58 teams fished, 31 teams weighed in and 10 places were paid. Use the scroll bar on the right to view the complete results.
The Associated Builders and Contractors held their 4th Annual Open on Lake Travis this past Saturday; 58 teams showed up and battled the recreational traffic, drastically low water levels and scorching weather in search of this year’s title.
When it was all said and done one angler, Stephen Malina, walked away with the win and the majority of the prize money! Stephen’s 19.02 pound sack is an amazing weight on Travis any time of the year; but when you take into consideration he fished solo in the middle of summer it really starts to sink in and makes you realize just how impressive that weight really is.
It’s no surprise though as Stephen has been on some quality fish for quite some time. Malina won his ATX Bassmasters club event with a 14.77 pound sack back in May and followed that up with a 14.00 pound sack, worth $1000.00, that he and his partner caught during Bass Champs earlier this month. With results like that it was evident he would return to the same water to see if the fish were still there.
Stephen stayed on the lower end and concentrated on shallow rocky points with deep water near by. He caught several keepers on topwaters and crankbaits, but the five fish that composed his 19 pounds were all caught on a shaky head and drop shot and came from 1-5 feet of water. His day started off well and he immediately found the bites we was hoping for; with three fish each over 3 pounds by mid-morning, Stephen was able to slowly and confidently work his area. At 9:30 he got the bite he was looking for and landed his biggest fish of 6.62 pounds, which went on to claim Big Bass of the tournament. Stephen eventually worked his way up the lake and continued to catch keepers all day; however, with over 19 pounds already in the boat it was difficult to cull during the heat of the day. He also mentioned catching a dozen or so keepers throughout the tournament using his finesse presentations on 12-15 pound fluorocarbon line. Congrats again Stephen on a well deserved victory!
TTZ was also able to speak with Bryan Cotter and gained a little insight from the third place finishers. Bryan and his partner targeted docks sitting in deeper water. The docks had to have shad around them and where floating in 60-100 foot of water! The team’s 16.09 pound sack consisted of two fish over five pounds that were caught on big worms and flukes rigged with a Mr. Blitz Toad Toter hook. One of the big worms that produced for the team was the Mexican Rattler, a 10 1/2 inch worm from El Grande Lures. Their other fish bit a Mr. Blitz Craw Clicker Jig with a Yamamoto Craw trailer fished in drains with lots of chunk rock in 25-35 fow. To learn more about El Grande Lures and Mr. Blitz products you may contact Bryan Cotter at TexasHawgs.com.
Among the top five finishers were TTZ team members Robby Crabb and Andy Nuyen, their 15.05 pound sack tied them for fifth place with Andy Whitehead. Robby and Andy caught all their fish around docks sitting in 20-30 foot of water on the upper end. Robby mentioned they had to weed through a lot of smaller fish, approximately 30-40 of them, to catch their seven keepers throughout the day. Yamamoto Senkos, Kinami Flashes and Zoom Baby Brush Hogs were the baits of choice.
Special thanks to David Ford and the rest of the ABC crew for hosting a fun and well run tournament. We look forward to fishing it again next year and encourage everyone else to do the same. Congrats to all the teams that finished in the money and see y’all on the water!
