn for the next weekend. Quite a few of our members don’t like draw tournaments, but both Norman and I do. It gives the new members an opportunity to fish with some of the better anglers in the club. They learn new waters and have a chance to observe the skills and presentations of the more experienced anglers. A lot of people think all you have to do is get a bass boat, get on the water and catch fish, forgetting there is a learning curve! Many new boaters try to learn how to fish and run the boat at the same time, which proves to be overwhelming and frustrating. It’s always good to fish in someone else’s boat and learn new techniques. This gets the new bass angler excited and helps develop the skills they need to be more successful. For this reason, draw tournaments can be lots of fun and mutually beneficial to all anglers. And, in my case, the reason I joined Port City bass club was to learn from the men. Every time I fish it’s a learning experience and I seem to always be taking lessons!

At first light on Saturday, Gary Miettinen and I headed my Skeeter 210 to Five Fingers to fish a grassy point. Within a very short time, I had one take off with my Zoom Watermelon Red Trick Worm. Unfortunately, she jumped at the boat and spit the bait back at me. My partner was fishing a Carolina-rigged Trick Worm and he boated many more fish than I did, before I switched over to the Carolina rig. We only caught one keeper in Five Fingers, so we moved out to Farmers Flats where we continued to work our Trick Worms and Carolina rigs in 8-11 foot water along scattered grass lines of a mid-lake flat. On this day, Gary proceeded to have a field day, whatever he threw, he connected with, and could do no wrong. When the fishing slowed down, we went back to Five Fingers and in the middle of the day, with 95 degree heat, we decided to look for them in the shallows under the matted grass. Gary caught his biggest bass of the day there! Eventually, I did catch a keeper and saved face by at least having something to weigh-in Saturday.

The second day of the tournament started off exactly the same, only this time Gary lost the first fish… Directly, I stuck one and couldn’t get her head turned. She buried up in the grass and broke me off… Gary continued
to give me fishing lessons and I tried very hard to duplicate his techniques. Sunday’s fishing was much slower and the bite was even lighter. Norman continued to fish Farmers the entire day and Gary and I alternated back and forth between Farmers and Five Fingers. At the end of day two, Gary and I were leading (although I only contributed one small keeper to our team total each day). Norman had to fish by himself due to an odd number of members fishing. Our club fishes a team format and according to club bylaws, the odd member gets to draw a name at the conclusion of the tournament and add that member’s weight to their’s in order to come up with a team weight. As it turned out, Norman ending up drawing the second place team member, Rusty Traylor, and when their weights were combined they ended up taking over the lead of the tournament, collecting all the side-pot money and Gary and I were bumped to second place … oh well, that’s fishing and the luck of the draw! I was glad for Norman, because this win allowed him to take over the lead in our Club for Angler of the Year and with only two tournaments left, he will most likely remain in the lead!

In hindsight, there are several things Gary and I did that cost us the tournament. The first was going back and fourth between two areas. Even though I’m inclined to hit 6-8 spots in a day, we limited the running and gunning to just two spots. I knew there was a big concentration of fish out on the main lake, and opted to go somewhere else in addition to that spot and it cost us! The second and probably the most important thing we could have done, was to fish the whole area of Farmers instead of just one small portion of the flat. All we needed to have kept the lead was a half of a pound! In bass fishing, one never has all the answers or holds all the cards. It’s always a learning experience, which is what makes the sport so challenging! – Lake Mohave

Childhood memories are very special and none are as emotionally stirring as those first memories of fishing with dad. There is something very magical about those innocent times. In a little person’s world dad knew everything and there was so much to learn about life that one could barely sit still long enough to take any of it in. It’s a wonder any of us survived and especially dad, who had the patience of a saint.

Earliest memories of fishing with my dad, John Barnes, was on vacation at a little lake in Idaho and going off with dad, just him and me. We caught a bucket full of little pan fish, took them back to the campsite and had mom cook them for supper. Then there was the time we were in Arkansas, fishing for Rainbow Trout. Dad had my sister and I sitting on the bank watching him show us how we were supposed to accomplish our mission. Then, we each had a turn at fishing, and poor old dad ended up having to pay for our trout by the inch!

Growing up, there were lots of fishing trips, some successful and some were not, but each and every trip was special. On one trip, dad and I were fishing Lake Fork, we had a slow day and the fish just weren’t cooperating. About the time dad was getting very disgusted and saying worm fishing just wasn’t for him, a 6-# bass hit his worm. His rod bent over double and he cranked and he cranked and he worked hard trying to get that big bass in and when he did, the look on his face was priceless and the grin was from ear to ear! We both ended up catching fish about the same size and released them. We had a wonderful time and had the photo to prove it!

After dad retired, he and mom moved to S.Texas on property that had been in the family since the 1840’s. On the back property line is the Blanco Creek and it is as beautiful as any I’ve seen. It has big white sand bars on either side and normally it’s only knee deep with spots being 10-12′ deep. Depending on the time of year, the water can be either crystal clear or stained. Every time I go home, dad and I always find time to go down to the creek or over to the neighbor’s pond and work in a few hours of fishing together.

It’s a great thing to pass the love of the sport from generation to generation. If my dad had not shared his love of the outdoors and fishing, I’d probably be off shopping at the mall right now! Instead, I’m fishing about 45 weekends a year and all my vacation time. My dad spent time fishing with all his children; and now, the kids (all grown) are teaching their own children and grandchildren how to fish. Statistics show that if you don’t get a child started fishing by age 11, chances are they never will take up the sport.

If you talked to a hundred avid anglers and asked them how they got started, you would hear 100 different stories, but most of them would involve fishing with dad! Every story teller would start out having a distant look that transfixes and transforms the angler. By the end of the story, you would see a gleam and a brightness in their eyes that wasn’t there before! Those early experiences set a precedent for the rest of our lives and formed memories that we will cherish forever.

All of our lives are complex these days. Everyone’s off in different directions and seldom do we manage to get together for those cherished fishing trips. However, last weekend, I asked my dad to be my partner in Port City Bass Club’s monthly tournament held on Coleto Creek. Dad and I haven’t been together in a boat for quite a few years and this was the perfect opportunity to celebrate his 75th birthday.

I had never been to Coleto Creek and it was a tough weekend, we had high bluebird skies, strong north west winds of 15-20 mph and the fishing was not under the best cir*****stances. There were six other clubs fishing the lake at the same time and boat traffic was intense. We started fishing on an outside point and worked our way around
and into a small cove. Right away, dad caught the first two fish, small ones, but nonetheless, the first two that came to the boat were dad’s. As we worked our way out of the cove, we found bigger fish on the points, holding in the shallow brush in 2-5′ depths. I was using a Surface Action CastAway graphite rod spooled with 12# Big Game and caught the next two keepers on a 3/8 oz. Mr. Blitz spinnerbait. Why is it that just when you think you’ve got it figured out things fall apart? By 9:00 a.m. we could have quit fishing as we didn’t catch but one more fish the rest of the day and it was a non-keeper.

Sunday started off the same, instead of wind, we had fog. Dad and I figured we had better catch our fish early before the sun came up and the fish quit biting. We went back to the same area and immediately I caught one keeper and two non-keepers. Again, we thought we were off to a good start but when the sun popped up through the fog at 8:15 a.m., the wind picked-up and the bite was over (at least for us), and we were off again in search of keeper fish.

I made a comment to dad about how much improved his casting had become over the past few years, and he replied, “After fishing on the creek and pond, I had to get better or else own stock in Wallmart!” We both chuckled and kept on chunking. Later on, the wind was blowing pretty strong and I looked back at dad in time to see a big tree limb coming up and before I could warn him, he was wedged between the limb and the windshield, we laughed some more and kept on fishing. In spite of the conditions we had a great time, shared some moments together, and made a few more memories for the log book. Fishing is timeless and ageless, and it’s a family tradition that should be passed on for future generations to enjoy! – Lake Mohave

If you were to look in a professional angler’s boat during practice before a big tournament, chances are you would see topwaters, spinnerbaits, and lipless crankbaits. They would either be on the deck or within easy reach in most every rod box. The main reason for having these baits tied on at all times is that these are fish finding and fish catching baits that always work.

TOPWATER action is by far the most exciting way to catch bass, especially in the early hours before the sun gets up, late evenings or during low light (cloudy) conditions. Watching a bass come up to the surface and inhale a bait is breathtaking. It seems like time stops for that particular moment when the explosion occurs and the bait disappears from the surface. There is a moment when you think, have I got her, did I miss her, is she on; and then in an instant, you feel that pulsating pull against the line, and you know the battle is on!

