Bryan Bass Club Tournament Reports

Toledo Bend - Bryan Bass Club - January 19-20, 2008

Conditions: Strong cold north winds with light rain clearing on Saturday, then freezing on Sunday morning warming with strong south winds and clear skies. Water temperatures were in the upper-40's, stained water clarity, lake level four feet low. Nine members and guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday at Cypress Bend along with Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region, and launching Sunday from a public ramp at Pendleton Bridge.

Randy Knight finished seventh place, Sam Fling eighth place and Bob Barnes thirteenth place in the Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region tournament, drawing checks on Saturday.

Patterns: Randy Knight ran north to the 1215 area using a red Excalibur lipless crankbait over grass in shallow 3'-5' guts on Sunday. Sam Fling ran south to Hausen Bay using a spinner-bait with white skirt and gold blades over grass in a shallow creek. Richard fished with Randy using the same pattern.

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Above: Randy with a couple bass from Sunday	Above: Richard with a couple bass from Sunday

Sam Rayburn - Bryan Bass Club - February 02-03, 2008

Conditions: A little rain in the morning, clearing to warm moderate southern wind by afternoon on Saturday, and heavy fog most of the morning, then moderate warm southern wind by afternoon on Sunday. Water temperatures were in the lower-50's, stained water clarity, lake level five feet low. Twelve members and guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday at Umphrey's Pavilion along with Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region, and launching Sunday from Monterey Park.

Randy Knight finished fifth place and Bill Ray sixteenth in the Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region tournament, drawing checks on Saturday.

Patterns: Randy flipped a black-blue color jig along grassy areas near Veach or the Canyons on Saturday. Allen cast a red color 'trap crankbait over grass. Bill cast a carolina-rigged watermelon-red color Zoom Mag Lizard at Robby's hole on Sunday.

Conroe - Bryan Bass Club - March 15-16, 2008

Conditions: Strong north wind on Saturday followed by strong southeast wind on Sunday. Water temperatures were in the upper-60's, stained water clarity, lake level normal pool with slight rise from week's rain. Nineteen members and guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday at StowAway Marina along with Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region, and launching Sunday from Caney Creek's Scotts Ridge ramp. The Saturday club weigh-in ended up being changed to the Caney ramp because unexpected federation procedure changes affected weigh-in for clubs and a timely healthy handling of bass.

Larry Glover finished in sixth place, while Sam Fling and Bob Barnes tied for fifteenth place in the Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region tournament, drawing checks on Saturday.

Patterns: Larry flipped a tx-rigged 1/4oz watermelon color 8" lizard behind Clyde and anchored his three big bass weight with a 9.74lb kicker for a best-day weight of 21.32 lbs. Ray flipped a 1/8oz florida-rig watermelon-red color Lake Fork Craw and a Strike King titanium wire copper/chrome double-willow chartreuse-white skirt color spinner bait around bean bushes in the first jungle area, anchoring his four bass weight with a 8.7lb kicker for his best-day 19.10 lbs on Sunday. Clyde flipped a tx-rigged 3/8oz watermelon color 8" lizard and a 1/8oz weighted trick worm in coves south of the 1097 bridge for his best-day weight of 17.90 lbs. As a boat, both Clyde and Larry did well with a best-day weight totaling 39.22 lbs. Some Conroe pictures below...

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Above: Danny with a couple of his bass on Saturday	Above: Bill with a couple of his bass on Saturday	Above: Ray with a couple of his bass on Saturday	Above: Mike with a couple of his bass on Saturday
Above: Doug with a couple of his invisi-bass	Above: Ray with an 8.7 on Sunday	Above: Clyde with a couple of his bass on Sunday

Limestone - Bryan Bass Club - April 19-20, 2008

Conditions: Moderate south winds Saturday and Sunday following a mild cold front. Water temperatures were in the lower-70's, muddy water clarity, lake level normal pool with slight rise from week's rain. Sixteen members and guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times Saturday at west side dam county park (BRA 1) along side Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region, and again Sunday at the same ramp.

Clyde Wilkerson finished in seventh place in the Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region tournament, drawing a check on Saturday.

Patterns: Clyde pitched a watermelon color Zoom trick worm shallow and used a tandem blade white color 3/8oz spinnerbait in water up to 8 feet for his best-day weight of 11.04 lbs and first place. Mike caught his bass off beds using a lightly weighted watermelon/red color Lake Fork craw worm on Sunday. His daughter patiently worked for an hour to catch her first beding bass on this trip. Randy also used a watermelon/red color Lake Fork craw worm.

