Bryan Bass Club Tournament Reports

Archive of 2001 Reports

Livingston

Bryan Bass Club - December 01-02, 2001

Conditions: A predicted calm sunny weekend developed heavy fog until 11am Saturday and shifting winds with rain on Sunday. A few parts of the lake were muddy from a week of rain storms at the end of November, however water conditions were mostly stained at near normal pool with temperatures in the upper 50's. The club launched at the marina where the 190 bridge crosses the main lake.

Results: Sam Fling had a comfortable 16.30 lb first place with a five bass limit on Saturday. Bill Rule was second with 9.59 lbs Saturday. Bob Barnes brought 9.58 lbs in Sunday for third.

Patterns: Sam picked up two using a blue-chartreuse Bandit crank bait off a rocky point and caught three more behind shallow hyacinths using a black-emerald Zoom baby brush hog. Bill found a late afternoon bite near Cape Royale using a carolina-rigged watermelon fluke. Bob used a fire-tiger crank bait off a rocky point at Waterwood then followed up by a pitching a black-emerald Zoom baby brush hog in a flooded brush line along the bank of a small creek near mid-lake.

Here's a few pictures of some of their larger bass from Livingston:

above - Todd on Saturday	above - Todd on Sunday	above - Bob on Sunday
above - weigh-in at the marina ramp (click any pictures for larger images)

Limestone

Bryan Bass Club - November 17-18, 2001

Conditions: Mild days, cloudy Saturday, clearing with a slight south wind on Sunday. The lake water had stained clarity, a level just under normal pool but rising, and a temperature in the mid-60's. The club launched from the ramp at the dam near the BRA facility.

Results: This time Bill Rule clobbered everyone with a five bass limit weighing 19.60 lbs Saturday. Todd Carnes finished second with 14.28 lbs needing one more kicker bass to overtake him. Jimmy Vann had 10.88 lbs for third. Clyde Wilkerson really cleaned up by weighing in a nice 6.79 lb bass on sunday. The monthly big bass pot had filled to $518 with no six-pounders weighed in for over half a year.

Patterns: Bill picked up five bass off boat docks but culled with bigger fish that he caught later from large deep trees using a watermelon tube bait with about a half inch dipped in chartreuse dye. Todd fished docks with a black-blue tube bait. Clyde used a white-gray shallow running crank bait along a grass-lined point to catch his big bass.

Here's a bunch of pictures of their larger bass from Limestone...

Above - Sam with one from Saturday	Above - Larry with one from Saturday	Above - Charlie caught a small one
Above - Clyde with a nice bass Saturday	Above - Darlene with a bass Saturday	Above - Bob with one of his larger bass Saturday

Above - Jimmy with one of his larger bass Saturday	Above - Chris with a Saturday bass	Above - Bill Rule with a couple of his larger bass Saturday
Above - Clyde with his 6.79 lb bass on Sunday	Above - Bill Ray with his Sunday bass	Above - Todd with a couple of his larger bass Sunday
Above - Ray with a nice bass Sunday	Above - Jack with a couple from Sunday

(remember, click any photo for larger image)

Palestine

Bryan Bass Club - October 06-07, 2001

Conditions: A cold front brought a stormy north wind shift followed by cool sunny days. The mid-lake water had stained clarity, a level near normal pool, and a temperature in the low-70's. The club stayed at Bob's lakefront house and launched nearby at Village Marina, the location of Southeast Texas BASS Federation's tournament. Several members fished with Federation Saturday and 14 participated in the two-day club tournament.

Results: Todd Carnes clobbered everyone with a five bass limit weighing 12.52 lbs Saturday and left to practice for another tournament on Sunday confident no one would unseat him for first place. The home lake boy, Bob Barnes, took second with 6.69 lbs Saturday. Clyde Wilkerson finished third with 5.07 lbs Sunday.

Patterns: Todd fished backs of creeks and shallow boat docks with a Senko and a 6" watermelon lizard. Bob targeted shallow boat docks with a wacky worm, a lipless crank bait and a spinner bait. Clyde said top water worked best for his bigger bites. Members caught many small bass with only occasional keepers.

Livingston

Bryan Bass Club - September 08-09, 2001

Conditions: One partly cloudy windy day and one day of severe thunderstorms, muddy water clarity, level near normal pool, and water temperatures in the upper-70's. The club launched at Waterwood Resort along with Southeast Texas BASS Federation and had 13 members participating in the club side of the tournament.

Results: Bill Rule placed first with 7.51 lbs. Bob Barnes finished second with 7.29 lbs. Todd Carnes caught 7.19 lbs for third.