Topwaters are really at their peak when there is a light ripple or small chop on the water. If there is no ripple or chop, the fish will be easily spooked and wary of topwaters and it’s probably best to go to a subsurface bait like a spinnerbait. When fishing in shallow water, topwater fishing may be the most exciting way to catch bass, but it is also the first pattern to go under frontal conditions. Because adverse weather affects shallow water patterns, the pros have learned over years of experience to never depend exclusively on a topwater pattern to hold out for an entire tournament. Topwaters fall into five basic categories based on size and type of bait which are: cigar, stick, slush, popper and buzz baits. With hundreds of topwater baits to choose from, how do you know which ones are going to produce? The all time favorite has got to be Heddon’s Zara Spook using a “walk the dog” type of cadence to produce really big bass. The term, “walking the dog” means, cast your bait out past the target and work it back with your rod tip pointed towards the water and leaving the line slack (not tight). Pop the bait with a short jerk or twitch and then pop the bait again which will make it move from side to side in a stop/go pause continuing cadence. If the bait does not move from side to side, chances are you have too much slack line out. Reel some of it up but not all as this method works best on slack line. The “walk the dog” action resembles a wounded bait fish fluttering on the surface and is an easy prey for the bass. They will inhale the bait by flaring their gills and sucking it down. You don’t want to set the hook when you see the fish explode on top of the bait. You want to wait until you feel the fish pulling the bait down, then set the hook. This is one of the hardest lessons to learn with topwaters. It’s totally unnerving and almost impossible to do, but if you set the hook too soon, the fish won’t be there because you have pulled the bait away before the fish connected; and, if you wait too long, the bass may spit the bait out. There is a very fine line there and only experience will tell you when to set the hook.

When Zell Roland of the Skeeter/Yamaha Pro Team presents a seminar, he talks about the Spook and discusses various ways of modifying the bait to give the pros that extra advantage. The older spooks with three sets of treble hooks are the best. Also, when fishing topwater cigar baits, the Zara Puppy is very effective on school bass.

When you get into slush baits (baits with propellers on either the front, rear or both), Cordell’s Bow Howdy and the Crazy Shad, along with Smithwick’s Devil’s Horse, and Heddon’s Tiny Torpedo are classic baits. Slush baits are fished with short, erratic twitches and semi slack line. For additional action, instead of tying the knot directly to the snap ring, many of the pros tie their topwater baits with a “Loop” knot which imparts more lifelike action to the
bait. Slush baits are best when used from post spawn on through the summer’s school fish and continue to work through early fall. Stick baits such as the traditional Smithwick Rogue, Cordell Red Fin, Pencil Popper and Bomber Long A’s, are hard plastic jerkbaits fished with long sweeps or short jerks. Slush baits are designed to not only resemble and have the action of a wounded minnow, but also to make distinctive noises of a shad thrashing on the surface which adds an extra enticement to attract bass that may be passing by.

One of the favorite poppers of all times has got to be the famous Rebel Pop R. This bait has been around for at least twenty years. It was discontinued for awhile in the `80’s and with increased demand from the pros, especially Zell Roland, the “Pop R King,” it was brought back into production and has danced and popped it’s way into the money. Zell has propelled himself, the Pop R and his Boots Follmar Marine Skeeter/Yamaha into the history books with his mastery of this one bait; and, it’s deadly presentation on the water. He uses feathers of many colors, whittles, repaints, refinishes, weights, scrapes and does a major overhaul on this very famous Pradco bait, and when it gets down to the battle, you can bet he’ll come out with just the right Pop R combination to clinch the day! When bass are chasing shad, especially in the fall, this bait can be popped, gurgled and teased back to the boat or it can be steadily worked in the “walking the dog” method.

Storm’s Rattling Chug Bug is another excellent popper bait that is fished in the same manner, but it has rattles to further entice the bass. Excalibur’s Spit’n Image is a minnow like bait (bottom weighted) that is also retrieved in the side to side motion and it’s sputtering action has been very effective on school fish. As always, the pro anglers have found ways to modify these baits and their secret changes will most likely go to their graves with them.

A bait that every angler should have several of is a buzzbait. My husband, Norman, caught one of his biggest bass ever on Richland Chambers (see photo) on the 3/8 oz. Lunker Lure. It also comes in a 1/4 oz. size. These baits are highly effective when fished over vegetation and can even be used in the dead of winter over open water to catch giant bass. This is one of the easiest baits of all to use, just throw it out and reel it very fast until the bait stays up on the surface of the water and reel it like that all the way back to the boat. John Hope, of the infamous Tracking Texas Trophies segment, told me long ago that when you listen to this bait as it is reeled straight up off the bottom, it sounds like a ball of shad coming to the surface. There are many manufacturers of this bait including Lunker Lure, Excalibur, Stanley, Mr. Blitz, Strike King, Blue Fox, Harts and many more. Primary colors are white and white/chartreuse. Blade colors would be picked the same as in spinnerbaits and determined by water clarity.

LIPLESS CRANKBAITS are great tools to locate bass. I can’t tell you how many big tournaments have been won on this particular kind of bait, but it has been a lot, especially in lakes with vegetation. These baits can be cranked down to the top of the grass, ticked across and then ripped through the grass, and if a bass is anywhere near, trigger a strike. Although there are many manufacturers, the two major producers are Cordell’s Hot Spot and Bill Lewis’ Rat-L-Trap. Both baits are shad shaped, come in almost any size range, and are hollow baits with rattle chambers added for sound and weight. I call these baits fish magnets because they will draw the fish out when nothing else seems to work! The original Rat-L-Trap comes in over 50 colors to choose from, but again, if your just starting out, stick to the primary colors. This bait works year-round, using the smaller sizes in early spring and as the water warms going to the larger sizes in the fall. If you examined every boat on a given body of water, most all of them would have these baits not only on board, but tied on to at least one rod!
The setup you use (rods, reels and line), is just as important as the baits you throw and the balance is critical to your overall success. Norman and I use CastAway Surface Bait Casting, Jerk & Twitch, Soft Touches and Launcher rods for most of these baits, but any quality medium action fast tip rod would be suitable. We also use Daiwa Millionaire, Procaster Z and Team Daiwa series 5:1 ratio reels for our topwater baits, spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits, spooled with Berkley Big Game Green line in 12-15 pound test. There are other quality rods and reels on the market, but our personal preference is for Daiwa reels and CastAway graphite rods.

LAST, BUT NOT EVER DISCOUNTED ARE SPINNERBAITS. There are very few things that professional anglers agree on, but the bait of choice and in most all arsenals, will be a spinnerbait. The reason is strictly in the numbers. More money has been made on the tournament trails using a spinnerbait than any other bait! Spinnerbaits are easy to use, versatile and can cover lots of water and all depths of water in a short period of time.

Where many anglers get confused about spinnerbaits is trying to figure out which configuration of spinnerbait to use on a particular body of water, under a certain set of conditions, taking into account such factors as: water clarity, light penetration, time of year and depth fishing. Additional factors are blade configuration, spinnerbait weight/size and skirt color. A spinnerbait is an easy bait to use because you basically cast it out and reel it back, pretty simple, right? Ah, but learning the right configuration and components of the bait is what separates the fish catching from the fish wishin’ anglers. Sometimes it appears as though there are thousands of combinations and variables to confuse the ordinary angler.
So how do you narrow down the options to select the appropriate bait for the cir*****stances at hand? Break the spinnerbait down into the four basic components: composition, blade, weight and color. To keep it really simple, take color first because it is the easiest. For clear water, neutral, translucent and white colored skirts work the best. For dingy or stained water, use chart./white, blue or punkinseed or a combination thereof; and in muddy water use, black, orange or chartreuse.

Second, consider the composition. There are three kinds of spinnerbaits, in-line, short arm and long arm. In-line spinnerbait means that the spinners (blades) are in direct line with the hook, such as the Snagless Sally or Mepps Rooster tails. They are primarily used in northern waters. In-lines can also be fished around brush and timber and can be buzzed just under the surface.