Livingston - Bryan Bass Club - May 17-18, 2008

Conditions: Moderate west winds Saturday and Sunday. Water temperatures were in the mid-70's, muddy water clarity, lake level normal pool. Sixteen members and guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times on Saturday and Sunday at Kickapoo Marina, across the cove from the Federation tournament.

Randy Knight finished at 20th place in the Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region tournament on Saturday.

Patterns: Clyde used Bandit and Bomber crankbaits in "blue boy" colors and a Zoom Lizard in june-bug color. Mike used a watermelon-red color Zoom Fluke in the backs of shallow creeks to get some late-spawning bass on Saturday. Sam used a black-emerald color Zoom Brush Hog along shorelines and boat docks on Sunday.

Sam Rayburn - Bryan Bass Club - June14-15, 2008

Conditions: Scattered showers on Saturday then hot, clear and calm on Sunday. Water temperatures were in the upper-70's, stained water clarity, lake level one foot low. Eight members and guests fished the club tournament weighing in at normal times on Saturday and Sunday at Monterrey Park, across the lake from the Federation tournament.

Randy Knight finished in 24th place at in the Texas BASS Federation Nation Southeast Region tournament on Saturday.

Patterns: Ray was swimming a 3/16oz tx-rig watermelon-red color Zoom Big Dead Ringer along outside grass lines and slightly deeper into several brushpiles-treetops, plus casting a mojo-weight Creme Devils Tounge and a weightless Yamamoto Senko into grass clumps in 4' to 8' water, fishing an area not far from the weigh-in site for his best-day weight of 18.40 lbs on Saturday. Randy used a white spinner bait and a tx-rigged Dead Ringer. Clyde used Zoom Ol' Monster worms and carolina-rigged Zoom Dead Ringers, both little and big size in watermelon colors with chartruese tails, plus a yellow-magic top-water, fishing areas from Veech Basin up to Deer Stand or over to Pophers Creek. Some Sam Rayburn pictures below...

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Above: Ray with a couple of his bass on Saturday	Above: Clyde with a couple of his bass on Sunday	Above: Bob with a couple of his bass on Sunday

Choke Canyon - Bryan Bass Club - July19-20, 2008

Conditions: Partly cloudy skies, moderate southeast winds, hot summer conditions typical of the week before hurricane Dolly hit south Texas. Water temperatures were in the upper-80's, clear to stained water clarity, lake level one and a half foot low. Fifteen members and guests fished the club tournament, weighing in at normal times on Saturday and Sunday at Calliham State Park ramp.

Patterns: Austin, an associate member and a Bryan Bass Club Junior Bassmaster, picked up his 11.71 lb giant bass using a green-chartreuse color SPRO Frog in shallow cover early Sunday morning not far from the boat ramp. What a fight to get this monster bass into the boat. The bass was released in good shape after weigh-in. He flipped north shore grass points for his other bass. Sam cast a white-chartreuse color double willow spinner bait in shallow cover up river on Sunday for his best-day weight of 22.16 lbs. Larry also fished relatively shallow cover with tx-rig and carolina-rig watermelon-red color Zoom Lizards. Mikel caught his 7.15 lb bass for the members' big bass pot early Saturday morning casting a SPRO Frog shallow. There were 15 limits caught over the two days for a total of 114 bass with 4 bass over 6 lbs. Some Choke Canyon pictures below...

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Above: Austin with a giant 11.71 lb bass on Sunday

Lake Belton - Bryan Bass Club - August 23-24, 2008

Conditions: Partly cloudy skies, light south then north winds, hot Texas summer conditions. Water temperatures were in the upper-80's, clear mid-lake to stained up-river water clarity, lake level a half foot high. Nineteen members, associates and guests fished the club tournament, weighing in at normal times on Saturday and Sunday at the Cedar Ridge Creek Park ramp.

Patterns: Clyde cast a carolina-rig watermelon-red color Zoom Big Dead Ringer along the 12' drop offs mid-lake to catch his four keepers Saturday. Mikel started with a Heddon Tiny Torpedo top-water and finished on deep flats down-lake with watermelon colors on a carolina-rig Zoom Super Fluke or a shakey-head rig Zoom Fluke to catch a limit Sunday which included some smallmouths. Bob Barnes thinks he may have used one or two of the following... a drop-shot rig, a Zoom Baby Brush Hog, or a tx-rig watermelon color Zoom Trick Worm along the 12' drop offs mid-lake for his three keepers Saturday which included a 6.68 lb largemouth bass near a bluff wall.

