14 teams fished, 8 teams weighed in and 2 places were paid.
We had a great turnout considering the below average number of boats as of late. The word is quickly spreading that the fishing on Austin is picking up all over the lake; teams are starting to find them on both the inside and outside grass lines, in the reeds and around docks. With the last two tournaments won below City Park, half the field ran south this week to see if the lower end could produce another winning bag.
The lower end held up for the third straight week as Larry Pederzani and Derrell Hickman brought back the winning limit weighing 12.68 pounds. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen our good friend Larry at a Wednesday night event, but he wore his lucky TTZ shirt and made a special appearance with Derrell to take home $250 for the win!
Derrell told us more about their winning pattern.
“We caught all our fish in 12-18 fow inside the grass; if you were not pulling through the grass you wouldn’t get bit. Larry caught his fish using a Senko, matter of fact I think he used one rod all night long! I caught my fish using the new 6.5 inch Tornado Jacky Roberts at Fish Finders Marine just got in, Green Pumpkin/Black Flake and Midnight Blue. We only caught five keepers for the night but caught a lot of unders, I think I went through two packs of baits.”
Coming in second for the second week in a row were Jamie Slayden and Brandon Houston with 10.84 pounds. After falling short to Robby Crabb and Andy Nuyen by less than half a pound last week, the team paid them back this week and edged Robby and Andy out by .17 pounds to secure second place and $170! In fact, second through fifth places were separated by only .58 pounds!
“We basically caught our fish the same way we have been catching them the past few weeks, C-rigging that Bullfrog colored stickbait. The fish didn’t start to eat until later in the evening and we caught our limit in the last hour and a half. Hopefully they stay there, the spot seems to replenish well with it being such a good feeding flat for them,” said Brandon Houston.
Third place went to the “Tackle Pack Kings” Robby Crabb and Andy Nuyen, the pair weighed 10.67 pounds on four fish and took home the Pro’s Choice Lures tackle pack provided by Jacky Roberts and Fish Finders Marine. We caught up with Andy after the tournament,
“In the last eight Wed Nighters that Robby and I have fished together we’ve won five tackle packs, came in second twice and won once! I really can’t complain as we’ve had a great time running the Wednesday Night Tournament and have had plenty of chances to finish in the money. And besides, walking away with an assortment of Pro’s Choice Lures saves me the money I would have spent buying them at Fish Finders!”
Robby and Andy caught their fish using the new Yamamoto Large Flappin’ Hog. The bait debuted in July at ICAST and is sure to be an instant hit among anglers flipping shallow cover. This larger version will work better with a bigger and stronger hook and sets up perfectly with a 3/16 oz to 1/2 oz Texas rig on a 4/0 EWG hook.
Big Bass went to Jack Waldrop Jr. and Mike Waldrop for the 5.02 pound fish that anchored their 10.26 pound bag. Mike caught the fish pitching a Senko into open pockets of grass.
With August being the last month for the Travis Tuesday Night Tournament many anglers inquired how much longer we plan to run the Wed Nighters. If the fishing continues to improve and more teams start to show up, we might run them until the end of September as we did last year. But for now they are scheduled through August and there are still at least three more chances to claim your Power Tackle rod for Big Stringer and/or Big Bass. See everyone next week!