Both short arm and long arm spinnerbaits are safety pin baits. The long arm baits are easier to get through grass and are more weedless due to the arm of the bait being directly over the hook. Short arms are used as a drop bait as the blade is directly over the head of the lure which lets it spiral down (helicopter) to the bottom. There are many manufacturers of these types of spinnerbaits. The cost range can be as economical as an H&H for less than a buck, to the higher profile and more expensive type, such as the Terminator with a titanium wire base arm that claims to never have to be adjusted. Excalibur, Strike King and Stanley are major manufacturers of high quality spinnerbaits which are mass produced. There are also smaller, regionally defined manufacturers that are equally, if not better than some of the well known baits. Mr. Blitz spinnerbaits are made in Hemphill, Texas, and have been around Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn for years, but as touring national pros use and promote this local bait, it is gaining in popularity and becoming more widely known. The reason for its success is due to the quality control that goes into every hand built bait.
No discussion of spinnerbaits can be complete without addressing the various blade configurations and blade color(s) used in the assembly process. There are basically three primary blade types: Colorado, Indiana or willowleaf and numerous combinations such as the thumper, tortoise shell and pear shaped blades. In order to choose the appropriate blade, first determine the water clarity which will tell you whether the fish are feeding by sight or sound. Colorado blades are used primarily in stained to muddy water or low light conditions where the fish are feeding by sound and bait vibration is the key factor. Also, under these conditions for maximum throb and vibration, the Indiana or Thumper blades would be used. Tandem willowleaf blades will work the best under clear water conditions with vegetation because the blades have a tighter rotation and will tangle less in the grass. Willowleaf blades have the least vibration, most flash and come through grass the best. Use chrome or nickel blades when fishing clear water because these fish are feeding by sight. In stained to muddy water, use copper, gold or painted blades. When your not sure what blade configuration to go with, start out with double blades, one silver and one copper. Let the fish tell you what they want.

A single Colorado blade works best when you want more vibration in dingy to stained water conditions. This also holds true for night fishing and fishing in the summertime. Use double Colorado blades when you want to v-wake the bait just under the surface, especially in the fall. The thumper blades are great to slow roll or drop. The larger the blades the more lift the lure will have. A single blade bait has more vibration than a tandem willowleaf bait, and finally, Colorado blades have more vibration than the willowleaf but not as much vibration
as the Indiana blades.

It is fairly easy to determine the spinnerbait weight. You want to be able to feel the bait vibrate as the blades are pulled through the water. If you cannot feel the vibration, change weight size. Basically, four sizes will get you through most situations. ¼ oz, 3/8 oz., ½ oz. or 3/4 oz. Water temperature is a key factor to determining the weight of the spinnerbait because different times of the year require different weight sizes. Again fall back on whether or not you can feel the blades turning and vibrating as they come through the water. Experiment and practice is the best answer to which bait will work best for you. Spinnerbaits can be fished from the surface to the bottom and anywhere in between. During the winter, I like to use a 3/4 oz. bait and slow roll it over the vegetation or let it drop to the bottom and work it back much like a worm. During the spring and fall, depending on the water clarity and temperature, I like to use a ¼ oz. up shallow and a 3/8 to ½ oz. in the deeper waters. When fishing in the heat of the summer, you can’t beat a 3/8 oz. tandem willowleaf in and around the vegetation, or a single Colorado blade which provides a lot of vibration.

Why it is that bass fishermen/women can never have enough tackle? Starting out, it’s best to keep colors to a minimum of chrome, shad, crawfish, chartreuse and firetiger, which are all basic colors in the food chain. We constantly go to the tackle store and stand gawking and mystified at the variety of sizes, shapes and colors of baits. None of us has the will power to leave the store with just one bait! Tackle stores are designed to catch anglers, then bass, and no matter how many baits we have, more is always better because they are Efficient, Always Successful, Year-round Baits! – Lake Mohave

Richland Chambers is located about 100 miles SE of Dallas, on I-45 between Corscicana and Fairfield, Texas. We usually have two-three tournaments a year on this impoundment and this year has been yielding some pretty big fish. Our Saturday day of practice game plan was to throw spinnerbaits and buzzbaits at first light, followed by some finesse fishing and maybe a little Carolina rigging in the deeper creek channels. My husband, Norman, cut the hooks off a buzzbait and spinnerbait so that we would not accidentally hook any fish in practice because we might need to catch those fish in Sunday’s tournament.

First light on Saturday morning found us cruising the shallows and throwing the de-hooked baits. Immediately, Norman had several blowups on his buzzbait and I had one on the spinnerbait. We continued down the bank and switched over to “Wacky” style of fishing on spinning gear and Bagley Silver Thread 12-pound line. It wasn’t even 7:30 before Norman connected with what proved to be his biggest bass yet. There were quite a few boats in the area to witness the event and our red and white Boots Follmar Marine Pro Staff 21-foot Skeeter 210 with a 225 Yamaha EFI stands out like a flashing neon sign, and particularly with Norman’s and my rather large size, we can’t hide anyway. The bass was a gorgeous 8.44 pound largemouth that was caught right next to the bank. We got really excited, and naturally, I had to take pictures. As soon as the last photo was shot, she was very gently released back into the still waters to go about her annual ritual. It was time to leave the area as we had already shown our hand.

We went on to the next spot and continued with our game plan. We hadn’t been in the cove more than 15 minutes, when I cast out my little “Wacky” worm rig and backlashed the spinning real something fierce. While picking out the birds nest, I noticed some pressure on my line, and, as we didn’t want to stick any more fish in practice, I just continued to work out my problem. When I finished getting all the kinks out, I reeled in the slack, and darned if that fish still wasn’t on my line. I reeled her in and she was well over three and a half pounds and it wasn’t even 8:30 a.m. Once again, it was time to move. We were fishing on the Richland arm and continued our way up the lake. We made three more stops with no success, lots of looking and very little fishing and decided to go back down the lake. About 2:30, it was decided that we should go check on our main spot.

The area was still packed with boats, several of which were there when Norman caught his big fish earlier, so we went into another cove and Norman immediately caught a seven pound bass on our “Wacky” rig setup. Then we moved back to the area where his biggest fish had been caught. Norman eased over to talk to one of the boats that had been there earlier to see if they had done any good after we left. Robert Branch was fishing with his eleven year old son, Miles, who had earlier landed an 8.99 beauty. They were fishing in the Halliburton Employees Bass Club tournament (a HONEY HOLE Affiliated Bass Club) and young Miles was socking it to dear old dad! Miles caught his fish on a Chartreuse Super Fluke on spinning gear, and of course, it was his biggest fish ever! According to dad, Miles was very adept at running the trolling motor, backing the trailer, catching good quality fish on his own, and had made a really good partner. Young Miles is an accomplished angler and practices catch and release with his dad on a regular basis. Unfortunately, his big fish did not survive, which was quite upsetting to Miles. That did it, we were excited, pumped and ready for our tournament day!

As the luck of the draw would have it, we drew a high boat number, which meant we were one of the last ten boats out Sunday morning. By the time we got to our primary spot, it was covered with tournament boats. There were two couple’s tournaments going on, besides ours, there was the 2 of Us Couples tournament, sponsored by Skeeter Boats. Most all of the boats in the cove were tournament boats. Norman was quite disgusted and decided we would fish down from them and then work our way into the area holding bigger fish. Norman is quite accomplished at sight fishing and most of the fish we saw were on beds, although it did not appear as if any had actually spawned yet. It’s a good thing he really excels this time of year, because he caught all fourteen+ pounds of fish. Although we were not able to work our primary area, through his skill alone, Norman pulled it out of the fire and managed to get our team in 11th place for the tournament. All I could do was net his fish! All in all, we were quite pleased with our tournament results,
Norman’s biggest bass ever (even if it was on Saturday), and to see 11-year-old Miles Branch with a huge Richland Chambers bass was certainly exciting!
– Lake Mohave

Perhaps there is no finer time in the year to witness the explosion of spring than when a largemouth bass sucks in a “Wacky” worm on light line in shallow water and the fight is on! There is nothing quite like trying to wrench a bass out of tight cover on spinning gear with light line, as the excitement and pure adrenaline will get you every time! For springtime bucketmouths this action has been known to be heart-stopping. When the fishing gets tough, not just in spring, but anytime of the year, get out the spinning gear and try your hand at this easy to master technique.

“Wacky” worming can be versatile and productive in a multitude of ways. The versatility of this style of finesse fishing is only limited by the number of ways you can think of to rig it. “Wacky” worming can also be done on baitcasting gear and can be almost as effective as when used on spinning gear. The reason I believe spinning gear is more productive, is that you can use lighter line on spinning gear. When most people think of “Wacky” worming, the thought comes to mind of a worm hooked through the egg sack with the hook exposed; and yes, this is the traditional method of “Wacky” worming. However, there are many other ways to make this particular style of fishing work to your advantage.

For this type of finesse fishing, we typically use CastAway medium and medium-heavy action graphite spinning rods, but any spinning rod may be used as long as it is not a light action rod. The light action rods are just not stout enough to horse bass out of the brush and weeds because the tip is too soft to give a good solid hookset. The particular reels that we personally use with this style of fishing are Shimano Spirex SR 1000FB and SR2000FB series reels. We use 10-12# Trilene Big Game line on our spinning reels.

