22 teams fished, 6 teams weighed in and 3 places were paid.
We had a considerable turnout, 22 teams, considering the rain just prior to takeoff and the weather radar indicating severe weather yet to come. About 30 minutes after dark, many teams reported hearing what sounded like a huge waterfall coming down the lake; the thunderstorms had arrived and the light misting turned into high winds and sheets of heavy rain lasting about thirty minutes.
A few brave (or crazy ) teams fished through it, while others headed to the bridge to ride out the storm and see where their pre-monsoon catch would put them. The weigh-in was held at the 360 bridge, which tournament directors decided at check-in would be advisable due to the approaching storms.
Taking home the win and $330 was the team of Waylon and Blake Pabst; the brothers weighed in the only limit of the night at 13.14 pounds. We talked to Waylon about their night.
“We caught all our keepers on outside grass lines in 10-15 foot of water on watermelon red Senkos rigged Texas and wacky style.”
Congratulations Waylon and Blake!
But the story of the night revolved around the second place team (and Big Bass winners) Jayson Kisselburg and John McClung. Catching only one keeper, it was the right one…a 10.27 pound piglet! This was Jayson Kisselburg’s personal best. You may recognize Jayson’s name as he was part of the winning team with Landon Glass at the recent Bass Champs event on Lake Travis. Jayson, who moved here recently from Arizona and has been fishing for over 15 years, was all smiles at the weigh in – but who wouldn’t be?!
“It was a really cool deal. Prior to check-in, we saw something floating in the water, and started to pull over to it. We realized it was a 14 inch dying catfish. We then saw this toad come up and nose it and swim away slowly. We thought if we could put a swimbait in front of her when the tournament started, maybe we could get her to eat.”
And they did. On the third cast of the evening Jayson hooked up with her on a custom 6 inch white balsa triple-jointed swimbait. They reported seeing several other big fish a little later, ranging from 6 to 8 pounds, but could not get them to bite. Tough to feel sorry for them though, ain’t it? Great job John and Jayson; congrats again to Jayson on his personal best and the over $300 payday! Now you know everything really is BIGGER in Texas.
TTZ team members Brian Booker (Dumb) and Robby Crabb (Dumber) came in third with two fish going 7.35 pounds. They fished around docks on inside grass lines and caught their fish on a wacky Senko and a JaROD jig around some scattered beds. The team reported seeing some other good fish, but could not get them to commit. On a final note, Robby Crabb was last seen looking in the ladies Port-O-Potty for a third place plaque.
Fresh from his knee injury from last week’s Wednesday night tournament, Larry Pedrezani wouldn’t let a knee brace keep him from continuing to do well in our events. He and Derrell Hickman fished together and were able to scrounge up four keepers on a volatile night for 6.80 pounds. They were awarded an awesome tackle pack full of Jacky Robert’s (Fish Finders Marine) Pro’s Choice soft plastics and a handful of JaROD custom hand tied jigs.
We’d like to remind everybody about our Power Tackle Big Bass and Big Stringer contest. TTZ and Power Tackle have a new rod for the Big Bass of the year as well as biggest stringer. All participants fishing the Wed Nighter are eligible to win and registration for the contest is free (details available at check-in). Kisselburg and McClung sent a shot across the bow with an early double digit for Big Bass honors, but as we all know there are some bigger ones out there and it only takes one cast. The current big stringer is 20.48 pounds and is held by Barry Mott and Lance Hale.
We’ll see you all next week…GO BIG or GO HOME!