Patterns: Bill flipped watermelon wacky worms at south lake boat docks and caught some schooling bass off a rock pile near one of his favorite docks. Bob flipped waterline reeds in the Waterwood area with a black/blue tube. Todd flipped the reeds in the Waterwood area and log jams up in Harmon with a 8" black/emerald lizard.

Somerville

Bryan Bass Club - August 25-26, 2001

Conditions: Hot days, mild winds, stained water clarity, level near normal pool, and water temperatures in the upper-80's. The club launched at Overlook Park with 15 members and guests participating in this tournament.

Results: Mike McCollum placed first with 7.82 lbs. Bill Ray finished second with 6.80 lbs. Sam Fling caught 6.52 lbs for third.

Patterns: Mike fished the Birch Creek area, Bill the Rocky Creek area, and Sam the Rocky Creek area or Overlook boat docks. Their baits included spinner baits, carolina rigs and wacky worms. Most fish came from around grass or pads relatively shallow.

Sam Rayburn

Bryan Bass Club - July 14-15, 2001

Conditions: Hot sunny days, calm winds, stained water clarity, level near normal pool, and water temperatures in the upper-80's. The club launched at Mill Creek with 15 members and guests participating in this tournament.

Results: Pat Baker placed first with 10.61 lbs. Jack Gressett finished second with 9.23 lbs. Charlie Thomas brought in 8.02 lbs for third. All three caught their best weights on Saturday.

Patterns: Pat fished 20'-23' grass edges around Needmore and Buck using a green/chartreuse Gene Larew Hawg Craw or a carolina-rigged watermelon/purple-flake centipede. Jack made a run north to the Deer Stand area and used a fire-tiger crank bait in 6'-8' water. Charlie worked the Needmore area using tube baits, baby Brushhogs, or 4" Lake Fork ring worms in either watermelon/red-flake or green/chartreuse colors.

A few pictures at Rayburn...

Above - Charlie with a couple Saturday	Above - Mike with a nice one Saturday	Above - our tournament director, Sam, putting up weigh-in equipment with the usual help from the club

(Remember click any picture for larger image)

Limestone

Bryan Bass Club - June 23-24, 2001

Conditions: Hot sunny days, calm winds, stained water clarity, level at 6" above normal pool with flooded brush and reeds along shore, and water temperatures in the upper-70's. The club launched at the County Park next to the BRA facility at the dam with 14 members and guests participating in this tournament.

Results: Ray Rippstein placed first with 3 nice keepers weighing 9.16 lbs on Saturday. Todd Carnes placed second with 4 bass weighing 9.08 lbs on Sunday. Larry Glover brought in 8.02 lbs on Sunday for third.

Patterns: Ray said he caught lots of 10"-13" bass and and an occasional keeper in 1' to 4' flooded reeds, grass and hyacinths in a cove north of the power lines using salt-n-pepper colored plastic, likeYamamoto 5" Senkos, Culprit 8.5" worms or Zoom 6" lizard with a 1/32oz weight, and using a Strike King tandem-copper-indiana chartreuse 3/8oz spinner bait. Todd fished shallow vegetation with Senkos and spinners in several small coves off the mid-lake area. Larry worked a buzz bait over cover all day long in a cove on the east side closer to the dam. Several members mentioned lots of just-under-keeper-size bass.

Here are some pictures at Limestone...

Above - Ray with a couple of his larger bass Saturday	Above - Diann with a bass on Sunday	Above - Larry with one of his bass Sunday	Above - Gerald with one of his bass Sunday
Above - Bert with a few of his on Sunday	Above - Todd with a couple of his larger bass Sunday	Above - weigh-in near the ramp

(remember, click any picture for larger image)

Sam Rayburn

Bryan Bass Club - May 05-06, 2001

Conditions: Hot days, moderate south winds, stained clarity, level above normal pool with flooded brush along shore, and water temperatures in the upper-70's. The club launched at Jackson Hill Park Saturday with Southeast Texas BASS Federation and at Cassels Boykin Park on Sunday with 13 members and guests participating in this tournament.

Results: The best weights came Sunday. Bill Rule placed first with a 13.75 lbs limit, Larry Glover second with 8.43 lbs, and Ray Rippstein third with 6.39 lbs.

Patterns: Bill stopped at the last minute on a point not far from weigh-in Sunday and collected a quick limit. Larry found a few fish scattered at mid-lake. Most members encountered lots of undersize bass. Ray used a new technique shared with the club by Coach Charlie Thomas Friday night. Ray called it "cracky" worm for CRoss wACKY, a chartreuse brown centipede hooked first wacky-style across its middle, then a watermelon trick-worm also hooked in its middle except in a drooping arch lengthwise for an inch. The result appeared like a dangling cross. Coach had reasoned that when he was young they used to place wads of worms on a hook not just one when the bite got tough. When the "cracky" rig fell in front of one of these scattered Rayburn bass, they didn't just eat it, they hammered it. The trick was to get it in front of bass that were keeper size. Actually, this mess fell slower than a regular wacky, plus offered bulk, a mix of visual and subtle colors, and an unusual pulsing action - - go figure.

