15 teams fished, 5 teams weighed in and 3 places were paid.
After missing several solid fish and losing one in the eight pound class last week, Larry Pederzani and Rich McDonell redeemed themselves with a decisive win this week. After concentrating on one primary area during the last tournament, the team decided to change their plans and try their luck in different areas of the lake. Larry and Rich both reported the primary keys to the better fish they’ve found recently have been upsizing their baits to weed out the smaller fish and fishing deeper water.
Their original plan was to start in Sandy Creek, but after making the run only to find muddy water they headed back to the main lake bowl and targeted drop offs and ledges. Their four fish weighed 12.44 pounds with the biggest fish caught just 30 minutes before weigh-in!
Rich told us they caught their fish on Texas rigged Tiki Sticks and Senkos and missed a couple of keepers that would have filled their limit.
TTZ team member Brian Booker and partner Grant Schnabel finished second with a little over 8 pounds. Brian told us about their limit.
“We have really been struggling out here lately. Figured out tonight why that may be. We finally gave into the hype and started fishing around docks and marinas for suspended fish in about 30-40 foot of water. It was brutal waiting for our Senkos to fall that far, but the fish were there. Most of the bites were just heavy. We were able to cull a little even! Not that 8 pounds is anything to write home about, but we were happy with a limit based on current conditions.”
Coming in third were Andy Nuyen and Mike James; their two fish sack included a very healthy bass in the five pound range. The two also focused on deeper water and caught both their fish along bluff walls sitting in 25-30 feet of water.
Mike caught the big one working a Luck Craft Sammy 100 in Chartreuse Shad; the fish rolled all over the bait and had both hooks firmly stuck in her! Their second keeper bit a Senko in 20 foot of water and they reported breaking off another solid keeper along the same bluff wall.
One thing we’ve noticed is most of the fish in Travis are fat and actively feeding; the bite has been sporadic for the most part, but as the fish begin to move deeper and settle into their summer time patterns, we should see some healthier sacks coming to the scales.
And speaking of healthy, The River City Grille Big Bass Rollover continues to grow and starts at $520 next week! Anyone catching a bass eight pounds or better takes down the entire pot. You can’t win if you don’t come out…see everyone next week!