Bryan Bass Club Tournament Reports

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Last Report Listed: February, 2010, at Toledo Bend

For many years, the club started their tournament year enjoying the mild January weather down at Falcon Lake in south west Texas

Finishing places in a tournament are determined using a best-day approach, the best weight from one day or the other, not both. A few members choose to compete only one day and return home, while many fish both hoping to do better the next day.

Some bring guests or family members. For more information on the club's tournament lakes, click here.

Sam Rayburn - Bryan Bass Club - January 16-17, 2010

Conditions: Moderate cold north winds Saturday, calmer Sunday with winds picking up in the afternoon. Water temperatures were in the mid-40's, stained water clarity, lake level two feet low. Sixteen members and guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday at Monterey Park.

Randy Knight finished in sixth place in the Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region tournament, drawing a check on Saturday.

Patterns: Randy Knight caught two bass early Saturday using a carolina-rig and a lipless crankbait. Jimmy caught a bass on a lipless crankbait early Saturday. Larry caught a bass on a carolina-rig red-bug color Zoom Big Dead Ringer.

Sam Rayburn - Bryan Bass Club - February 06-07, 2010

Conditions: Mild north winds Saturday, calmer Sunday. Water temperatures were in the upper-40's, stained water clarity, lake level two feet low. Only six members and guests fished the cold club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday at Fling Point.

Patterns: Sam caught two bass using a Zoom Ol' Monster red-bug color worm and a lipless crankbait in Housen Bay. Randy Knight did not report about how he caught his two bass. Clyde said he used a mojo-rig red-bug color Zoom Big Dead Ringer near grass for his nice keeper. Fishing conditions were affected by recent severe cold fronts, however the few club members braving the weather ate very well at Fling Point.

Toledo Bend - Bryan Bass Club - January 10-11, 2009

Conditions: Moderate north winds in the afternoons and partly cloudy skies. Water temperatures were in the low-50's, stained water clarity, lake level three feet low. Nine members and associates fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday at Fling Point while some weighed in Saturday at Cypress Bend along with Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region.

Randy Knight tied for third place in the Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region tournament, drawing a check on Saturday.

Patterns: Randy Knight ran north to the 1215 area using the new toledo-gold color Bill Lewis Rat-l-trap in shallow 3'-5' guts for a limit on Saturday. Sam Fling fished a cut in Housen Bay using a gold color Rogue near grass edges in a shallow creek for a limit Saturday. Bob Barnes couldn't remember how or what he used to catch his four bass on Saturday but concluded maybe the story this time should be that it was a 5/8oz shaky-head rigged trick worm in some color out of a creek drop-off near community hole north of Housen Bay, yep that's it and he's stickin' to it.

Sam Rayburn - Bryan Bass Club - February 21-22, 2009

Conditions: Strong winds and partly cloudy skies. Water temperatures were in the low-60's, stained water clarity, lake level six-to-seven feet low. Eleven members and guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday at Cassells Boykin county park while some weighed in Saturday at Jackson Hill corps park along with Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region.

Randy Knight finished in sixth place in the Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region tournament, drawing a check on Saturday.

Patterns: Randy Knight cranked a "rayburn-red" color one-knocker Excalibur lipless crankbait near the Canyons for his limit. Richard Sebesta used the same bait in Veach Basin for his three keepers. Mikel Stephens used the same bait near Monterey Park for his two bass.

Amistad - Bryan Bass Club - March 21-22, 2009

Conditions: Mild Saturday and strong north winds on Sunday with partly cloudy skies both days. Water temperatures were in the mid-60's, clear water clarity in main lake, lake level just over a foot high. Nineteen members and associates/guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday at Diablo East national park, with trailering permitted by the tournament director on Sunday for safety.

Bill Rule finished at 67th place (best among the club's six representatives) in the Texas BASS Federation Nation State Championship tournament during the next week, with its final competition day cancelled to due high wind.

