Bryan Bass Club Archive Tournament Reports

Somerville

Bryan Bass Club - January 18-19, 2003

Conditions: Cool but mild days. Light south wind. Water temperatures in the 50's, stained water clarity, flooded conditions, with water receding to 4' over normal pool. Twenty-four members and guests fished the club tournament, launching at the only open ramp, Yequa Park.

Results: Bill Rule had 14.90 lbs on Saturday for first place. Bob Barnes found 14.48 lbs on Sunday for second place. Ray Rippstein had two keepers on Saturday weighing 10.03 lbs to finish third. Bob Barnes claimed the over-six big bass pot with his 7.73 lb bass.

Patterns: Bill slow rolled a spinner bait in Indian, cranked a shad rap at the dam, and drug a carolina rig over the tire reef. Bob flipped a flooded reed patch near Welch with a junebug-re-flake Zoom Brush-hog. Ray pitched flooded reeds and willows near Overlook using a black-emerald Zoom Baby Brush-hog.

Here are a few pictures of the Somerville bass before being released after weigh-in:

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Above: Ray with a couple of his bass on Saturday	Above: Bill Rule with a couple of his bass on Saturday	Above: Mike with one of his bass on Saturday	Above: Bob with one of his bass on Saturday

Above: Bob with a couple of his bass on Sunday	Above: Gerald with one of his bass on Sunday	Above: Jack with one of his bass on Sunday

(click on any photo to open larger images in a separate browser window)

Conroe

Bryan Bass Club - February 01-02, 2003

Conditions: Cool days, some early fog. Light variable wind. Water temperatures in the mid-50's, stained water clarity, normal pool. Twenty-seven members and guests fished the club tournament, launching along with the South East B.A.S.S. Federation at April Plaza.

Results: Gerald May finished first with two bass weighing 10.12 lbs on Sunday. Mark Beckman had 6.88 lbs for second. Ray Rippstein caught a 5.12 lb bass on Sunday afternoon to wrap up third. Gerald claimed the over-six big bass pot with his 7.66 lb bass.

Patterns: Gerald flipped a Cyclone black-blue jig with a Lake Fork trailer at warming rip-rap. Ray flipped a black-emerald Zoom Baby Brush-hog at the same location.

A few of the boys posed on Sunday with some of the better bass before releasing them:

(click on any photo to open larger images in a separate browser window)

Above: Mike James with one of his bass on Sunday	Above: Bob with one of his bass on Sunday	Above: Ray with one of his bass on Sunday	Above: Gerald with a couple of his bass on Sunday

Lake Amistad

Bryan Bass Club - March 15-16, 2003

Conditions: Mild days. Light variable winds. Water temperatures in the high-50's to low-60's, clear water clarity in lower lake, pool level 45 feet low. Fifteen members and guests fished the club tournament, launching at Air Force or Diablo East ramp.

Results: First place, Bill Rule with 14.85 lbs; second place, Sam Fling with 12.17 lbs; third place, Jack Gressett with 11.93 lbs; and big bass, Ray Rippstein with a 6.09 lb bass.

Patterns: Bill used two patterns, a wacky-rigged watermelon color Zoom Trick Worm and a carolina-rigged watermelon color Zoom Big Dead Ringer in 10-12 foot water. Sam used a texas-rigged watermelon-red color Zoom Old Monster Worm in grass flats near marker 17. Jack used three patterns, a jig on points, a carolina-rig on a grass hump in 24 foot water and a chartreuse-blue color willow-colorado blade spinner bait in shallow water. Ray fished a texas-rigged watermelon-red color Zoom Baby Brush Hog near hard wood in 8 foot water around marker 23 for the big bass.

Here are pictures of some of the bass caught and released at Amistad:

(click on any photo to open larger images in a separate browser window)

Above: Ray with a nice bass a couple weeks earlier while exploring the lake with some of the top-six members	Above: Charlie's son with a nice bass on Saturday	Above: Ray with a nice bass on Saturday	Above: Don with a couple of his bass on Saturday

Above: Pat with one of his bass on Saturday	Above: Bob with a couple of his bass on Saturday	Above: Mikel with one of his bass on Saturday	Above: Todd with one of his bass on Saturday

Above: Clyde with one of his bass on Saturday	Above: Sam with a couple of his bass on Saturday	Above: Bill Rule with a couple of his bass on Saturday	Above: Charlie's son with a nice bass on Sunday

Above: Ray with a big bass on Sunday	Above: Bill Ray with a couple of his bass on Sunday	Above: Jack with a couple of his bass on Sunday

(click on any photo to open larger image in a separate browser window)

Lake Limestone

Bryan Bass Club - April 12-13, 2003

Conditions: Mild days and moderate south winds. Water temperatures in the high-60's, muddy water clarity, and normal pool. Thirty-one members and guests fished the club tournament, launching along with the South East Region B.A.S.S. Federation at the County Park 1 ramp next to BRA at the dam.