The rigging of these rods in very versatile, as we have perfected and use six different variations on this rig:
1. Use a 1/0 Gamakatsu wide gap worm hook tied direct to the line and rig Texas style.
2. Same as number one above, but add a 1/32 oz. or 1/16 oz. bullet weight above the hook.
3. Use a small barrel swivel with a 12-14″ leader and a 2/0 Gamakatsu Super Flipping hook, rigged either Texas or traditional “Wacky” style.
4. Same as number three above, but crimp a small split shot 1/2″ above the swivel.
5. Same as number three above, but crimp a small split shot 1/2″ directly above the hook.
6. Use a small barrel swivel and a 12-14″ leader with a Mustad “Finacky” 1/0 weighted hook and rig either Texas or “Wacky”
As to what baits to use, primarily we use either Riverside lizards, Floating Air Frys, Sling Shots or Big Claw crawfish imitations. We also use Zoom Trick Worms and centipedes for this type of fishing. These baits can all be fished either traditional, Texas rigged or “Wacky” (hooked in the middle with the hook exposed).

On any given day, any one of the above mentioned rigging methods may work better than the others. You just have to experiment and let the fish tell you which method they prefer. Fish these rigs in anywhere from 2-12′ depths in and around buckbrush, docks, creek bends, points, backs of coves and pockets, inside, and also outside grasslines. In the heat of the summer, this type of fishing can be deadly fished in the heavy grass and on the edges of the grass. Simply cast it out, let it sink, and reel it back in just like you do in traditional worm fishing. This rig will also out perform most all other styles of fishing and is exceptionally deadly when used in frontal conditions. It takes some getting used to, but once you have mastered the spinning reel and using these techniques, your success ratio of catching bass during difficult times will dramatically improve. Remember, you are only limited by your imagination on ways and variations to use this simple technique and the results are explosive! This style of fishing can be a money producer and used as your ace in the hole, if you’ll just learn to use it! – Lake Mohave

Fishing small back waters, ponds, tanks and creeks can be lots of fun and exciting entertainment. If you are like most anglers, it doesn’t matter where you fish, just so long as there is enough water to dangle a hook, line and bait in, with the hopes of enticing a fish to bite! One of our favorite pastimes when we go to visit my parents in South Texas is to get dad, John Barnes, and go over to the pond or the creek and spend a few quality hours probing the waters for the ever elusive black bass.

When preparing for a fishing trip, no matter how big or how small, your success often depends on how well you have planned. After years of fishing ponds and creeks with dad, it becomes routinely habit to gather certain items to throw into the tackle box for the trip. Some of those items include: needle nose pliers, assorted hooks, weights and soft plastic baits, small spinnerbaits, scissors, sun screen, bug spray, bottled water and of course, my Skeeter hat.

As pond and creek bass are pretty selective, colors for soft plastics are fairly simple. The water is stained, so they seem to consistently want small baits in neutral colors with some form of pumpkinseed as the primary color. They may vary as to preference for the day being either green, blue, or red flake mixed in with the pumpkinseed. We’ve tried other colors, but they always bite better on pumpkinseed. I’ve fished other ponds with dark, clear water and the primary colors are usually darker such as black, blue, watermelon, red shad, etc.

When selecting bait size for small water fishing, it has been my experience that pond and creek bass want smaller baits than we use on the big man-made reservoirs. To accommodate them, I usually select centipedes, small Zoom Trick worms, 4″ ring worms, or 4-5″ lizards (all plastic). The only time we use live bait is when we’re working a kids fishing tournament.

After gathering an assortment of soft plastics, I also throw in some small spinnerbaits.
Mr. Blitz makes a spinnerbait called the Clown which is great for pond fishing as well as the bigger reservoirs. Norman and I have caught really big bass on this bait no matter what lake we’re fishing. Excalibur and Strike King also make a good bait in the 1/8 to 1/4 oz. size, as well as the old H&H spinnerbait, which works really good with a yellow or chartreuse/yellow skirt. The H&H will usually catch more fish, but they are generally smaller in size. A Beetle Spin is a hard bait to beat on these kinds of waters, especially in the yellow/orange color, primarily because it looks like a natural food in small waters.

In addition to downsizing baits, you also have to downsize line and equipment. We prefer to use spinning gear so that we can cast under and around the bushes and throw at angles rather than straight overhead casts typical of traditional baitcasting equipment. Most ponds and creeks have quite a bit of underbrush, weeds, overhanging trees, bushes, etc. as obstacles for the angler to get either the rod tip or line tangled in. We prefer to use 8-10 pound test line in Bagley Silver Thread, Berkley Big Game or Stren lines.

Once you’ve gathered all the equipment, how do you rig it for the most productive way to fish these kinds of waters? A lot of it is trial and error. You keep trying different methods until you find something that works. On our particular pond, a favorite way to rig is with the mini Carolina rig. Cut off about 12-14″ of line to be used as a leader. Tie a small barrel swivel to the line on the end connected to the rod, and attach one end of the leader to the swivel, to the other end of the leader, tie on a Gamakatsu 2/0 wide gap flippin hook or a size 1/0 wide gap hook. Depending on the wind conditions, you may or may not want to experiment using a split shot (you need enough weight to get the bait to go down, but not so much weight that it mires down in the muck on the bottom). If you do need to use additional weight to get the bait to sink, place the split shot on the line about ½-inch above the hook; or if you want the bait to float up more to attract suspended fish, place the splitshot just above the swivel. Next rig up your plastic worm, Texas style, and your in business. When rigging a centipede, we like to use the Owner 1/0 riggin hook or a 1/0 light wire hook tied to our leader. Because the hook is so light, it lets the centipede float up off the bottom and tends to trigger more aggressive strikes.

Depending on the time of year and the conditions, you’re likely to find the fish in different places. In the spring, look for them on the shallow end of the pond, usually around some type of cover such as laydowns, submerged trees, logjams, buckbrush, bushes, etc. Always make a point of fishing where the cover is on the pond or creek. Other good areas are points, either on the sides or in front of the point. Also, cuts and drains that run into the pond, etc. are always likely places. Always spend a little extra time in these areas as you’re very likely to get bit! In the heat of the summer, the bass are more likely to be suspended in the deeper water, although this is not always the case. Just like on the bigger reservoirs, during the summer the fish are likely to be more aggressive in the early hours of the day and again later in the evening. But most other times of the year the fish are slow to rise and get going, so it’s not critical to be on the pond at the crack of daylight!

While visiting my folks last weekend, a friend of dad’s, Raffael Garcia, went with us to the pond. Raffael had never been bass fishing, but he caught the first bass of the day on a small pumpkinseed with blue flake Zoom Trick worm. Dad caught the most; and, he caught them all on an H&H spinnerbait. Almost every cast he caught a bass or had one knock the blades of the spinnerbait as it was being reeled back to the bank. I caught the biggest bass on a Zoom Pumpkinseed red flake Trick worm, with the fish going about 4-pounds or so. We fished from a little after 7:00 a.m. until around 9:00 a.m. and dad must have caught at least a dozen or more bass on his H&H spinnerbait with the yellow skirt. We fished until the mosquitoes started carrying us off and the air just got to hot and too still. It was time to head back to the house for some of mom’s wonderful biscuits with homemade dewberry jam, bacon and eggs. What a way to top off a great morning of fishing! Dad couldn’t recall when he had caught so many bass in such a short period of time, but it tickled me to watch him reel fish after fish in and holler for me to get the camera to take a quick photo before we would gently release the fish back into the pond so it could be caught another day.

Remember, not everyone starts out with a fancy rig like our Boots Follmar Marine Pro Staff Skeeter with a big Yamaha 225 EFI engine. We’ve each spent over twenty years in this sport competitively fishing and have gradually worked our way into the bigger and finer boats. You don’t have to be rich to fish, but you do have to have patience and a strong desire to succeed and be willing to work at improving skills, techniques and performance.

It’s always more fun to take along someone new to fishing and to share the experience and the fun. Introduce them to a sport that will likely stay with them a lifetime. Fishing is a great experience and the love of the sport should be passed on from generation to generation. Till next time, no matter where you’re fishing, have fun, take pictures for the memories; and remember to practice catch and release. It just doesn’t get any better than this, not even on the big waters! – Lake Mohave

The high desert of the west. New Mexico … Arizona…and lake in the country. Breathtaking scenery, wild burros, big horn sheep, coyotes, dry intense heat. The scene of this story. My Evinurde powered boat is sitting here in Texas, waiting for the next B.A.S.S. tournament. I’m at Lake Mead practicing for the U.S. OPEN in a borrowed boat. My friend, Tai Martin, is practicing with me.