Patterns: Ray Rippstein swam a lightly weighted watermelon-red color Zoom Big Dead Ringer in shallow off-color water in the back of main lake coves near marker 4 on Saturday. Bob used watermelon-red colors wacky-worm rigged Zoom Trick Worms and tx-rigged Lake Fork craws in clear-water coves near marker 4 and the bridge on Saturday. Bill Rule used shaky-head rigged watermelon-red color Zoom Trick Worms in the Devils River area on Sunday.

Belton - Bryan Bass Club - April 18-19, 2009

Conditions: Thunderstorms with heavy rain Saturday clearing after noon, then strong north winds on Sunday with clear skies. Water temperatures were in the mid-60's, clear water clarity in main lake, lake level two-and-a-half feet low. Sixteen members and associates/guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday at Begonia park ramp.

Clyde Wilkerson finished at 5th place in the Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region tournament, drawing a check Saturday.

Patterns: Clyde threw a StrikeKing crankbait along steep bluffs with ledges at 8-10 foot that had brush/trees. Sam threw a sexy-shad color Strike King Number 5 crankbait around rocks andt trees/brush in 2-8 foor water. Randy used a blue-back color Lucky Craft crankbait.

Livingston - Bryan Bass Club - May 16-17, 2009

Conditions: Moderate south wind and sunny skies Saturday, then strong north winds on Sunday with an early rain. Water temperatures were in the mid-70's, muddy water clarity in main lake and coves, lake level normal. Nine members and associates/guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday at Kickapoo Bait and Tackle. Trailering for launch was permitted this time for weather conditions.

Patterns: Sam chunked a white-white spinner bait around lots of shallow cover in the White Rock area, culling a first place limit on Saturday. Bob used a Bandit crankbait and a tx-rigged watermelon-red color Zoom Baby Brush-hog around some deeper docks with brushpiles in the Kickapoo area, also culling to a penalty-limit on Saturday. He went home the next day but shared his pattern with Richard so he and his son could have some fun Sunday. It seemed to work, because Richard weighed in 8.58 lbs and son Brent (who was not fishing the tournament) weighed in 11.47 lbs on Sunday. Clyde slowly worked some rocks near wind-protected Bethy Creek with a shaky-head rigged watermelon-red color Zoom Trick Worm for three good keepers on Sunday during the bad weather.

Sam Rayburn - Bryan Bass Club - June 06-07, 2009

Conditions: Mild south wind and sunny skies Saturday, then more moderate south winds on Sunday. Water temperatures were in the upper-70's, stained water clarity in main lake and coves, lake level two feet low. Ten members and associates/guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday at Monterrey Park ramp.

Patterns: Sam flipped willows with a black/red color Berkley Chigger Craw and cast a brown/orange color Bandit 200 series crankbait in 6-10 foot water near the Black Forest and the Canyons, culling a first place limit on Saturday including a huge 8.39lb bass. Bob threw a StrikeKing #5 sexy-shad color crankbait and a tx-rigged watermelon-red color Zoom Baby Brush-hog around willows in the Canyons and Pophers Creek, also culling to a four-bass limit on Sunday. That's right, he culled one bass too many and suffered through a lot of jokes after weigh-in. Clyde slowly worked a Zoom watermelon-red color wacky-worm in areas near Monterrey Park for his two bass, including the big kicker. Clyde caught an 8.93lb big bass on Sunday, edging out Sam's 8.39lb bass from Saturday.

Choke Canyon - Bryan Bass Club - July 25-26, 2009

Conditions: Mild hot south wind and sunny skies Saturday and Sunday. Water temperatures were in the upper-80's, clear water clarity in main lake and coves, slightly stained up creeks or river, lake level eight feet low. Twelve members and associates/guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday at Calliham Park ramp.

Patterns: Bob covered grass on a main lake point with a sexy-shad color Lucky Craft 6-8ft crankbait for his larger bass then finished his limit in creeks with soft plastic baits. Sam flipped hardwood in creeks with a black/red color Berkley Chigger Craw for his limit. Ray cast a watermelon/red or plum color Zoom Big Dead Ringers near hardwood and creek bend drop-offs for his limit.