Results: First place, Bob Barnes with 16.96 lbs; second place, Sam Fling with a 14.80 lbs limit; third place, Mark Beckman with 14.14 lbs; and big bass, Bob with a 6.08 lb bass.

Patterns: Bob said he fished from the back of Sam Fling's Ranger on Saturday and started doing what Sam did because Sam had a limit early. Sam said he was throwing a Bumper Stumper spinner bait, using a chartreuse color skirt with big thumpin' colorado blades. They covered shallow water near main lake points or bulkheads. Mark said he was casting a black-blue color jig to shallow cover.

Lake Livingston

Bryan Bass Club - May 03-04, 2003

Conditions: Mild days and moderate south winds. Water temperatures in the low-70's, muddy water clarity, and normal pool. Twenty-nine members and guests fished the club tournament, launching along with the South East Region B.A.S.S. Federation at the Waterwood marina ramp.

Results: First place, Sam Fling with a 15.86 lbs five fish limit; second place, David Crowson with 10.31 lbs; third place, Ray Rippstein with four bass at 8.27 lbs; and no one had an over-6 big bass this time.

Patterns: Sam pitched a black-emerald color Zoom Baby Brush Hog around shallow boat docks in the north end of the lake on Saturday. He said he let the bait sit long periods and fished very slow to trigger strikes. David didn't say how he caught his bass. Ray said he made long casts to shallow hardwood targets with a 3/8 oz weighted, black-emerald color, Zoom Baby Brush Hog. Ray said he and Gerald May changed strategy on Sunday, moving away from popular pockets of flooded reeds, seeking difficult-to-reach or less attractive wind-blown open areas to get away from fishing pressure.

Toledo Bend

Bryan Bass Club - June 14-15, 2003

Conditions: Scattered thunderstorms and variable south or east winds. Surface water temperatures in the low-80's, stained water clarity, and normal pool. Twenty members and guests fished the club tournament, launching along with the South East Region B.A.S.S. Federation at the Alpine Marina ramp.

Results: First place, Bob Barnes with 12.62 lbs on Sunday; second place, Mike James with 11.16 lbs on Saturday; third place, Eddie Carper with 8.16 lbs Saturday; and no one had an over-6 big bass this time. Mike's weight was good enough for first in Saturday's Federation tournament, and Eddie's made eighth.

Patterns: Bob pitched a watermelon-seed color Zoom Baby Brush Hog around boat docks in mid-lake areas near Jessie Lowe cove on Sunday. Mike used a watermelon-red color Zoom trick worm as a Texas rig with a cylinder-style mojo weight that was filed on one end to more effectively penetrate through centers instead of edges of grass beds and brush piles in 4 to 8 foot water depths. Eddie didn't say how he caught his bass.

Richland Chambers

Bryan Bass Club - July 19-20, 2003

Conditions: Sunny, hot and humid weather with variable south or west winds. Surface water temperatures in the mid-80's, stained water clarity, and near normal pool. Twenty-five members and guests fished the club tournament, launching at the Oak Cove Marina ramp.

Results: First place, Sam Fling with 8.75 lbs on Saturday; second place, Art Wilson with 8.49 lbs on Sunday; third place, Eddie Carper with 7.27 lbs Sunday; and no one had an over-6 big bass this time.

Patterns: Sam fished every boat dock between the Chambers bridges using a Zoom Baby Brush Hog in black-emerald or muscadine colors. Art worked a chrome-blue crank-bait near a concrete wall and pitched a watermelon color Zoom Baby Brush Hog in 13 foot water outside the grass line. Eddie didn't say how he caught his bass.

