35 teams fished, 12 teams weighed in and 3 places were paid.
The much anticipated Saturday Rollover Tournament presented by Texas Tournament Zone and River City Grille was a success, as 35 teams came out to try their hand at the huge payouts and generous tackle packs that had been accumulating throughout the season. There was a high level of energy and sense of urgency at Mansfield Dam as nine teams were ready to check-in and leave at 5:00 am sharp to their trailered destinations; and with a guaranteed payout of over $2,500 on a $40 entry, who wouldn’t be excited?
The cooler air and a nice breeze made for the first signs of a coming fall season; but it didn’t last long, very quickly after the sun broke summer reared its head and brought the already sunburned anglers more of the same. But we saw some double digit bags, even though the morning bite was tough. Many attributed it to the full moon and the lights not giving off the fish they had been a little earlier in recent mornings.
The first team up to the scales and the winners of the tournament were Charles Whited and Lee Beuershausen; their bag included a 5.93 pound kicker fish which expired right before weigh-in. After the one pound fish care penalty, Charles and Lee ended up with 12.35 pounds and were still able to hold onto Big Bass and win an additional $210 on top of the $1,175 top prize!
Charles and Lee trailered and concentrated on areas in between the split, which designates the part of Lake Travis that branches off into the Perdenales and Colorado Rivers, and Therman Bend. They caught 9 keepers and 11 throwbacks for the day on various baits. Charles gave us some insight to their success after the tournament.
“We started off fishing some lights and caught two 14.5 inch fish on a 1/2 ounce black/blue jig. After it got light we moved to fishing points with brush and caught most of our fish from these areas throwing a Carolina rigged Pro’s Choice PRO-V Shad with a 3/0 hook. The big one bit a 7 inch Blue Fleck Power Worm around 9:00 am, we fished deep all day and focused on keeping our baits in 30 to 35 foot of water.”
Charles would like to thank his sponsors Power Tackle and Jacky Roberts of FishFinders Marine.
“They’ve both been real good to me and I’m proud to be a part of both companies. Power Tackle and Pro’s Choice Lures are both angler owned and operated; that’s real important to me because only anglers know what works on the water and how to treat a fellow fisherman,” said Whited.
Congratulations Charles and Lee!
Taking second place in the event was TTZ’s own father and son duo of Dale and Jake Read. Their limit weighing 11.68 pounds brought them a healthy check of $705! Dale told us about their day.
“Jake and I started out in Devil’s on the green lights…nothing not even a nibble! We headed up past Arkansas Bend and found another light, and picked up our first and second keeper on a Senko. We picked up several more short fish on spoons and Power Worms but no good fish; so we decided to keep going up and found our largest fish in 18 foot off a ledge. Jake set the hook on our fourth keeper a few minutes later and I got our fifth just after that! We had a good day on the water, but I am glad Travis is over with for a while. We’ll see everyone out on Austin soon!”
Speaking of Lake Austin, these two die-hards went out there after a brutally hot day on Travis to see if they could hook a few of the giants Dale has been seeing under his tree. Can you say dedication?!?!
We asked Jake, who has already won more money than many guys four times his age, how he felt about the day on Travis.
“We had a good time. It was nice to catch a limit out here, as everybody knows it has been tough. We knew we had a pretty good bag and were pretty optimistic coming into weigh-in…especially after coming up zero in the lights!”
Rounding out the final cash position for third place and $470 were Bryan Cotter and Kyle Judd with a 10.51 pound limit. Bryan told us how they did it.
“We had a good day, catching quite a few fish. Started off on some flooded brush and got bit right away throwing El Grande worms and GrandeBass Trophy Hunter RattleSnakes; we landed a decent one and a few more that managed to stay in our sack off that spot. We then ran up the lake and found a spot that I caught at least seven to eight solid Guads in a row on a medium diving crankbait. That was a blast, and I may have to go back soon for some grub! After a few more spots we hit two more keeps in a nice cut that dropped from 3 foot to 25 quickly. Made another good run up and hit our best fish in about 20 foot. Started running back down and pulled into another cut that was loaded and pulled out a few on the El Grande Sapo frog…gotta love the frog bite!”
A frog bite on Travis at the end of summer? Bryan is sticking to his word and further explains how he fishes the frog.
“It may sound crazy but I throw a frog quite a bit on Travis. There’s really nothing special to it, I either cast to visible brush or fish it over deep water close to the bank. I even had a fish about 6 pounds follow the frog to the boat during the tournament; after she turned we tried to catch her with worms and a drop shot with no luck.”
Bryan would like to thank Coastal Bend Custom Rods, El Grande Lures and Mr. Blitz Hooks and Lures.
First losers, but worthy of an honorable mention, were TTZ team members Brian Booker and Robby Crabb. For their limit of fish weighing 10.50 pounds, they took home the first place out of the money tackle pack, which included a very generous assortment of Yamamto and Kinami baits. It was close and they were 1/100th of a pound behind the third place finishers! We asked Brian how he felt about that kick in the tenders.
“Well it stings for sure…but what are you gonna do, right? Considering our livewells completely crapped out on us early this morning, we were just happy our fish survived to weigh-in. We nursed them most of the day, and our buddies and teammates Dale and Jake helped us out quite a bit. We really appreciate those guys!”
So how did they catch them?
“Same deal as all summer…just putting a wacky Senko or a Texas rig RattleSnake in front of them on the suspended marina cables. We caught most of them in 30 to 40 foot again, so that made fish care an even bigger issue. But it was a good event, and it seems like everyone had a great time. That is what this deal is all about at the end of the day!”
Tackle Packs from Pro’s Choice Lures, JaRod Jigs and GrandeBass were also awarded through eighth place.
Well folks, there you have it. The 2010 Travis season is behind us. We hope you enjoyed it, and if you didn’t get out to one of these they’ll be here again before you know it. We’d really like to thank all the sponsors that made this year’s success in incredible payouts and tackle giveaways a reality:
Please support these locally dedicated companies, as they support all of us. Thank you to everyone that fished with us this year and see you at Mansfield spring of 2011!