Robert Brown and I (Larry) fish the Bass ChUmps Tournament on Lake Austin Last Friday night.  A total of 10 boats participated in the tournament.  The tournament ran from 8:00 pm Friday through 8:00 am Saturday.  It was a very long night especially for old people.  We had a pretty productive night as we caught 12 to 14 keepers and most of them were quality bass.  We had a limit by midnight and were culing out 3 lb bass by early morning.  We took 2nd place with 20lbs and 8 oz, missing 1st by only 3 ozs.  

Robert had a unique experience as he had two nice bass on a top water (Pop R) at the same time. However, he only got one of them into the boat as the other came off right at the boat.  I caught all of my fish with a rattle  snake while Robert caught them on multiple baits.  We caught most of the keepers off boat docks  between the 360 bridge and Emma Long Park.  

Here is a picture of our weigh-in.
The bass Robert is holding in his right hand is the one I caught right behind another tournament bass boat while they were tied up to a dock and were sleeping.  Never woke them up. 




Larry and Gail Pederzani took first place honors at the club tournament held on Lake Austin last Saturday, July, 12/13, 2008. They weighed in 5 bass for a total weight of 19.93 pounds.  They also took  Women and Men's Big Bass Honors with bass weighing 4.88 and 6.13 pounds.  Alice and Luther Lentz were only ounces behind them with 19.19 pounds netting second place. They are, without question, the most consistent team in our club which is why they were Anglers of the Year last year and are again leading the competition for 2008.  Third  place went to Tim Baker who fished alone and weighed in four bass  for 13.99 pounds.  Congratulations to all the winners.  See details and photos on Tournament Results page.

 It was a night tournament that started at 11:00 PM  on Saturday and ran until 9:00 AM Sunday with 12 teams participating in the tournament.  They were Tyree/Hannel, Lentz, Pederzani, Davis, Baker, Fowler,/Hartgrove, Summers, Brown/Clark, Connell, Gold, Schrempp, and Trevino.  While it seemed like a long night for some it seemed even longer for others as only two limits were weighed in.  However, many of the bass weighed in were over 3 pounds.  Quality always beats quantity.  While many of the women weighed in bass I must point out that this is the second month in a row that Lesli has carried her partner in two out of the last three tournaments.  Keep up the good work Lesli.  It was  nice to see Justin and Amy at there first  weigh-in. Congratulations.

This was the last tournament to determine the team members for the TABC Tournament.  There will be three teams which will consist of 4 couples each.  Teams are:

TEAM 1	TEAM 2	TEAM 3
Alice & Luther Lentz	Lesli Clark & Robert Brown	Donna Hannel & Jim Tyree
Gail & Larry Pederzani	Marilyn & Joe Connell	Patricia & Jerry Gold
Brenda & Cliff Davis	Tim Baker & Tina Call	Vicki & Garry Schrempp
Rosemarie & Pete Trevino	Glenda & Allen Summers	Josie & Allen Logan

   
Candee and Jason Barris will be our 1st alternate and Amy and Justin Fowler will be our 2nd alternate.  If you are unable to participate in the TABC tournament please let us know as soon as possible to enable the alternates to make appropriate plans.

We can't thank our sponsors enough because without them we would not be able to send 12 couples to the TABC Championship this year. We were all happily suprised to see one of our sponsors, George Hudgins, at our brunch following the tournament.  It is great to have sponsors such as George and we're very grateful for his support. 

Following are a few pictures of the tournament for you to enjoy.


And a couple of noteworthy pictures:

Geez Leslie, I did the best I could!

Gosh, where did everyone go?

Hope to see everyone at the next meeting on August 5th.

lgp




Pat and Jerry Gold had a great day  during our club tournament on Lake Travis last Saturday, June 28th.
They weighed in five Bass for a total weight of 17.42 pounds which was over 6 pounds ahead of the second place team.  They also captured both Men and Women's Big Bass for the tournament.  Second place went to Glenda and Allen Summers with third place going to Gail and Larry Pederzani.  See details on Tournament Results page of this website.