Limestone

Bryan Bass Club - August 23-24, 2003

Conditions: Sunny, hot weather with variable south winds. Surface water temperatures in the mid-80's, stained water clarity, and just under normal pool. Twenty-five members and guests fished the club tournament, launching at the county ramp by the dam next to BRA headquarters.

Results: Larry Hale claimed first place honors with 13.43 lbs on Sunday. Don Gregg took second place with 13.29 lbs on Saturday. Sam Fling finished up in third place with 12.03 lbs on Saturday. Once again, no one had an over-6 for the big bass pot.

Patterns: Larry used a chrome Rat-l-trap in open areas and pitched a black-emerald color Zoom Baby Brush-hog around boat docks. Don said his five bass hit a top-water bait on the outside edges of the grass. Sam said he had bites on a buzz bait early then used a black-emerald color Zoom Baby Brush-hog around boat docks later.

Sam Rayburn

Bryan Bass Club - September 06-07, 2003

Conditions: Warm weather with variable south east winds. Surface water temperatures in the low-80's, stained water clarity, and four feet low. Eighteen members and guests fished the club tournament, launching at the Mill Creek park ramp along with the south east region BASS Federation.

Results: Mikel Stephens placed first with 11.02 lbs on Sunday. Kevin Dawson took second place with 10.97 lbs on Saturday. William Gaston had third place with 10.81 lbs on Saturday. Once again, no one had an over-6 for the big bass pot.

Patterns: Mikel fished with a red-bug color Lake Fork Ring Fry near Needmore Point.

Somerville

Bryan Bass Club - October 11-12, 2003

Conditions: Mild weather with light winds. Surface water temperatures in the upper-70's, stained water clarity, and normal pool. Twenty-nine members and guests fished the club tournament, launching at the Overlook Park ramp by the dam.

Results: Lucas Larson, a guest, claimed first place with 13.53 lbs on Sunday. Ray Rippstein took second place with 12.14 lbs on Sunday. Mike James finished up in third place with 11,99 lbs on Sunday. A guest fishing with Larry Glover claimed the over-six big bass pot with a 6.63 lb bass.

Patterns: Lucas used a half ounce double-willow white spinner bait worked slowly through shallow grass. After his partner caught several bass using a lizard in the grass, Ray switched to a quarter ounce weight florida-rigged eight inch red-bug color Zoom Lizard making long casts to a stretch of clear shallow water on an inside grass line. Mike patiently fished a wacky-rigged watermelon color Yamamoto Senko in some deeper 12-15 foot water. Larry's guest, Neil Niemeyer, tagged the big bass early with a buzzbait cast near the shoreline.

Limestone

Bryan Bass Club - November 08-09, 2003

Conditions: Seasonal weather with southwest winds. Surface water temperatures in the lower-70's, muddy water clarity, and a foot low. Twenty-nine members and guests fished the club tournament, launching at the west BRA Park ramp by the dam.

Results: Bill Rule placed first with 16.11 lbs on Saturday. Curt Neyland, a guest, took second place with 15.52 lbs on Saturday. Bob Barnes finished in third place with 13.88 lbs on Sunday. No over-six big bass this time.

Patterns: Bill used a black buzz bait bouncing it off of shoreline stumps to trigger reaction stikes and pitched a wacky worm under deeper boat docks as an alternate pattern. Bob got his reaction strikes using a spinner bait in shallow water and flipped a watermelon-red color Zoom Baby Brushhog under deeper boat docks as his alternate pattern. No report from Curt.

Stillhouse Hollow

Bryan Bass Club - December 06-07, 2003

Conditions: Cold mornings with strong southwest winds. Surface water temperatures in the upper 50's, clear water clarity main lake while muddy up river, and normal pool. Nineteen members and guests fished the club tournament, launching at the Union Grove Park ramp.

Results: Don Gregg finished first with 18.08 lb limit on Saturday. Sam Fling had a 10.29 lb limit on Sunday for second place. Todd Carnes caught 9.60 lbs on Saturday finishing in third place. No over-six big bass again this month.

Patterns: Don used some expensive custom painted crankbaits and a watermelon color drop-shot rig in 10'-18' water on the main lake. Sam used 'traps and medium diving crankbaits over the top of submerged grass beds in 12'-14' water near a main lake point. Todd used crank baits on a main lake point and a Texas-rigged 10" blue-flake color Berkley Power Worm along 12'-15' grass lines.

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