2010

43 teams fished, 28 teams weighed in and 9 places were paid.

The second stop of the Faith Angler Network trail drew 43 teams to the second largest highland lake in Central Texas, Lake Buchanan. Buchanan is primarily known for its striped and white bass fishing but also provides some great shallow water angling for black bass; although recent rains have brought the lake level up a good 10 feet, at 1005 feet above mean sea level the lake is 15 feet away from full leaving many shallow water areas still high and dry.

And if the low lake level is not bad enough, the extremely cold weather has also contributed to the poor fishing conditions throughout most of the state. No one really knows when spring will decide to arrive and we’ve had the coldest winter many of us can seem to remember. With morning air temps in the low 30s and water temps struggling to stay above 50, the majority of the field ran all over the lake and jumped from creek to creek trying to find more than one or two bites throughout the day.

With the only limit brought to the scales, the team of Jared Smith and Robert Payne capitalized on the tough bite and took first place with 11.38 pounds. The win earned them nearly $1600 along with the Texas Boat World $1500 Silver Certificate. Jared has been on quite a run this year and preceeds this win with a $5000 second place finish in the January Tuff Man Championship on Stillhouse! TTZ caught up with Jared after the tournament to find out what their winning pattern was.

Jared and Robby starting their day up in Council Creek towards Thunderbird and immediately started to put fish in the livewell; they worked a 200 yard stretch of bank in the bend of the creek with a Texas rigged Zoom Magnum Lizard in green pumpkin.

“We made about 10 passes up and down that bank before concentrating on a 50 yard stretch sitting in 2-4′ of water. Robby and I caught our limit by 9:00 and managed to cull a 14 inch fish; I’m surprised we never saw another boat for an hour and a half.”

With roughly eight to nine pounds of fish they left their starting water to try and duplicate the pattern in other parts of the lake. They struggled to find another solid bite until Robby caught their biggest fish of the day in Red Rock Creek with just thirty minutes left in the tournament.

“We felt catching that big fish would give us a good chance at cutting a check but didn’t think we had enough to win the tournament. Even after weighing our fish and sitting in the lead for most of the time I thought for sure an 18-20 pound bag would eventually be brought in.”

Smith and Payne weighed the first limit of the tournament and had to endure team after team coming to the scales; but instead of the solid sack they feared would bump them out of the lead, most anglers trickled in with either one good fish or a couple of small keepers. Congratulations Jared and Robby on the only limit of the tournament and the win!

Jared would like to thank his sponsors Baker Triangle and Building Specialties. The winners would also like to mention since they both have new boats the $1500 Texas Boat World Silver Certificate is up for sale. If anyone is planning on purchasing a new boat from Texas Boat World this transferable certificate could save you some money. More information on the TBW Certificate Program is available here.

Following up their second place finish at the Stillhouse season opener with another second place effort was the consistent team of Lance Wenmohs and Mike Clark. With three fish for 11.06 pounds, the team won a total of $880 which also included second place in the Bonus Bucks program.

We spoke to Lance and he gave us some insight on how the team approached the lake. Their day started off great and Mike caught their big fish, 6.18 pounds, on a spinnerbait four or five casts into the tournament! Their second keeper came around 8:30 on a custom 1/4 oz football head jig with a Zoom Speed Craw. Lance and Mike covered a lot of lake looking for their third bite before it eventually came at noon on a Zoom Fluke.

“Mike went out for three hours the week before and only had one bite, so on tournament day we stuck to our familiar areas we’ve had success with in the past. We fished primarily the lower end to mid western parts of the lake and focused on the mouths of coves to midway back. Our best water ended up being between 4-8′.”

Towards the end of the tournament, Lance and Mike found themselves on the lower end trying to scratch out another keeper. With fifteen minutes remaining Mike was fishing the Fluke when their fourth and final bite came off a small rock point; the fish surfaced half way back to the boat and came unbuttoned.

“It’s hard to tell how big a fish is when it’s that far out in the water but we knew it was a solid keeper; if I had to guess I’d put it around 16 inches.”

Lance and Mike knew that lost fish would cost them but never imagined it would have been the difference between first and second place. Still, the team is very grateful for the fish they caught and are firmly leading the AOY points race with a 17 point cushion from the second place team of Travis Jones Jr. and Jason Jones. When asked if they had any sponsors to thank, Lance mentioned they both would like to thank the most important ones…“our wives for letting us get out and fish so much!” Lance would also like to thank Sammy at RT Marine in Granite Shoals for keeping his Gambler powered by a Mercury Racing Optimax 250XS on the water.

On a day when one or two bites is all you get, it sure is nice when one of those bites is a big fish. Bill Shelnutt and Jacky Roberts know exactly how important a big fish can be on a tough day as they won the Big Bass awards for this event. Bill and his partner Dave Titus won Big Bass with a 6.77 pounder and had another keeper which helped them secure third place overall.

Jacky Roberts fished solo and was among the many anglers that reported having only a single bite all day. Fortunately for him it was a good one at 6.43 pounds; the fish won second place Big Bass and also earned Jacky a sixth place finish!

If you talk to Jacky he’ll tell you he always finds a way to enjoy his day on the water whether or not the fish are biting; but if you ask us, we think a big part of that is because he’s usually holding a check at the end of the day.

Jacky caught the fish on a green pumpkin jig with a Pro’s Choice Eager Craw trailer. He’s thrown these soft plastic craws for years and loves them so much he recently acquired the company! The baits are very soft and come in a variety of colors specifically poured for Central Texas lakes.

Fish Finder’s Marine is the only place you can buy Pro’s Choice Lures; if you haven’t fished them do yourself a favor and swing by Fish Finder’s. Jacky will get you up to speed on what’s new and gladly show you one of the best craws on the market…just don’t expect to get any of the special run colors he’s poured for himself!

Jeff and the FAN crew do a tremendous job with this trail; Faith Angler Network provides every demographic of angler, from the die hard tournament veterans to the youth of our sport, a chance to compete while sharing the love of Christ. Please visit faithanglernetwork.com for more information about the trail.

There are many reasons to fish a Faith Angler Network tournament, but one you simply cannot put into words is the camaraderie and light hearted environment FAN provides. There are only three regular season events remaining in the 2010 season; if you haven’t had a chance to come out and fish with FAN we hope you consider joining us at Lake LBJ on March 27. In the meantime, the following gallery should sum up what FAN is all about!