Lake Livingston - Bryan Bass Club - August 22-23, 2009

Conditions: Mild hot south wind and partly cloudy skies Saturday and Sunday. Water temperatures were in the lower-80's after a mild front, with stained to muddy water clarity in main lake and coves, and lake level six inches low. Eleven members and associates/guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday at Kickapoo Bait and Tackle store after trailered launches.

Patterns: Randy caught 4 bass near Kickapoo cranking a one-minus chartreuse/white crankbait shallow and flipping a blue-flake color Berkley power worm. Clyde caught 3 nice bass near Kickapoo and south using a sexy-shad color crankbait in open water and flipping a Berkley chigger-craw in shallow log-jams. Bob caught a 4 fish bob-limit around Kickapoo (his limit can count four if you know the inside joke from an earlier tournament) on separate baits, one hit pulling a spinnerbait past flooded bean bushes, one hit a Lake Fork craw near a dock, one bit using a Berkley chigger craw in hyacinth mats, and one using a Zoom Baby Brush-hog in a deep-dock brush pile.

Toledo Bend - Bryan Bass Club - September 12-13, 2009

Conditions: Breezy north front Saturday and moderate east winds Sunday. Water temperatures were in the lower-80's after a mild front, with stained water clarity in main lake and coves, and lake level 3.5 feet low. Eight members and associates/guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday at Fling point.

Patterns: Larry did what Clyde did (fishing together in Clyde's boat). Sam used a red-bug color Zoom Ol' Monster worm at the community hole in Hausen for his limit. Clyde caught his 5 bass limit using a watermelon/red color drop-shot rigged Zoom Big Dead Ringer near islands in Hausen Bayou.

Stillhouse Hollow - Bryan Bass Club - October 03-04, 2009

Conditions: Moderate south wind and cloudy skies Saturday with a change to mild west wind and heavy rain Sunday morning. Water temperatures were in the upper-70's with clear water clarity in the main lake, and lake level six inches low. Nine members and associates/guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday over at River's Bend park instead of Stillhouse park (for an unknown reason, the Corps changed our approved location from uncrowded Stillhouse park to very crowded conditions at River's Bend where two additional clubs had tournaments).

Patterns: Sam caught his three keepers on a silver-gold color Yo-Zuri lipless crankbait and a sexy-shad color StrikeKing Series 4 crankbait on a flat with a creek drop-off running through it. Don caught his single keeper on a sexy-shad color StrikeKing Series 3 crankbait on a half-hump. Bill used a watermelon-red color carolina-rigged Zoom Fluke near the eadge of a flat to catch his single keeper. Most members caught large numbers of baby bass with only seven keeper bass weighed in over two days.

Palestine - Bryan Bass Club - November 09-10, 2009

Conditions: Mild conditions on Saturday with a southern front bringing rain at the end of the tournament on Sunday. Water temperatures were in the low-70's with stained water clarity, and lake level at normal pool. Thirteen members and associates/guests fished the club tournament with approved trailering launches and weighing in at normal times Saturday and Sunday at Bob's cove.

Patterns: Larry used a 4-6ft diving crankbait in sexy-shad color casting between boat docks or slowly working a tx-rig red bug color Zoom lizard to catch his four bass. Bob worked a shaky-head rigged watermelon-red color Zoom Vibra Tail worm around a few boat docks near the old folks playground area, catching a limit in a small area. Richard fished a shaky-head rigged Zoom Trick Worm around boat docks in Berryville cove for his four bass.

Limestone - Bryan Bass Club - December 05-06, 2009

Conditions: Cold wind Saturday and cold drizzle Sunday made for a typical club winter weekend. Water temperatures were in the upper-60's with stained water clarity and level at normal pool. Seven members or guests fished this tournament.

Patterns: Clyde caught his two bass on a wind blown rocky point using a white crankbait and a tx-rig redbug color Zoom Big Dead Ringer. Bob caught his single bass by a dock using a tx-rig watermelon-red color Zoom Baby Brush Hog. Randy's single bass came on a white spinnerbait fished in three foot water in Running Branch.

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