Stillhouse Hollow - Bryan Bass Club - September 27-28, 2008

Conditions: Clear skies, light south winds, and mild conditions following the passage of hurricane Ike in east Texas earlier in the month. This date/location was a change because of that devastating storm. Water temperatures were in the lower-80's, clear mid-lake to stained up-river water clarity, lake level two feet low. Twelve members, associates or friends fished the club tournament, weighing in at normal times on Saturday and Sunday at the Stillhouse Hollow Park and Marina ramp. Forty bass weighing 108 lbs were released at weigh-in.

Patterns: Robbie cranked a craw red with black stripe color Bandit 200 crankbait in an area around the main island, catching a limit Sunday morning and leaving early. Sam used a white color StrikeKing crankbait in 8' to 12' water near the main island area for a limit Saturday. Randy used a shad color LuckyCraft 1.5 crankbait in an area near Robbie's for a limit Sunday. Some Stillhouse Hollow pictures below...

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Above: Ray with a nice bass on Saturday	Above: Clyde with a nice bass on Saturday	Above: Mikel with a nice bass on Saturday

Above: Randy with a nice smallmouth Saturday	Above: A serious Robbie and 2 of his limit Sunday	Above: A smiling Robbie and 2 of his limit Sunday

Lake Limestone - Bryan Bass Club - October 18-19, 2008

Conditions: Clear skies, moderate east then south winds, and cool conditions following a mild north front. Water temperatures were in the lower-70's, stained mid-lake to muddy up-river water clarity, lake level 1.7 feet low. Twelve members, associates or friends fished the club tournament, weighing in at normal times on Saturday and Sunday at the County Park One ramp by the dam one day then at Lake Limestone Marina ramp next day. Forty-four bass weighing 111 lbs were released at weigh-in.

Patterns: Larry caught his bass casting a 3/8oz white/chartreuse spinner bait at timber and docks on Sunday. Bob used a watermelon-red color Lake Fork Craw around docks to catch his limit Saturday. Sam cranked a Bandit crankbait around timber and docks to catch his limit Sunday. Some Limestone pictures below...

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Above: Bob with a couple of his bass Saturday	Above: Ray with a nice 5.9 lb bass on Saturday, while Randy holds up his invisible bass behind him	Above: Bill with some of his bass on Sunday

Above: Jerry with a nice bass Sunday	Above: Mikel with a couple of his bass Sunday	Above: Larry shows off some of his winning bass Sunday

Toledo Bend - Bryan Bass Club - November 15-16, 2008

Conditions: Partly cloudy, with a very windy cold front Saturday, then milder conditions on Sunday. Water temperatures were in the mid-60's, stained water clarity, lake level 3.5 feet low. Eight members, associates or friends fished the club tournament, weighing in at normal times on Saturday and Sunday at Fling point. Only twenty-eight bass weighing 69.8 lbs were released at weigh-ins.

Patterns: Randy caught nine keeper bass in the wind Saturday using a Lucky Craft crankbait over 8'-10' grass southwest of Hurricane Creek, culling to his five bass limit. Sam used a StrikeKing King-Shad jointed swimbait along grass edges for his Sunday limit and big bass. Ray swam a 1/4oz tx-rig watermelon-red color Zoom Big Dead Ringer along grass edges and slowly pulled a 1/8oz mo-jo rig Zoom Trick Worm in scattered grass around Hurricane Creek on Saturday for three keeper bites.

Sam Rayburn - Bryan Bass Club - December 13-14, 2008

Conditions: Partly cloudy, with strong south winds Saturday, slightly less on Sunday. Water temperatures were in the low-60's, stained water clarity, lake level 7 feet low. Eleven members, associates or friends fished the club tournament, weighing in at normal times on Saturday and Sunday at Monterey Park. Only twenty-five bass weighing 63 lbs were released at weigh-ins.

Patterns: Most members stayed in the 149 Bridge area because of the wind. Bob caught 4 bass Saturday, three just before weigh-in, by casting onto a 8' ledge dropping into a 12' bend in a creek channel using a swim bait and a Lucky Craft crankbait. Randy caught five keeper bass in scattered locations using Bill Lewis Rat-l-trap in 2-4 foot water. Clyde threw a carolina-rig watermelon color Zoom Big Dead Ringer, catching one keeper in 6 foot water and another in 18 foot water.

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