11 teams fished, 6 teams weighed in and 2 places were paid.
Bed fishing continues to rule on Lake Austin. Although the majority of the spawn has passed, Austin typically has an extended season and there might still be some huge sacks caught off beds in the following weeks.
Speaking of huge sacks, Brad Casebier and Randy Nelson took first place with a healthy limit of 21.40 pounds. Brad and Randy were a model of efficiency as they scouted the lake prior to the tournament and had their milk run of beds set for the evening.
Brad told us,
“I guess I would say that we got real lucky last night; I hit the water around 4:30 and stumbled on to a couple beds that held some nice fish. We got even luckier when we found most of them were all in the right frame of mind to bite! All our bedders bit within minutes of working them, so we were able to hop around and stick several before dark. We had our limit by 8:00, and were able to cull twice after that with couple of fish over five pounds.”
All of their fish came off beds on weightless Senkos, a 1/2 oz watermelon jig and a watermelon Chompers Skirted Twin Tail Grub. They had a nice six pound kicker that was just shy of winning Big Bass, but ended up taking home $200 for the win. On a side note, this is Brad’s third week in a row to finish in the money…looks like he’s definitely got the spawn dialed in!
The Waldrop brothers, who came off a three week win streak just two weeks ago, came in second with a limit weighing just over 14 pounds. All their fish also came off beds, but due to high winds and off colored water, they couldn’t see their fish and resorted to casting into likely areas. Jr and Mike were on fish immediately and caught them from beginning to end for a total of 12 fish. Wacky rigged trick worms accounted for all but one fish. The big one, which was caught by Mike, came on a Yamamoto Senko.
“We really caught most of them in the mouths of creeks and on the main lake, not ‘in the creeks’ so much this week,” said Jack Jr.
Finishing third and winning Big Bass for the tournament and the Fish Finders and Jarod Jigs tackle pack were TTZ team members Andy Nuyen and Robby Crabb. They also had some bedding fish located and on the second cast, Andy lost a fish pushing three pounds. Robby kept them in contention by quickly following up the lost fish with two solid keepers; the bigger fish came off a bed and was one of the most aggressive bedding fish he’s ever seen. Robby tells us more,
“I missed that fish a few times with a soft plastic before I picked up a black and blue jig. The water was a bit murky but we could still make out the fish…he had no intention of leaving and nosed down on my jig every time I casted to him! After about half a dozen misses, I finally was able to connect. I wish all the fish we saw last night were like that!”
And we wish all blondes were natural Robby.
Their big fish came off an inside grass line late in the evening and bit a Black Neon creature bait by Hag’s Tornado Bait Company. The bait is called “The Undertaker” and is available locally only at Fish Finders Marine. Andy gave us his thoughts on The Undertaker.
“This is the first time I’ve fished the bait and it surely won’t be the last…it was pretty cool to catch a six pounder on a new bait on the second cast! The fish didn’t just bite the bait, she picked it up and ran off with it; it was one of the most ferocious bites I’ve ever felt. Although I didn’t get to spend much time fishing it, I can tell this thing can move some water.”
Congrats to the teams in the money and special thanks to all that came out and braved the winds (some gusting to 30 mph) to fish with us!