We had 12 teams participating in this tournament.  They were Team Summers, Team  Davis, Team Gold, Team Pederzani, Team Baker/Call, Team Brown/Clark, Team Lentz, Team Connell, Team Tyree/Hannel, Team Fowler/Hartgrove, Team Trevino and Team Jenkins.  It was the first club tournament for the Fowler/Hartgrove team who experienced problems with their boat and were unable to come to the weigh-in.  They did report that they were off to a good start as they had already caught three nice bass before having to pull their boat out of the lake.  Hopefully things work out better for them at our next tournament.

Fishing was fair to good for most of the teams as eight limits were weighed in.  The weather started out pretty nice then the wind took over.  Between the wind and the boat traffic on the lake the ride back to the boat ramp was pretty challenging.  

The highlight of the day was celebrating Allen Summer's birthday at Johnny Finns and presenting him an award for his outstanding contributions to the club.  He is personally responsible for getting  sponsorships that will allow the majority of the club members to participate in the TABC Top 8 Tournament this fall.   We thank Allen very much for this outstanding accomplishment.



Other photos for you to enjoy provided by Larry and Pete.


See you all at the next tournament(with my flashlight).

lgp





Allen, Josie, and Josie's brother had a great time on Lake Falcon this past weekend, June 21/22.  They caught around 15 to 20 bass on Saturday and over 40 on Sunday  which is outstanding especially since they only fished from 7:30 to 11:30 on Sunday.  What a great day that had to be.  They caught several fish in the 5 to 6 pound range with a couple that were over 7 pounds.  Both Josie's and Allen's  largest bass were well over 9 or  maybe even over 10 pounds.  You be the judge (see photos).  They fished all the way from Beacon lodge to the Tiger on both the U.S. and Mexican sides of the  lake.  They caught most of their fish on 10"power worms and DD22 crank baits in 3 to 15' of water.  They caught the two biggest fish off of OUR spot, actually the spot that Allen took me to during the TABC Tournament.

Congratulations to Allen and Josie and thanks for sharing the information a photos with us.

lgp




Three teams from the Mr a nd Mrs Bass Club fished the CAST Capitol Region  bass tournament on Choke Canyon this past Saturday, 31 May 2008.  Luther and Alice Lentz finished in 2nd place with 13.02 pounds which was approximately .5 pounds behind the first place team.  Brenda and Cliff Davis were only 0.2 pounds behind Lentz with 13.00 pounds for their total weight and they captured 3rd place.  Glenda and Allen Summers weighed in over 12 pounds and may have gotten 4th.   Sounds like everyone had a good time.  I herd the Friday night meal was outstanding.  Congratulations to all.

Robert Brown was also fishing on Thursday and Friday practicing for Bass Champs.  He had to come home early Friday as he was having motor problems.  It appears he was also being challenged by an alligator up in four fingers.  He saw the alligator coming towards him so he went to the opposite side of the cove.  Apparently the gator wasn't happy with this an turned to head towards his boat again.   Robert decided the gator didn't want him in his cove so he got the H-LL our of their.  

Here are a few photos from the CAST Tournament:







Alice and Luther Lentz prove again why they are the 2007 Anglers of the year as they ran away with the tournament on Choke Canyon last Saturday, May 17, 2008.   They beat out a field of 8 other teams with a limit of bass weighing 24.65 pounds.   Within this limit was a bass weighing 9.84 pounds, which took Men's big Bass honors, and another bass weighing in excess of 7 pounds.   This 9.84 pound bass is Luther's personal best fishing in a tournament.  Congratulations Luther.  Second place went to Brenda and Cliff and third place was taken by Josie and Allen Logan. All nine teams weighed in a  limit of bass.  With the exception of the Lentz most of the team weights were between 12 to 14 pounds.   Lesli Clark took Women's big bass with a bass weighing 4.20 pounds.  Congratulations Lesli.  More details on Tournament Page.