As we leave out of Temple Bar Marina and head up toward the Grand Canyon, we are in awe of the beauty of this desert lake. The sun starts to climb over the tops of the mountains. The lake is smooth as glass as the marina disappears, the last outpost of civilization. Our destination is the Grand Wash, the mouth of the Grand Canyon. A thirty mile run. Just enough gas on board to get there and back. We’ll drive till one tank runs dry, fish for the day, and run back on the remaining tank of gas.

The high canyon walls flash by as our thoughts turn to the bass to be caught, the further away from civilization the happier we are. Off in a little side canyon we see a small aluminum boat with three fisherman, brave souls indeed. Up ahead the Grand Wash comes into view, a great looking area with rocky points and brushy pockets just crying for a lure. Even before the boat glides to a stop I’m on the front deck making my first cast with a Stanley Spinnerbait. out from under the first bush comes a 22 pound bass, and then another. Meanwhile Tai is throwing a small crankbait, he quickly catches a couple of bass. The fishing is great, the company is great. The hours click by. About noon I feel it. A light southwest breeze … just enough to ripple the water. I look to Tai and say “We’re out of here”.

You see by the time we feel the breeze, it’s had 15 miles of canyon to run, 15 miles to build waves. As we head southwest back towards Temple Bar the light breeze picks up speed. The waves pick up height… 2 foot… 3 foot 15 mph 20 mph … 4 foot… 5 foot… 25 mph 30 mph 6 foot… 7 foot. Trim the outboard all the way up, hold the bow high and crash through the waves. Slowly we make progress down Iceberg Canyon and then into Gregg Basin. But we don’t have enough fuel to battle these waves. Up ahead is Sandy Point. A big high piece of land that juts out into Gregg Basin. We decide to take refuge behind it.

Did I mention it’s name? Sandy Point. As we beach the boat the sands pouring off the top right down on us and in the boat. Into our eyes and ears and nose and mouths and turning the boat into a floating sand box. Tai and I climb to the top and look out into Gregg Basin. Huge waves. Looks like the ocean on a bad day. The hours pass by, no let up in wind, gonna be dark soon, it’s gonna be cold at night. It always is in the desert. Nothing to retain the daytime heat. No relief from the blowing sand. Can’t even keep our eyes open. Is the wind letting up? Maybe. Anything better than this sand. Back out into the lake we go. No way. The waves are to big. Tai’s afraid we’ll drown. Can’t go back to Sandy Point. Too miserable. Let’s try the other side. Maybe we can find shelter in a small pocket. Wave after
Nevada, home of the largest man made lake in the U.S. My favorite about three in the Winds still blowing but out in the lake? It is! light at the boat. Must it’s wake and follow it heads towards our fire.

wave comes over the side of the boat as we battle our way across the basin.

There’s a little pocket! Not much relief from the wind but at least there’s no blowing sand. We beach the boat and tie it off to a cactus. The winds howling, it’s starting to get dark, we’re cold and wet. Picking sand out off our ears. Looks like we’re spending the night in the desert. Got to start a fire. The area we’ve beached in is covered with drift wood. What luck! But I don’t have any matches or lighter. Neither does Tai. We search the borrowed boat throughout. A roll of toilet paper and the boats cigarette lighter will do the job. [Do boats smoke?] We warm up and dry out. The sun goes down. The wind continues to blow without let up.

morning I’m looking out into the basin. not quite as hard. Is that a green light I stoke up the fire and flash my flash be a big cruiser. Maybe we can get behind in. I wake up Tai. The boat turns and Wait a minute. It can’t be. Can it? The little aluminum boat with three fisherman. Are they glad to see us and our fire!

They warm and dry themselves as we take turns emptying their boat with the bilge can they had been using. 4:30 AM. We decide
it’s now or never. Once the sun comes up the wind will increase. Two of the three ride with us while the third runs the aluminum boat behind us. I can’t stay on pad for long or I outrun the aluminum. Quite the ride in the dark through 3 and 4 foot waves. Finally we turn west out of Gregg Basin. Drop them off in Burro Bay and head for Temple Bar. Fighting 3 and 4 footers all the way back. Temple Bar Marina! Take the boat off pad at the No Wake buoys, the outboard sputters and dies. Out of gas. – Lake Mohave

Who is Really Regulating Water Quality?

