Bunch of Big Bass at Bass N Bucks

The weather was beautiful at Twin Dikes Marina, Lake Sam Rayburn for this Bass N Bucks event. After battling freezing cold, torrential rains or high winds and waves the past several tournaments, it was time for these anglers to have practically perfect weather conditions so they could just get down to brass tack fishing – which they did. 231 teams hit the lake to try to catch a check in the 28 places being paid. It took over 21 pounds to win this tournament, which was only a very slim lead over second place. There were 10 bass weighed in over 7 lbs, with the biggest over 11 lbs.

1st place – Skeeter SX190/Yamaha – 21.06 lbs – Clayton Boulware of Zavalla, TX and Jim Gaard of Diboll was on crank bait fish during practice, but those fish werent there for them during competition. By 10:00, not having any fish in the live well they headed to the Attoyac river area and changed their luck. Throwing Stanley tubes in watermelon color, Cypress trees and shallow sandy flats were the areas they keyed in on. Clayton gives Jim most of the credit, catching the initial limit. Clayton did manage to catch one for a cull. Their 7.63 lb kicker put them over the top to win their new Skeeter/Yamaha bass rig.

2nd place – $3,000 – 20.94 lbs – Mike Michalec of Conroe, TX and Harold Stalcup of Hemphill barely missed first place but still caught a nice payday. Using a David Fritz series DT-10 Rapalla, they covered a lot of water fishing 10′ depths in points, creeks and coves with grass. Hot mustard and red crawfish were the colors working for them, having their initial limit in the boat by 8:00. Their best bite came around 11:00, and they were able to cull 4x to their final weight. This team is sponsored by Falcon rods, Triton boats and Shimano.

3rd place – $2,000 – 20.76 lbs – Joe Ritter of Carthage, TX brought his 15 yr old grandson Jimmy Baisden out to fish his first tournament. They used 1/4 oz home made “very colorful” jigs for their catch. “The bite was good all day, we caught about twenty keepers” Joe said. They were flipping brush that was located close to creek channels.

4th place – $1,400 – 20.51 lbs – David Thibodaux of Orange, TX and Todd Soape also from Orange cranked in their 4th place finish using carolina rigged Gary Yamamoto Senkos in a variety of colors such as June bug, christmas tree, cinnamon purple and green pumpkin. They fished 7-15′ depths off of main lake points between the brush and grass lines. Their day started out great, their first fish weighing over 6 lbs, and their second over 8 lbs.

1st place Big Bass – $1,000 – 11.53 lbs – Greg Christian of Azle, TX brought in this Rayburn hawg flipping a watermelon brush hog, enhanced with Fizz, near button willows in a cove at 6′ depths. “We caught them good in practice, but it was a tough bite for us today” Greg said. His partner was Bill Wilcox of Burleson, TX The first place big bass money is sponsored by Kicker Fish Bait Company. This team is sponsored by Skeeter, Yamaha, Fun n Sun, Fizz, Pro Rule, Silver Creek Mashine and Brents Marine.

Overall Standings:

Big Bass:

The next Bass N Bucks event is scheduled for April 6 at Twin Dikes Marina on Lake Sam Rayburn. For more information please contact Dave or Tricia Concienne at (409) 727-6608, www.bassnbucks.com or email at Tournaments@ BassNBucks.com

Sponsors Include: Skeeter Boats/Yamaha – Kicker Fish Bait Co. – YUM – Rat L Trap – Minn Kota – Shimano – Silver Thread – Lowrance – Costa Del Mar – Dual Pro Charger – FishingWorld.com – Super 8 Motel – Check It Stik – McFerrin Insurance – BassMedics Rejuvenade – Catch N Cool Ice Blocks – Bait Fresh Bait Tank Treatment – Ann’s Tackle Shop – Need More Tackle – Rayburn Tackle – Piney Point Plaza – Holiday Inn ExpressBy: Patty Lenderman / Lakecaster