28 teams fished, 8 teams weighed in and 3 places were paid.
We matched our highest turn out of the season last night with a solid field of 28 boats! With all the recreational traffic and the extremely tough bite on Lake Austin right now that number is pretty amazing.
The bite is still very sporadic but one thing remains consistent, Yamamoto Senkos were the key to all of the winning bags. It’s been a couple of weeks since the big fish have been in Dale’s spots, but last night they were there and it couldn’t have been better timing! Dale Read and Paul Carman took home $560.00 for their three fish weighing nearly 15 pounds; their first place bag also included the Big Bass of the evening at 7.85 pounds.
Dale and Paul fished the north end of the lake and threw wacky rigged green pumpkin/black Senkos into a few of their favorite grass beds. There is grass all over the lake and it’s coming in really thick in some areas up north; when asked what makes one stretch of grass better than others, Dale mentioned you have to find subtle changes like rock, holes or cuts underneath the mats of grass. Dale and Paul have been fishing the lake for years and are some of the best when it comes to Lake Austin. They are very familiar with the migratory or feeding routes on the lake and when they time it correctly are a very hard team to beat.
Second and third places were decided by ounces and were the only two limits weighed in. Nick Boatright and Chad Maxwell have been just out of the money in several of the tournaments they’ve fished, last night they managed to break their “almost in the money streak” with a solid limit of 10.56 pounds and took home $250.00. The team also fished Yamamoto Senkos around grass and it definitely paid off.
Jeff Piil and Brad Casebier were right behind them and finished third with another limit going 10.51 pounds. Jeff said they didn’t have a single keeper in the boat until 8:15 pm. They finally made a move into some reeds and put together a quick limit throwing wacky rigged Senkos and a drop shot. Jeff is a recent transplant from Colorado and absolutely loves the fishing in Texas. As Jeff put it, “Coming from a state where skiing and hiking take precedence over bass fishing and a five pounder is a big fish, it’s nice to fish a lake with so many big fish in it…now figuring out how to make them bite is a different story.” Jeff has only been here a couple of months and has already cashed in three of our tournaments – two of which were solo efforts. Jeff, we think you are well on your way to figuring them out!
Thanks again to everyone that came out and congrats to the winners! See y’all next week on Lake Austin where the fat girls swim in the grass while the skinny ones lay on the back of boats…which one are you fishing for?