There is a tributary to Galveston Bay named Clear Creek that old timers reminisce about. They will tell you that fifty years ago you could walk the shorelines and catch trout and redfish. Often times freshwater species including bass and crappie could be caught at the same location by simply changing depth and taking advantage of the salt water below the relatively light fresh water. Today this area is not useful as a fishery because of pollution. In the late fifties Lake Houston was an excellent fishery as well. Today I don’t think many people would bother to spend a lot of time fishing either. Why is this important? It is important because, without intervention, history will repeat itself. The lakes of East Texas that we love so dearly will suffer exactly the same fate unless the political bodies, and business, industrial and agricultural interests are made to recognize the economic and recreational value of these reservoirs and tributaries are important. If you don’t think what has happened to Clear Creek can happen in East Texas and other areas read on. Just like Columbine, warning signs exist if we just take the time to recognize them.
Regional Water Quality Assessment
The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) duties include responsibility for environmental assessments, administration of the Texas Clean Rivers Program, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Non Point Pollution grants Program. The TNRCC has regulatory authority. The Angelina & Neches River Authority (ANRA) has “broad responsibilities for protecting and enhancing the environments of the Angelina and Neches River Basins”.
The information which follows was taken directly from the Regional Assessment of Water Quality Upper Neches River Basin Study, October 1, 1996 which was prepared in cooperation with the TNRCC. “In 1991, based upon preliminary data, state regulatory authorities proposed poultry litter land application regulations which would have severely impacted poultry growers in East Texas, thus detrimentally impacting the poultry industry which is a substantial contributor to the East Texas Economy. In 1993, in response to the proposed regulations and a lack of sufficient poultry litter application research data, the TNRCC contracted with the ANRA who in turn contracted with Stephen F. Austin University to conduct a research pilot program to determine the effects of land-applied broiler litter on water quality of East Texas streams.” Poultry litter is a mixture of wood shavings and poultry manure.
Some of the published observations and findings of the 1996 poultry litter study follow.
· “Today, (1996) the majority of poultry growers in the study area still continue to remove litter
annually and spread 3 to 5 tons of litter per acre.”
· “Despite long-term land application of litter in the tributary watersheds, no adverse effects to water quality were detected.”
· “Nitrate-Nitrogen concentrations in many water quality samples were found to be greater than necessary to support excessive algal growth in both forested and pastured sites.”
“Study findings indicate that current and historical land management practices appear to have no adverse effects on water quality in the study watersheds therefore, if the TNRCC chooses to regulate poultry litter land application rates in East Texas, the current rate of litter application (3 to 5 tons per acre) should be considered for adoption to the standards. However, some growers are beginning to spread litter more than once per year resulting in application rates of approximately six to ten tons per acre.” According to the Regional Assessment do*****ent, “about 400,000 tons of waste material was produced in 1995”.
According to a TNRCC, Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) project status report for the Lake of the Pines and Big Cypress Creek another study, “to assess the current and potential water quality impacts of the poultry industry”, was conducted in 1997 and 1998. The Cypress Creek basin report was scheduled for completion in early 1999.
A typical broiler production cycle takes eight to ten weeks and the poultry farmers we have talked with say they clean out their houses every second or third production cycle, not once a year. The bottom line is this. No one is counting how many tons of litter are applied and there is no regulation; just as there is no regulation or tracking of quantities of herbicide / pesticide applications throughout the state.
Who really cares how may tons of poultry manure, herbicides / pesticides are applied as long as it is profitable? Does it make any difference to water quality or aquatic life? The answer to the first question is; not enough people care to make a difference. At present apathy prevails. The answer to the second question is yes. Read the labels found on herbicide and pesticide containers. The warnings are there for a reason.
Fecal Coliforn Bacteria Concern
In the Regional Assessment of Water Quality Upper Neches River Basin Study, October 1, 1996 do*****ent the following water quality concerns were identified. Sam Rayburn Reservoir was given a “concerned” status because of excessive fecal coliform bacteria in the spring and was not a concern in summer and winter. The Angelina River above Sam Rayburn was given a “concerned” status in all three designated periods, spring, summer and winter because of fecal coliform bacteria.
Fecal coliform bacteria are a result of contamination by human and or animal waste excretions.
1994 Assessment – Sulfate Concern
During the1994 assessment effort, historical water quality data was screened in the period 1982-1991. The “concerns” identified for Sam Rayburn Reservoir classified the water quality as “limited”. In the 94 assessment of Sam Rayburn a “concern” for Sulfates was identified and “possible concerns”, were identified for the following; dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids, chloride, fecal coliform bacteria, nutrients, and metals. The most logical source for sulfates and chlorides is the Champion Intl. paper mill which has been in continuos operation and is now owned and operated by Donohue paper, Inc. Sulfates are constituents of pulp mill “liquor”.
TNRCC Non Point Source Pollution Report
On the TNRCC web site page that is headed as Data Collection you will find discussion of the TNRCC Non Point Source Program which states that, “the updated assessment report will be published for public comment in the fall of 1998”. It also says, “the final report will be available in early 1999 after indicated revisions from the public comment period are incorporated”. On another page, under Data Management it says; “the Data Collection section produced several reports of interest to the regulated community” and a link is provided to the Non Point Source Program 1997 Annual Report. The report file will not down load. No explanation or reason is given, it just leaves you hanging out thinking a down load is happening. No link to the 1999 report scheduled to be available in early 1999 was provided. A TNRCC representative was asked how to obtain the report and the response was; they decided not to publish the report and the 303d Impaired Waters List do*****ent was adequate to provide the same information. Note that the 303d Impaired Waters List do*****ent does not list a single tributary to Sam Rayburn. That is not adequate. This lack of information on Sam Rayburn tributaries is unique! All other significant reservoir tributaries are covered in the 303d do*****ent.
Furthermore, in another TNRCC do*****ent titled Guidance for Submitting Data and Information for the Texas 2000 Clean water act, April 27.1999 Section 303d list it says; any data submissions must “limit the data to all water bodies in the following river basins: Canadian, Red, Sulfur, Cypress, Sabine, and Neches”. Thus submittal of information pertaining to the Angelina River, Attoyac Bayou and Ayish Bayou – or any other Rayburn tributary is excluded. According to another TNRCC do*****ent “Sam Rayburn Reservoir drains approximately 3,449 square miles” and there are 31 waste water discharge facilities dumping into the Angelina river. As already stated “results of the assessment screening analysis identify a concern for sulfates, and possible concerns for dissolved oxygen, nutrients, metals, and fecal coliform bacteria are also identified.”
At this point it has not been determined if a Non Point Source Pollution Report actually exists and is being withheld from the public or what. If it does exist you can be sure it would provide additional insight into what is happening on Rayburn and
Toledo Bend. Is it possible that powerful interests are applying political pressure that is preventing information relevant to pollution sources in the Sam Rayburn tributaries from being made public? Decide for yourself.
Apathy or Ignorance
At least one official (not the janitor) of an agency having responsibility for water quality recently took the position that Ammonia is not toxic. He is either misinformed or was attempting to mislead – one or the other. In either case, his position does not instill confidence. Apparently, he has never examined Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Records available to the public that list Toxic Chemical releases into Paper Mill Creek which empties into the Angelina River arm of Sam Rayburn Reservoir. The TRI records establish that in 1997; 20,768 lbs. of Ammonia, 4,937 lbs. of chloroform, 9,680 lbs. of Methanol and other toxic chemicals were released as surface water discharges into paper mill creek, a tributary to the Angelina River a few miles north of the 103 bridge. The agency this official represents has “broad responsibility for protecting and enhancing the environments of the Angelina and Neches River Basins”.
In mid-May, letters urging support for the determination of the reason for the 1998 Sam Rayburn fish kill and remedy for the decline in productivity of the fishery were posted to the Governor, and to U.S. and Texas legislators, the Director of Inland Fisheries, and the Chambers of Commerce in Lufkin and Jasper. Since then the Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) has taken some positive actions including collection and analysis of fish specimens and release of information attributing the presence of lesions on fish taken from Sam Rayburn to an infestation of Epistylus. “Epistylus is most often associated with poor water quality”, according to the TPW release and others. Currently, only three responses to the letters asking for support have been received. Responses were received from U.S. Senator Phil Gramm, State Senator Drew Nixon, and a Shirley Green, “Director of Correspondence” for Governor George Bush. Should it be concluded that the economic and recreational value of Sam Rayburn is not important to the non-responsive officials? Perhaps they should be asked this question prior to the next election.
TNRRC Water Quality Planning
The TNRCC has divided the state into five regions or groups. Each year water quality monitoring efforts are focused and intensified on only one of the five groups. Apparently, sufficient funding is not available to support rigorous sampling and analysis concurrently for all regions. Each year a different region or group is selected for an intensified sampling and analysis effort. Up until the present, the region having the most severe water quality problems were selected for intensified water sampling effort. In other words the worst water gets the attention. Unfortunately, this has created a situation where a body of water that may be void of any aquatic life and not suitable for any recreational purpose may get higher priority and attention than a body of water which is marginally suitable for support of aquatic life and recreational activity. In other words, the worst gets fixed first, meanwhile the marginal body of water condition worsens making it much more difficult to remedy. Catch 22!
Once the water sampling data from the intensified effort is available an analysis is performed resulting in preparation of an Impaired Waters List 303d. This list identifies specific water quality issues and based on this do*****ent a requirement for preparation of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Plan may be generated. The TMDL Plan specifies the action that will be taken to obtain data and perform an analysis that will result in the determination of the maximum amount of pollutant a body of water can receive and still meet water quality standards.
A summary of information pertaining to a TMDL project initiation on Lake of the Pines and a tributary, Big Cypress Creek follows. Detection of high concentrations of Zinc and Selenium and low dissolved oxygen levels have established that the water quality in Lake of the Pines and Big Cypress Creek does not meet the State of Texas Standards. Due to these findings a TMDL project has been initiated. The first step of the TMDL project was the formation of a watershed committee made up of 43 separate agencies with representation from; 4 state agencies, 2 federal agencies, 7 cities, 5 industries, 3 citizen groups, 8 local governments, 5 universities, 3 water districts, 3 agriculture groups, 3 other water user groups. They left out the partridge in the pear tree.
A status report for the TMDL development project lists July, 1998 as a start date and a target end date of August, 2001. That’s three years from start to completion of the TMDL project with the purpose of defining the measures necessary to restore the water quality in Big Cypress Creek and Lake of the Pines. Nothing has been said about action to correct the problems at this point. Putting it kindly, a committee of 43 agencies is inherently constipated and dysfunctional. Who is regulating whom?
Interestingly, the water quality issues identified as reasons for initiation of the TMDL project were excessive concentrations of Zinc and Selenium but one of the “project highlights” was a study of the current and potential water quality impacts of the poultry industry. This is a second poultry litter study and is not the study done in the Attoyac region previously mentioned.
Impaired Waters List 303d, April 1999
The Impaired Waters List summarizes water quality issues for each the five groups in Texas. It typically includes reservoirs and tributaries to the reservoirs, but not for Sam Rayburn. The Sam Rayburn reservoir segment summary says fish consumption use is partially supported, based on a restricted consumption advisory issued by the Texas Department of health due to Mercury in fish tissue. The summary also says; “in the upper arm of the reservoir, dissolved oxygen concentrations are sometimes lower than the standard established to assure optimum conditions for aquatic life”. “Also in the upper portion, bacteria levels sometimes exceed the criterion established to assure the safety of contact recreation.” In plain English this means that sometimes fish will die because of oxygen deprivation and sometimes it’s not safe to swim or water-ski in, because of fecal coliform bacteria. Sulfates are not mentioned in the summary of conditions on Sam Rayburn even though the TNRCC data collection web site page “identifies a concern for sulfates’. The Angelina River, and Attoyac and Ayish Bayous, all major tributaries for Sam Rayburn reservoir, are not even listed in any group; it’s as if they didn’t exist. Some questions which should be addressed follow. Where did the contamination causing elevated levels of fecal coliform bacteria come from? Why are the dissolved oxygen levels insufficient for aquatic life? Reasonable people would look upstream of the reservoir at the tributaries for answers. The trouble is; Rayburn tributaries are missing from the list so we can’t look there. In the 1993 Poultry Litter study previously mentioned herein the Attoyac was a “study stream”. Certainly, it was not selected for the poultry litter study because it was a pristine water body. In the ANRA 1994 Water Quality Assessment previously mentioned herein, a concern for Sulfates in Sam Rayburn Reservoir was identified. In the same 1994 assessment, possible concerns for dissolved oxygen, dissolved solids, chloride, fecal coliform bacteria, nutrients and metals were also identified. Has anything happened to clean up the pollutants or has it just been decided to exclude them from mention? Engineers have a descriptive phrase for eliminating a problem without solving the problem. It’s called “pencil whipping the problem”. Again, who is regulating whom? Are organizations with deep pockets exerting influence and inhibiting accurate assessment of water quality? You decide.
The Impaired Waters List 303d in basin groups a & b which includes the Trinity River and water bodies East of the trinity, discloses a total of 13 “impairments” caused by pesticides Atrazine or Chlordane. Excessive metal concentrations including Zinc, Selenium, Copper and Lead are also present in this region. The typical routine water sample and analysis normally done, determines water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and conductivity. Analysis capable of detecting pesticide / herbicide constituents is not routinely done and it would be reasonable to expect a significantly greater number of “impairments” attributed to pesticides / herbicides if it were.
In late spring many fish caught on Sam Rayburn reservoir and Toledo Bend were covered with external lesions or open sores not caused by predators or handling. Similar findings on lakes Richland Chambers, Fairfield and Limestone were also reported. Logic suggests that there is a common pollution source weakening bass crappie and perch disease resistance and immune systems. A short list of possible, common, pollution sources includes herbicides, pesticides, sewage and animal or poultry manure applied to crop lands as fertilizer. Possible common sources for pesticide and herbicide applications include agriculture (which includes the timber industry), and all agencies using herbicides to control vegetation and underbrush along highways and other right-of -ways. These are the types of pollution sources you would expect to be addressed in the Non Point Source Pollution Report mentioned previously herein which is not available.
The aquatic grasses, Hydrilla and Coon-Tail moss, have practically disappeared from Sam Rayburn. Those who are intimately familiar with the history of Sam Rayburn know that this
is abnormal. TNRCC officials recently said they were not planning to perform water sample analyses capable of detecting herbicide / pesticide constituents in Sam Rayburn reservoir.
Any objective comparison of tournament results from 1999 to preceding years clearly supports the conclusion that the impact of the 1998 fish kill was much more severe than reported. A comparison of fish population surveys although not conclusive also suggests a decline in numbers of legal size fish.
Summary & Conclusion
The preceding makes it evident that information relevant to water quality which is vitally important to the communities economically dependent upon the recreational use of Sam Rayburn reservoir is not available. While the reason this is so has not been clearly established, it is evident that the agencies responsible for assessing, regulating, and maintaining water quality have not been effective. We do not believe these problems are a consequence of apathy or inability on the part of people employed by TNRCC and ANRA but rather the problems may be a consequence of the political influence powerful moneyed interests wield. We believe these interests inhibit regulation in order to secure profits. The situation will not change until the political bodies, and business, industrial and agricultural interests are made to realize that economic and recreational value of the reservoirs of East Texas are enormously important. That is the challenge. It can be met, but only if the merchants, boat dealer associations, boat and tackle manufactures, motel and restaurant owners ,etc. form an alliance with the common purpose of achieving water quality suitable for all recreational activity in our lakes and streams. The first step is to define the economic value of particular water bodies. These lakes and streams don’t belong to industry, timber, or agricultural interests and they should not be allowed to control their fate.
Foot note: A second letter signed by George Bush was received after completion of this article.
A Concerned Citizen
6/28/99 – Lake Mohave

