76 teams fished and 15 places were paid.
TOTAL CASH AND PRIZES PAID OUT: $11,435 (94%)
TOTAL CASH PAID OUT: $11,035 (90.7%)
Texas Tournament Zone hosted the second event of the Lone Star Series Central Division on Lake LBJ March 26; 76 teams came out to test their skills against the spawn hoping to win the $3,600 first place cash prize and $400 worth of Oakley polarized optics. However, the finicky fish and quickly rising water temps made it a tough day for most; factoring in air temps in the low 90s, it was time to wave goodbye to the mild spring conditions and get ready to welcome summer!
Taking home first place honors were well known site fishermen across this state, Scott David and Harold Moore. With a bag of five keepers for 18.30 pounds, they took home $3,600 in cash and $400 worth of Oakley optics! We had a chance to speak to Scott after the tournament.
“Well, it’s a clear water lake in spring time in Texas…so we looked for fish on beds. Keyed in on ones we thought we could catch, and then we locked down on those and caught ‘em.”
In response to how difficult the fish were to snag, Scott had this to say.
“Got seven fish in our boat all day and we were looking at every one of them. Most of ‘em got on pretty quick, but you have to know how to work the fish. Saw several guys working on fish for a long time and I’d go in and catch ‘em in three or four tries.”
Like we said, this guy knows how to catch fish in a sinnin’ mood, but he had some great help as he pointed out.
“My partner Harold does a great job. He has real good eyes and an ability to spot those bedding fish that most can’t see. He’ll hold the boat in position or get the net…whatever needs doin’.”
We couldn’t help but notice Harold’s height; which, at well over 6 feet, can also be a big asset this time of year. Congratulations Scott and Harold on a profitable day! We look forward to seeing you gentlemen with us the rest of the year.
Second place with 17.80 pounds went to Derick Kuyrkendall and Forrest Wilson, another recognized team all over Texas.
Derick and Forrest started their day in a canal just south of McNair. Locating a couple of bedding bass during practice the day before, they were happy to see no one else had beat them to the canal. On their way in they managed to catch two small keepers in the 14 inch range on watermelon Flukes. But more importantly, this canal is where the Big Bass of the tournament was caught; Derick described how they finally got her to the boat.
When we got to where the big fish was it was still too dark to see if she was still there so I just threw a 7″ Senko to where the fish was yesterday. Never detecting a bite I notice my line coming towards me so I set the hook…POW my line breaks on the hookset 6 inches from my rod tip! While I’m tying on a new hook Forrest throws his Fluke in there and she picks it up and swims towards us again; he set the hook and she comes off right after the set. The fish no longer bites so we leave her for about 20 minutes and come back. I throw a Senko in there on our return, she picks it up and swims around a concrete pillar but I manage to pull her around it and we get her in the boat.”
With three keepers in the boat the team continued to another bed fish.
“She wouldn’t stay put so we had to leave her as well. We went back to her an hour later and she wasn’t moving around as much so we fished for her for quite a while before Forrest found a color that seemed to aggravate her into biting. She picked his bait up by the tail three times but wouldn’t eat it! I had a Trick Worm of the same color so I threw it to her and she didn’t react, but on the third pitch she just engulfed it and we put her in the boat. To our surprise she was bigger than we expected at 7 pounds”, said Kuyrkendall.
Derick and Forrest left that area and went to where they saw more fish, but they were no longer there. They spent the rest of the day trying to get a fifth keeper in the boat but it never happened. The team weighed 18.30 pounds with only four fish, but dropped half a pound after a fish care penalty.
Derick summed up the tournament with some final thoughts.
“We fell short on several opportunities and losing keeper fish. We had a day of good and bad luck mixed into one so I guess it wasn’t meant to be. It was a really great tournament and we had a great time. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to the TTZ crew for their hard work. I would also like to thank my sponsors Boerne Marine, Skeeter Boats, JoBaby Lures, Lowrance and Normark Lures.”
Derick and Forrest earned $1,350 for their second place finish in addition to $760 for Big Bass.
After two events Lee Beuershausen and Charles Whited are leading the 2011 Central Division AOY points with 139 points.
Chris Conner and Jared Smith are close behind at 134 with Randy Grounds and Alan Gass rounding out the top three with 132 points. The complete points standings are available here.
With half the regular season behind us our next tournament will be on Lake Buchanan April 23; we’ll be launching out of The Edge Water Resort on the south end of the lake.
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We’d also like to remind everyone to always take proper care of their fish, especially with the warmer weather approaching. We have aerated lines available at our staging tanks so please be sure to use them when waiting for your turn at the scales.
For more information on the Lone Star Series please visit lonestarseries.com. See everyone on Buchanan!