Here are a few pictures from Sunday weigh-in...

Above - Bobby with his two largest on Sunday	Above - Larry with his two largest on Sunday	Above - Bill with his three largest on Sunday	Above - Ray with his two largest on Sunday

(remember, click any picture for a larger image)

Toledo Bend

Bryan Bass Club - April 07-08, 2001

Conditions: Warm, light to moderate south winds, stained to muddy clarity, level above normal pool with flooded brush along shore, and water temperatures in the mid-60's. The club launched at Alpine Marina Saturday with Southeast Texas BASS Federation and at Fling Point in Housen bay on Sunday with 11 members and a guest participating in this tournament.

Results: Larry Glover took first place with 13.62 lbs on Sunday. Jimmy Vann caught 10.13 lbs for second and Todd Carnes 8.94 lbs for third on Saturday.

Patterns: Larry used a Texas-rigged black/blue lizard and a redbug wacky worm on brushy secondary points in Hurricane. Jimmy used a brown tube bait in Patroon. Todd flipped a tube bait shallow in coves just south of the bridge.

Below... a few of the larger Toledo Bend bass caught by members

Above - Darlene on Saturday	Above - Art on Saturday	Above - Charlie on Saturday	Above - Ray on Saturday
Above - Ray on Sunday	Above - Sam on Sunday	Above - Bill on Sunday	Above - Larry on Sunday

(click any photo for larger image)

Toledo Bend

Bryan Bass Club - March 10-11, 2001

Conditions: Cool mornings, moderate winds, stained to muddy clarity, level above normal pool with flooded brush along shore, and water temperatures in the mid-50's to low 60's. The club launched at Fling Point in Housen bay with 11 members and a guest participating in the tournament.

Results: Sam Fling caught a limit Saturday for first place with 14.00 lbs. That makes three first place finishes in a row. Bill Rule caught four bass on Sunday for 11.61 lbs and second place. Larry Glover caught several on Sunday too for 9.88 lbs and third.

Patterns: Sam fished a lipless crank bait on the Louisiana side ticking the top of submerged grass. Bill found a concentration of bass flipping black-blue plastic into a pocket of flooded buck brush not far from the launch. Larry found some bass holding off main lake points.

Conroe

Bryan Bass Club - February 10-11, 2001

Conditions: Cool mornings, sprinkles and threat of rain Sunday, moderate winds, stained clarity, with water temperatures in the low to upper 50's. The club launched at April Plaza near the dam with 13 members participating in the tournament.

Results: Only six members caught a bass in two days. Sam Fling caught a limit Sunday for first place with 12.65 lbs. Bill caught a couple bass Sunday for 9.38 lbs and second place. Jack Gressett caught several on Saturday for 7.69 lbs and third. One of Bill's weighed 7.02 for big bass.

Patterns: Sam fished a white spinner in isolated clumps of shallow flooded blade grass up north. Jack fished bulk heads and rip rap with a spinner bait in areas near the launch. Bill flipped a wacky worm into boat docks on the south end for his big bass.

Photos of a few of the bass caught at Conroe...

above - Ray Rippstein	above - Bob Barnes	above - Bill Rule with 7.02 lb big bass

(click any photo for larger image)

Falcon

Bryan Bass Club - January 13-14, 2001

Conditions: Cool mornings, warm afternoons, mild winds, with water temperatures in the low to mid 50's. The club launched at the county park near Zapata with 13 members and guests participating in the tournament.

Results: Sam Fling won with a weight of 21.02 lbs on Saturday. Bobby Barnes was fishing with Sam and took second place with 19.04 lbs on Sunday. Bert Keller finished third with 18.01. Bobby had a 7.78 big bass on Saturday, inching out Gerald May's wife, Jill, who caught a 6.94 on Saturday too.

Patterns: Sam, Bobby and Bert said that a white spinner bait fished very shallow in the backs of coves produced their limits. Sam and Bobby fished west of the dam and Bert fished near the county launch.

Here are a few of the larger bass that members caught at Falcon...

above - Sam Fling practice day	above - Sam Fling day one, first place	above - Bert Keller day one
above - Don Radke day one	above - Todd Carnes day one	above - Dan Phifer day one
above - Bob Barnes day one, a 7.78 lb bass	above - Charlie Thomas day one	above - Ray Rippstein day two
above - Bob Barnes (left) day two, second place	above - Bert Keller day two, third place	above - Dan Phifer day two
above - Gerald May and wife Jill with nice bass, including her 6.94 lb bass

(click any photo for larger image)

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