February mean late prespawn or spawn for the bass in Gibbon’s Creek Reservoir. A power plant lake, the water temperature stays a few degrees warmer than Other east Texas lakes. A former holder of the Texas state record bass, you can bet that giant bass swim in this small reservoir. Which is why I guide and fish it myself. Keep in mind that Gibbon’s is strictly catch and release for large mouth bass. But a good shot at your personal best makes it worth that.

As I write this our weather is still fall like, so if this remains the trend expect the spawn to be on. A some what discolored or stained body of water, sight fishing is a rarity. So if the bass are between the inside grass line and the bank you’ll need to fish a locator bait such as a Slug-Go type jerk bait. A white skirted Stanley Wedge 3/8 oz. Spinnerbait worked around all the laydowns and stumps will get ambushed as well.

If the bass haven’t moved to the beds yet, you’ll need to fish the inside and outside edge of the grass which can be accomplished on the same cast as the grass is narrow due to the water color. Start the morning off with a buzz-bait working from the bank to the open water past the outside edge of the grass. Use a big bladed buzz-bait and work it just fast enough to stay on the surface. Never set the hook when you sec the strike, but wait until you feel the bass.

Once the surface bite has stopped I’ll change to a Stanley Wedge spinnerbait with a willow leaf blade around the grass and a Colorado blade around the stumps and laydowns. A red, chrome, or gold Rattle Trap will also be seen sailing away from my rod tip. This time of year I never use less than 18 lb. Triple Fish Camo Escent fishing line. Re-tie (often if you don’t want a story about the one that got away.

This is such a great “Power-Bait” lake that I never throw finesse baits. Doesn’t mean they don’t work, they do. But I catch a lot more fish a lot faster with “Power-Baits”. And if you fish Gibbon’s and don’t do any good, you are definitely doing something wrong. It’s not a high numbers lake but it is a high quality lake. one last note on the lake, it’s closed on Wednesdays.

And if you want some quality instruction on a quality lake in the art of fishing “Power-Baits” give me a call and we’ll set up a trip
Great Fishing.
– Lake Mohave

The hot summer months are upon us again, setting up yet another hot water scenario for catching bass. When water temperatures get hot (75 and up), the metabolism of the bass increases, resulting in more drastic mood swings than the fish experience at other times of year, The personality of the bass is therefore much different at this time of year, than say in the spring or fall when water temperatures are in the 6G’s and low 70’s. In the hot summer, bass are typically either feeding wide open, or they are totally sedentary. One for each mood of the bass.
When the bass go on the prowl and they become active, fast moving reaction baits will do the trick. Fast moving topwater lures, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits are great choices to catch these active fish. To efficiently angle for these active summer bass, the prudent fisherman will put his Motorguide Beast trolling motor on 3/4 or full speed, and cover vast amount of water looking for active bass. Some of my favorite bait choices for these power techniques include topwaters that can be worked fast, such as buzzbaits and small chuggers. Topwater baits such as these are most effective when fished around shallow vegetation or brush. Concentrate on main lake flats and the backs of coves, pockets or washes.
Medium and deep diving crankbaits like the new Berkley Frenzy in shad patterns are another great choice for covering a lot of water in a hurry. Concentrate your crankbait 6shing on steeper rock shorelines or walls, and on windy days don’t be afraid to crank shallow brush.

The Berkley Jay Yelas Power Spinnerbait in a Summer Shad pattern is another great choice for catching active shallow fish in the hot summer. Pitch this spinnerbait around shallow brush and grass, and be sure to use a fast retrieve in clear water. Retrieve the spinnerbait no deeper than 6 inches deep, and wind it fast. Windy days make for especially good spinnerbait fishing in the summer.

I recently designed yet another spinnerbait for Berkley. It is called the Berkley Jay Yelas Spinvisable. I designed this spinnerbait for clear water applications, and it is an awesome spinnerbait in warm clear water.

The theory behind the Spinvisable is one of trying to create an illusion to the fish. Lets face it, spinnerbaits don’t look real, and in clear water it is very easy for bass to identify a spinnerbait as unreal food. In clear water, if bass can visually lock in on a spinnerbait and identify the blades, shah, and skirt, they don’t eat it. Hence the fast retrieve, and hence the Spinvisable. This bait will revolutionize spinnerbait fishing in clear water. It wi0 be available sometime this summer.

Getting back to summer bass behavior, it is therefore important to understand that during a 24 hour period, the bass have brief, wide open flurries of activity that will last for about an hour or so, then they go dormant and rest for a few hours. Bass burn up so much energy when active in hot water that, to survive, they are forced to rest for most of the day. It might help to compare the bass’ metabolism to the RPM’s of your automobile. In hot water, the bass has a high metabolism, and its RPM’s run really high when it is active and looking for food. If it stayed active like this for long, it would burn up, just like your car if it were run for too long at high RPM’s. In cooler water, the bass have a lower metabolism, or lower RPM level, and they can stay active longer at these moderate levels of water temperature.

So, during periods of activity for summer bass, it is a good idea to use these fast moving, (high RPM) reaction lures I’ve mentioned. Match the mood of the bass. When the bass’ mood changes, however, and they go into a resting mode, the angler must slow way down if he expects to continue catching fish.

During a typical summer day, the bass are active for just a brief period of time, maybe a couple hours or so. The rest of the time they slow down and conserve energy, but they can definitely still be caught. To consistently take these inactive fish, the angler will have to switch to a worm of some sort, and
fish slowly.