9 teams weighed in a limit of bass (45 total) for a total weight of 124.86 pounds which gave us an average of 2.77 pounds per bass for the tournament.  We probably set several records but the one that stands out most is that all 9 teams weighed in a limit.

Needless to say,  Luther and Alice leaped into first place for 2008 Anglers of the year.  They are  now 12 points ahead of the second place team and will be very difficult to catch..  However, Brenda and Cliff are not to be denied as they gained 15 points which puts them only 3 points behind second place and are very much in the race.  

Overall the tournament was fun for all with a few exceptions.  Logans had troll motor battery problem and blew out a trailer tire on the way home.   Lentzs' were having problems with their cranking battery.  The Pederzanis and Davis" ran through some new road construction  on the way home and are still trying to get the tar off their boats, trailers and automobiles.  All in all I think we had an excellent tournament.

We would like to thank our guest, Janna and Donnie McDonald along with Tina and Tony Allen  for sharing their fishing experience with us as they also had limits of bass.  Hope to see them at our next meeting.

Tina and Tony Allen

Janna and Donnie McDonald

Oh, and here is an uninvited guest.
I don't know if you can see this alligator but I wasn't going to get any closer so it will have to do.  I was a little nervous but was O.K. as long as I could see him.  As a precaution I sprinkled a little Garlic Dye on Gail and made her wear a red shirt.  I didn't want to take any chances just in case he decided to attack the boat.  Fortunately (especially for Gail)  he continued across the cove and showed no interest in us.

EVERYONE HAS A LIMIT:



A few additional photos for you to enjoy.

I apologize for some of the photos as I must of had some dirt on the lens.  I'll make sure it is clean the next time.

Oh, by the way Luther, It is O.K. to be proud of your personal best big bass but this is the first time I have ever seen anyone using a model to photograph their trophy!!!!!!  Congratulations again.

See you all at the next meeting/tournament

lgp






Robert Brown fishing with Kevin Pederzani finished in 24th place at last Saturdays Bass Champs tournament held on Lake Belton.  They weighed in 5 bass for a total weight of 13.64 pounds and took home a check for $600.  Larry Pederzani and Allen Logan also weighed in a  limit of bass for 15.7 pounds and tied for seventh place netting them 1,075 dollars.  We (Larry and Allen) had a limit of fish by 7:30 a.m. with a 4 plus Large Mouth and a 3 Plus Smallie.  We had our second limit by 8:30 a.m. and were able to cull out a couple of the smaller bass.  Overall we caught over 18 keepers throughout the day.  

We really didn't expect to place in the money as there were 213 boats entered in the tournament and over 160 weighed in a limit of bass.  It just turned out to be a lucky day for both of us.  Oh yes, Allen caught a lot of bass on top water early in the morning and I threw my usual Tiki bait most of the day.  

We had a great day.






Brenda and Cliff Davis took 2nd place in the May CAST Tournament held on Lake Stillhouse last Saturday, May 3rd, 2008.  They weighed in a limit of bass that weighed over 14 pounds.  Alice and Luther Lentz took 3rd place with a limit weighing over 11 pounds.  They are all deserving a congratulations especially since the winds were in excess of 30 mph which made the fishing very difficult for most of us.  Brenda also took the Big Bass honors with a bass weighing over 4 pounds.  Congratulations to the winners.

Rosemarie and Pete Trevino also weighed in a limit of bass which was also a great accomplishment considering the adverse weather conditions.  Windy, windy, Windy,  Congratulations






Joe might be back but Gail never left!  Gail and Larry fished the Wednesday night HHJ (austinbassfishing.com) tournament on April 23.  Out of twenty teams who fished, Gail and Larry came in at 6th place with three fish weighing 11.16 pounds.  Gail had two of those fish with each weighing over 4 pounds!  Larry also advised me that they won the Monday night tournament at Bastrop last Monday largely due to Gails fish and she also helped put a limit in the boat at the Decker tournament last Thursday. All in all, Gail had a great week.  


