20 teams fished, 13 teams weighed in and 3 places were paid.
Lake Austin continued its pull as 20 boats came out this week. With some scattered rain in the forecast, we decided to hold the weigh-in under the 360 bridge. Happiest to make it to 360 and all smiles were brothers Mike and Junior Waldrop. We are sensing a family theme here lately…check the Travis coverage from Tuesday!
We talked to Junior about their hellacious bag which included a giant 10 pounder.
“All but two of our fish were caught on beds, and all our fish were caught on soft plastics in a creek. We had them hit a few things for us really…flukes, swimbaits, and senkos. I hooked a real big one and broke off. Then I flipped back in and caught a 5 pounder!”
The team was around some toads to say the least, as Junior continued his story around several wide eyed tourney participants…
“Just after Mike netted that fish, I spotted another big one in the same area. Mike flipped in and caught her…the big one that went 10.11! Once the conditions got to be low light, Mike couldn’t see them anymore; he was relegated to the trolling motor, so I could stand on the motor and sight fish.”
Junior would like to thank his sponsor Fitovers Eyewear, who he feels had a lot to do with their success.
Taking second place for the night was Larry Pederzani and Derrell Hickman. Interestingly, they were in the same area as the winners. Being the true sportsmen they are, they actually let them into the creek.
Derrell caught the first one, a 6 pounder, on a bed with a white Pro’s Choice tube. Larry grabbed the other two, a 6 pounder and a 3 pounder, on a T-rigged green pumpkin Tiki Stick on an outside grass line. It was an Austin bruiser, as Larry reported.
“That thing took at least 4 minutes to land…it just didn’t want to get in the boat!”
Taking third and fishing solo was Josh Hale.
“I caught my big fish, approximately 5 pounds, on a bed. This is the most fish I’ve caught on Austin in at least 3 year and I caught between 20 and 25 fish tonight! A lot of them were dinks, but all my fish came on a wacky rigged Senko on the inside grassline. I lost a good one on a buzzbait though that just got me buried up in the grass.”
If you haven’t been out yet guys, do yourself a favor and try to make a Wed Night tournament. A lot of our competitiors are weighing in good bags and most are reporting seeing some of the biggest bass of their lives cruising in bedding areas.
If you don’t already know, the spawn on Austin is a weird thing; it often extends into May and somtimes later in the year. Our tournament director for the night, and TTZ team member, Robby Crabb told us what he saw.
“Guys, tonight really made me want to give up fishing. No $%&^ I saw 40 pounds of fish in two cuts and inside grass lines today…in probably a 250 yard stretch! All we were able to land were two keepers; but we did lose two decent ones. Of the fish we saw, none were locked in, just lovin’ on each other or cruisin’ in circles. They wouldn’t even leave!”
If that doesn’t wet your appetite, maybe a pair of Power Tackle rods will. Remember, we are giving away a Power Tackle rod for big bass and big stringer of the year. We’ll see you on LA next Wednesday.
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