Changing weather patterns from clear and sunny, to cloudy and rainy, back to partly cloudy and sunny, with winds shifting from southeast to northwest and back to southeast didn’t deter the 221 teams who registered to fish the BASS Champs East Texas Team Trail. And even though they had to share their bass water with thousands of water loving Easter Holiday weekenders they still managed to catch & weigh an incredible 1,860 lbs of tournament bass.
Rayburn is always one of our better events, stated tournament director Chad Potts, as we usually draw pretty fair numbers of anglers who usually catch incredible bass weights that top our leader board with heavy marks. Case in point, today’s BASS CHAMPS event marked four twenty pound sacks with the top-3 big bass of 10.14, 9.42, and 8.80 lbs. We not only paid out 113.78% ($62,863) in cash and awards, Chad happily informed, but BASS CHAMPS is also very proud to donate $1,000 cash towards the building fund of the Umphrey Family Pavilion.”
Top-3 Winners;
1st place-(5 bass/22.60)– The brothers team of Robert and Michael Laird of Livingston TX, managed to catch their $28,000 first place Skeeter Bass Boat by working Kistler Rods and Shimano reels spooled with 20 lb test P-line. The winning duo fished Carolina rigged Zoom watermelon lizards and black/chartreuse Yamamoto worms in the San Augustine area. “We worked 4′ to 5′ buck-brush and willows, they reviewed, stating that they had a slow, but steady bass bite that put their winning bass in the boat, that included an 8.40 lb bass caught by Robert on a 1:30pm big bite.
2nd place-(5 bass/21.80)– James Elliot of Center TX, and Ron Hendricks of Shelbyville TX, worked their 2nd place pattern over 6′ north-lake main-lake brush. The 2nd place finishers fished Shimano rod and reels spooled with 25 lb test Izor-line rigged with TX rigged laminate Senko’s and black/blue Stanley tubes to catch 8 bass between 10am and 2pm, which put a 7 lb kicker in the boat caught by James.
3rd place-(5 bass/21.20)-Rusty Harvey of Nederland and Kevin Castilaw of Saratoga TX, fished with Falcon rods and Shimano reels spooled with 15 lb test Berkley Big Game mono. The 3rd place winners worked scattered mid-lake area hydrilla patches with Zoom watermelon brush-hogs and 1/2 oz white/chartreuse Mr. Blitz spinner-baits to catch 15 bass from an all day bite, that included a 6 lb kicker caught by Rusty.
Overall Big Bass-(10.14)– Charlie McGee and David Rabalais of Lake Charles LA, were fishing some Veach Basin brush when Charlie caught his 10.14 lb overall big bass while working an American Rod Smith rod and Ambassadeur reel rigged with watermelon/blue Hog Assassin. Charlie hooked his 1st place tournament lunker on a high-noon big bite.
Top-5 Teams;
| 1st | (22.60) | ($28,000) | Robert Laird/Michael Laird |
| 2nd | (21.80) | ($4,000) | James Elliot/Ron Hendricks |
| 3rd | (21.2) | ($3,000) | Rusty Harvey/Kevin Castilaw |
| 4th | (20.34) | ($2,000) | Russ Carter/Scott Bailey |
| 5th | (19.38) | ($1,200) | Rusty Clark/Shelby Shaw |
All tournament bass were live released back into lake Sam Rayburn by the Skeeter Bass Champs fish recovery system with 707 bass- weighing 1,860 lbs- 107 limits.
This Lake Sam Rayburn tournament event will be aired on the Outdoor Channel and HD/Net. The next Bass Champs East Texas Tournament Trail event will be held on May 8, 2004, on Lake Toledo Bend at Cypress Bend Resort.
For more information on the Skeeter Bass Champs tournament tour call 817-439-3274 write- Bass Champs Inc; – PO BOX 89 – Haslet, TX. 76052,
Skeeter Bass Champs Tournament Sponsors; Skeeter Boats-Yamaha Outboards-HD/Net- Academy- Allen Samuels Dodge- Maui Jim Glasses- Yo-Zuri Baits- Diamond Cut- St Croix Rods- MotorGuide- Daiwa- Oasis Casino- Continental Batteries- Keel Shield- Bottom Line Electronics- XTools- DualPro- Wave Worms- Please Release Me- Johnson Fiberglass- All-Star Marine Electronics- Pro-Rule- Martins Maps- The Outdoor Channel- and the Bass Champs Tournament Anglers-
This Ed Snyder/Outdoors Tournament report sponsored by- Fishingworld.com – Umphrey Family Pavilion– The Stump Restaurant & Club- The Bass Buster Inn–
The Umphrey Family Pavilion, a new 13 acre Sam Rayburn facility constructed with a twelve-sided 5,600 sq. ft. gazebo-type structure that covers approximately 12,000 square feet of concrete pad area with clean and comfortable restroom and concession facilities, also has a large parking area within its park boundary that accommodates about 300 or more vehicles. Built for the purpose of increasing tourism within the Jasper County and Lake Sam Rayburn Area, the new pavilion was designed and built to host multiple activity events, which includes not only fishing tournaments, but concerts, family reunions, company or organizational seminars, outdoor sporting events, boat & auto shows, etc, etc. For more information about scheduling your upcoming event at the new Umphrey Family Pavilion contact the (LSRPA) Lake Sam Rayburn Pavilion Association – P:O: Box 5032 – Sam Rayburn, TX. 75951 -or call- (409)-698-2554.
By: Ed Snyder / Ed Snyder Outdoors