Way to go Gail.

Marilyn


Davis' take first place on Stillhouse with 16.54 pounds.  They told  me they had started off a little slow as they only had two keepers by 10:00 am.  They left their favorite spot to see if they could find fish elsewhere.  However when they returned to this favorite spot later in the day they filled the boat with quality bass including a 5.54 pounder that gave Brenda Women's Big Bass.  Congratulations to Brenda and Cliff on their first place finish.

We had a good turn out for the tournament with 11 boats participating. They were Team Davis, Team Pederzani, Team Lentz Team Baker/Call, Team Summers, Team Trevino, Team Brown/Clark, Team
Connell, Schrempp, Team Tyree/Hannel, and our newest members to the club Jason and Candee Baris.  Everyone weighed in fish except for Jason and Candee as they had to leave early due to an emergency.  They did have four keepers as Gail and I watched them catch at least three of them with one of them looking like a 3+ pounder.  While the Davis" dominated the tournament, the Pederzanis came in second with 16.05 pounds and third place went to Alice and Luther Lentz with 14.08 pounds.  Congratulations.

I have always felt that if you stick a fish with a hook and he gets away you will not be able to catch him again that day.  I think Luther has proven this to be a myth.  He was fishing a point on the dam with a Shakyhead using 8 lb line and got a heavy bite.  He told Alice to get the net because he thought he had a 10 pounder.  He was very disappointed as the fish broke his line.  He had moved away from this particular spot only to return later in the day.  Again he got a heavy bite only this time he was able to put the fish  in the boat and it turned out to be a 4 pounder.  I know you are already ahead of me and you are right.  This fish not only had one but two Shakyhead hooks in it's mouth in addition to the one Luther caught it with.  So much for a myth.

All in all I thought it was a very nice tournament with a lot of quality fish weighed in.  Baker/Call  had 13.38 , Connells with 10.58 , Brown/Clark with 9.06 and Schrempps with 8.95 pounds.  There were also some very nice individual bass weighed in like Joe with 4.26, Allen with 3.79, Tim with 3.48. Tina with 2.89 and Vicki with 2.15 pounds.  Congratulations to all.

Following are a few pictures provided by Pete as he was working out his new camera he received for his birthday.  Thanks Pete.


Enjoy,lgp







Look out everyone.  Joe is back in the grove.  Son and I fished against Joe in the Saturday big Bass Tourny on Lake Austin today, April 5, 2008.  Not only did he win big Bass with 6+ pounds he also had a limit that would go over 15 pounds.  I don't know how he did this as the rest of us struggled to get any fish at all.  Son and I only had three that wouuld go between 1.5 and 2 pounds. Joe fished alone and kicked our you know what. Congratulaltions to Joe.  Good job.
















                                Wind SW/NNw                                Wind E

Nevertheless the women out fished the men when it came to big bass.  The following pictures speak for themselves:
Congratulations ladies

OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS OF THE WEEK

While Gail and I were fishing in Sandy Creek the first day of the tournament a boat from the CBI Tournament approached us and asked if we were with the Couples tournament.  When we said yes they asked us to pass on their thanks and appreciation to the couple that towed them in the previous day as their boat was broke down. That couple turned out to be Brenda and Cliff.  It appears they also towed in another boat earlier in the week.  Anyway, Tommy King and Kenneth Ayala send their thanks to Brenda and Cliff.

The highlight of the week had to be at the dinner Saturday night when Robert Brown officially announced his proposal to Lesli Clark.  It was an exciting evening for the entire club.  Robert claimed he caught her and Lesli claimed she caught him.  Guess it doesn't really  matter as they both claimed to have KEEPERS. We also got to celebrate Lesli's birthday as Allen and Glenda Surprised her with a birthday cake.   Congratulations to both of you.  