This is why worms are the best overall summertime lures to catch bass. There are more hours during a summer day when a worm crawled slowly over the bottom will be more appealing to a fish than a topwater or spinnerbait worked spastically fast over the surface.

I have developed so much confidence in Berkley Power Worms over the past few years, that now they are the only worms I carry with me to the tournaments I fish. Berkley has a complete line of soft plastics to meet every worm fishing cir*****stance a fisherman might encounter. Some of my favorites are the 10″ and 7″ Power worms and the 6″ Power Zip Worm in pumpkinseed, red shad, and blue fleck.

Good summertime worm fishing is typically ledge, brush, or baitfish related. Usually the bass are found between 20 and 40 feet deep around good structure. Keeping a close eye on my Lowrance LMS-160 and my Lowrance X75 really helps me in identifying these deep structure areas. Structure varies from lake to lake, you’ll have to find the key area on each lake yourself. Look for dropoffs or ledges, brush on the edges of deep flats, or schools of shad.

One good thing about these deeper summer bass is that they generally stay in the same areas for a week or two, and can be counted on as consistent producers. They are good, consistent tournament fish.

Keep these ideas in mind this summer, and you’ll be on the right track. Good fishing, and please remember catch and release. – Lake Mohave

For years, anglers have been plagued with all types of vegetation growth in lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and off-shore. But, realizing the benefits of plant habitat for fish, anglers have adapted fishing styles and techniques to work with the grass, rather than letting it deter them from their favorite sport. Plant life is vital in the food chain, and it offers many fish a good place to hang out.

Plants in lakes, referred to as cover, are typically categorized as floating, emergent, and submergent growth. Floating plants offer a canopy of shaded cover, but will not limit fish movement underneath it’s thick mat, because it has no stems or vines attached to the lake bottom. It is free floating, and will collect in pockets, coves, or attach itself to other grassy or woody cover. Hyacinths, water cabbage, and duckweed are found on many waterways throughout the United States. Water Hyacinths have dark, shiny leaves with bluish-white flowers, and multiply very quickly. One plant can multiply to several thousand plants in just one season, blocking off many coves, boat lanes, and whole areas of lakes. Hyacinth is not much of a problem to fish, but it is a problem plant to control growth. Duckweed, on the other hand, poses more of a problem for anglers to penetrate the thick mat, than it does in growth control. Floating, weedless lures are best for fishing this type of cover. Sometimes, heavy baits can be punched through Duckweed growth with good results.

Submergent plants build up beneath the surface of waterways. Common submergent plants are hydrilla, coontail, and milfoil. Most submergent plants are fast growing vines that form a thick mat on top of the water, but are not near as dense below the surface. Pockets, trails, and holes will be distinct on the surface, and can be fished through the surface mat. Techniques employed for fishing submergent cover that is matted on top is the jig/craw, Texas rigged worm, and floating lures. When these vines are not matted on top, a crankbait, spinnerbait, slug type jerk bait, topwater, or other moving lure can draw some very reactive, vicious strikes, by running the lure just over the top of the grass.

Emergent vegetation is rooted on the bottom, but also offers plant life above the water. Examples of emergent growth are cattails, maidencane, reeds, bulrushes, and lily pads. These plants give fish cover from above, but allow them to move freely through the stalks and stems, remaining hidden from above. Some emergent plants are better fished with heavy lures using a flip/pitch technique to reach back into the weeds, such as cattails, and bulrushes. Lily pads are better penetrated by using a floating lure, spoon, or Texas rig with light sinker. Bass will move to the outside edges, capitalizing on the small baitfish that wander down the outside edges. Casting parallel to the weedline outside edges can entice many bass to the outside edge, that were previously tucked away just inside the emergent growth.

Weed growth usually has distinct growing lines, and generally start at the shore and extend out several feet. How far they grow from shore and stop, is dictated by depth, light penetration, oxygen, ph, soil composition, and fertility. Topographical breaklines will, often times, give way to two or more different weeds that are a natural attraction to bass on the prowl. Prey will skirt the outside edges, while the bass lays in waiting, stealthily hiding just inside the weedline.

Weeds give bass numerous advantages in foraging for food, and can also give the wise angler fishing advantages that will reward efforts time and time again. Whether lake vegetation is floating, submergent, or emergent, they all give bass a great hiding place to hang out. Rather than getting frustrated with weed growth, learn techniques that will prove to be a more productive fishing day.

Sherry Ruslink is a freelance outdoor writer, professional angler, licensed guide on Lake Fork, and owner of Anglers Educational Seminars, specializing in lady angler education. She may be reached at 817-572-3675, 903-473-1016, email: ladybass@onramp.net, and homepage: http://www.texs.com/ladybass – Lake Mohave

Timber, in any given lake, provides habitat for all species of fish. Anglers commonly refer to timber as cover, and they know it provides a sheltered area for bass hang outs. But, the age old quandary for bassers is which trees will be more productive for their fishing efforts? There are oak trees, pine trees, cedar trees, bushes, buck brush, tall trees, and short trees, that are left in lakes to be inundated with water. Timber, is not all created equal, when looking for specific targets for bass.

Structure and cover are the mainstays in providing shelter, travel routes, protection, and feeding advantages for bass. Timber supplies bass with all the necessary ingredients for top living conditions, and it gives anglers a primary target to key on while pursuing these sought after fish. Wi thin the intricate network of standing timber, anglers can find key holding areas that will always produce bass. But, when every tree looks like a good spot to direct a cast, and the lake houses thousands of the same types of trees, then the lake becomes very intimidating. And, since most ang lers don’t have the luxury of putting a lure next to every tree, then some time needs to be spent assessing the timber, and realizing not all trees will have a bass beside them.

High percentage areas of a lake that hold bass are places that collectively contain structure, cover, food, and shelter, and meet all the requirements of a bass’ needs. Trees aid in the network of providing these things for bass, and help anglers key in on the right areas, by using topo maps, and LCD’S. But, learning to visually read a lake is an exercise that should be given attention also. Lakes with standing timber, offer high spots, or humps, steep drops, creek channels, fence rows, orchards, roadbeds, and numerous other structured areas that will hold timber. By looking at the land mass that is not surrounded by water, take a look at how the trees grow.

Tall trees get more sunlight or osmosis than shorter trees, therefore the shorter trees usually grow on high ground. Cedar trees are generally much shorter than Pine or Oak trees, so to compete with them for the mu ch needed sun rays, they must be able to reach the height needed to grow. Cedar Trees will typically grow on humps or rises, while Oak Trees will glean from much lower down a hump or point, which might be a valley, or a drop. In other words, if the growth is relatively the same age, look for trees that are standing higher than the others. Chances are pretty good that these trees are taller because the lake bottom is higher. This usually projects a high spot in the form of a ridge, hump, or mound on the lake bottom.

Submerged channels are another top structure to fish within a large expanse of standing timber. Often times, trees grew right along the creek banks, and the larger trees will usually mark the route of the channel. So, to find a creek bend, which is a great bass holding area, follow the larger trees. Other likely spots are sloughs, roadbeds, boat lanes, pockets, points, ridges, humps, and tank dams. Humps, ridges, and tank dams will have Cedar Trees, Willow Trees, or some small trees scattered across the top, and will have a drop off side, which bass will naturally relate to the structure somewhere on the this prime piece of real estate. Points, many times will have shorter timber extending out into the lake, and that serves as a natural hangover for many species.

Only a small percentage of the actual cover bass use can be seen above the lakes surface. To locate the most productive timber, use good electronics, and a contour map, along with a good imagery. Bass have a preferred depth that meets their comfort, and they use the cover and structure within that haven to their best advantage. So take a little time, learn the lake, along with the structure and the cover it offers. Don’t be intimidated by all the standing timber, but know that they are not all created equal either.

Editors Note: Sherry Ruslink is sponsored by Stratos Boats/Evinrude Motors, Fin and Feather Sports Center – Pro Staff, Castaway Graphite Rods – Factory Team, Lowrance Electronics, Gene Larew Lures, Tackle Logic Tackle Systems, Triple Fish Fishing Line, Pro Line, Reel Deel, and Power Arm. She is a licensed guide on Lake Fork, Bass’n Gal Touring Pro, active member of Texas Outdoor Writers Assoc., TPWD angler educator, and owner of Anglers Educational Seminars. She may be contacted at 817-572-3675 or 903-473-1016, E-Mail: ladybass@onramp.net, & homepage: http://www.texs.com/ladybass
– Lake Mohave