Robert Brown and Kevin Pederzani fished in the BassChamps Tournament held on Belton last Saturday, March 1st.  255 boats participated in this tournament  Robert and Kevin weighed in five bass weighing 12.78 pounds.  They were a  little short of the money as the cut off was in the lows 13s.  However, Robert caught one of the largest Smallmouth bass that I had ever seen.  It weighed 5.36 pounds.  It sure was pretty.  Congratulations to Robert and Kevin.

lgp

Windy - Windy - Windy is the best way to describe the fishing conditions for our February 17th Tournament on Lake Belton.  While this may have made fishing difficult for most of us it didn't appear to slow down the Lentzs or the Trevinos as they both weighed in a limit of fish.  The Lentzs finished in first place while the Trevinos came in second.  The Pederzanis snuck into third with only 4 fish.  Luther had Men's Big Bass with 3.20 pounds while Vicki Schrempp took Womens big Bass honors with 1.81 pounds.  Details and pictures are posted on the Tournament Results page.

Alice and Luther Lentz proved yet  again why they are the Mr. and Mrs Bass Club  2007 ANGLERS OF THE YEAR as they took 1st place honors in the first CAST Capitol Region Tournament  held on Lake Travis last Saturday, January 26,  2008.  The 2 hour delay due to heavy fog did not deter them as they weighed in 5 bass weighing over 10 lbs to take first place in their first ever CAST Tournament.  There was a total of 11 teams participating in the tournament.  The other Mr. and Mrs Bass Club members participating in this tournament were Larry & Gail Pederzani, Brenda & Cliff Davis, Glenda & Allen Summers, and Rosemarie & Pete Trevino.  

Our thanks to  the Tournament Directors Vickie and Floyd Lesiker as the tournament was well organized and managed.  We will see you at the next tournament.

Congratulations are extended to Alice and Luther on another outstanding performance.

Allen and Glenda Summers start the new year off with a first place finish on Lake Travis.  Allen told us they had 10 keepers in the boat by 7:30 am.  This is phenomenal as the tournament didn't start until 7:00 am.  Glenda also captured Women's Big Bass, in fact it was big bass of the tournament. Congratulations to Allen and Glenda. In the mean time the rest of us struggled to get any keepers at all by the end of the day as the wind made fishing very difficult after 10:00 am.  Some of us hid in  coves the entire day just to stay out of the wind.  

Eleven teams participated in the tournament.  They were Baker/Call, Connell, Davis, Gold, Lentz, Logan, Pederzani, Schrempp, Summers, Trevino, and Tyree/Hannel.  The only team missing was Brown/Clark as Robert had a Tuff Man Tournament on Lake Stillhouse.  He finished 19th and took home $200.  Congratulations Robert.  

The fishing was kind of tough on Lake Travis as the wind made it difficult to fish some of our favorite places.  However, six teams did weigh in  limits of bass.  Pete Trevino took Men's Big Bass honors with a bass he caught in 50 feet of water.

Our New Tournament Director, Luther Lentz, did a great job weighing in the fish at the end of the tournament.  I especially liked him having the teams verify their weight on the scales.  The weigh-in was quick and efficient.  Thanks Luther.

Lets get back to the party.  Again we can't thank Joe and Marilyn enough for the great party at the UT Club.  Joe, please pass on a big thank you to your staff for an outstanding meal with great service.  Especially to the bartender that kept coffee in front of me the entire evening.  I greatly appreciate everything.  Following are a few photos provided by Marilyn, Brenda and myself for you to enjoy.

I guess we can close this out by saying that it has been a fun but somewhat stressful year of fishing for most of us.  We all seem to have our good days and our bad days except for Luther and Alice.  However these final photos best depict the level of stress Bass Fishermen go through.

Have a good year.
lgp