Lake Bastrop Guide Trip 11/6

Had some clients out on Lake Bastrop in the afternoon. Fish were feeding all around us but would not hit moving baits such as crankbaits or spinnerbaits so we just threw finesse worms and flukes. Bite was on the slow side so made sure we slowed way down to get bit. We caught around a dozen up to 3 lbs using this slow technique through the grass. Definitely fun catching once we found that pattern. Fun times.

FAN Championship on O.H. Ivie 10/28-29

My partner, Tom Martens and I had our FAN Championship on O.H. Ivie Friday and Saturday. I was able to prefish a bit the day before on official practice day and found some nice bass shallow. I had 2 overs and plenty unders just hoping we could find more overs during the tournament. The lake has a slot at 18" which you can have only 2 unders and as many as 5 overs.

We headed to my main spot on the first day and thankfully had it to ourselves. After fishing for just a bit, we caught a few unders and then Tom hooks into a nice one. It turns out to be his personal best at 9.77 lbs. Awesome bass! The next cast, I hooked into a nice smallmouth bass over 3 lbs at least but it quickly jumped and spit the hook. After working over the area for a while, we just ran around and hit a bunch more of my areas only to keep catching unders. After weighing in though, we were sitting in 2nd place, just .4 lbs out of 1st place and we had big bass so it was looking pretty good.

The next day we headed back to my big bass spot only to come up empty on anything big. We then headed to the number 2 spot and wore them out on shallow cranks but again, no overs. We came in to weigh-in thinking we would be out of the checks but to our surprise, we only dropped 1 place to 3rd. 3rd place from day 1, Jeff Pitrucha and Ronnie Trower came in with 4 overs to leap over 1st and 2nd for the win and we took home plaques for 3rd place and big bass overall.

Congrats to my fishing partner, Tom Martens, on his personal best bass at 9.77 lbs!

Lake Travis 10-14

Took some clients out on Lake Travis on Friday. We hit some areas that have been producing pretty good lately. The day started slow but we found them. We caught around 3 dozen with the biggest around 3 lbs. It was definitely a fun day. Most fish were caught on plastics while some came on crankbaits. Good times.

BassChamps Championship on Lake Falcon

Fished the final Championship of the BassChamps season on Lake Falcon. It was the largest turnout for the Championships and still only 163 teams showed up. We started out on some water I caught the 12 on the month before and I hooked into a hawg at 10.57lbs. We weighed her in early so as to not drag her around the lake all day. We worked several areas hard after that with the howling wind only to come in with 24lbs and change. Tough conditions. The next day we hit a spot that has been very productive with big fish and we actually had 2 on that we broke off one and lost the other. We struggled to get on my spots with the wind blowing hard. We didn't have enough for a check so we headed home. Fun times though.

My 10.57 was the 10th biggest bass weighed in. Wow! The big bass of the tournament was 11.57 and the winning 2 day total was 86.18 lbs. That lake is out of this world!

Lake Falcon - Sep 3, 4

If you haven't gone to Lake Falcon, drop what you are doing and go. Fished it the last 2 days for my birthday weekend and it was a blast. Saturday I was only able to fish the last hour and a half of light but found them quick and hit three 7 pounders on 3 casts along with about a dozen more between 2-5lbs all on the same little tree in 5 foot of water on top of a ledge. At that time it got pretty dark out so I headed in ready for the morning.

‎2nd day at Falcon, Sun Sep.4. The day before I had over 30 lbs in 1 hour, today it took me to 1pm to get over 30lbs but right after I did, I caught the one we are all after, a nice fat big ole 12lber! It was right after my wife called. Call more babe! lol I figured out a little pattern and by using that, I caught 2 more big ones at 11lbs each. What a day it turned out to be! Almost 50 lbs best 5. That would win every tournament there....maybe... hehe

Lake Austin July 6

Hit Lake Austin for a bit this afternoon from noon-4. Bite was slow starting out catching a few small ones here and there using senkos off the grass lines. About 2 the bite picked up and started catching 2-3lbers using senkos and a crankbait. Decided to move up lake to finish the day and caught a 6lber on a senko on the first cast at the new area. Had another bigger one that came unbuttoned after it shook it's head a bit. Saw it and threw right back at it and it hit again but spit the hook. This was in 2 foot of water. I then took out my frog and hooked one about 4lbs. Caught a few more smaller ones on a senko and then chunked the frog again and caught a 5lber in about a foot of water. Fun times. Had a little over 20lbs best 5 and called it a day.

Book your trip today while the fishing is easy out there. ;-) Take a kid fishing...

Lake Austin June 26

Hit up Lake Austin early this Sunday morning for a few hours to catch a few. The bite seemed to be a little off with a few really early before the sun came up using El Grande Hatch Match Sticks, Hag's Tornados and senkos. I also noticed that there didn't seem to be any current so maybe they were not generating. I moved up the lake a bit before hitting another spot and then I noticed the current. Not too long afterward, the bite picked up pretty good catching 8 in a row. and few others here and there using the above mentioned baits and a 4-lber on a ribbit frog. I didn't want to be out too long so I headed up the lake to the last spot of the day and found them still stacked up from the prior 2 months now. Fun time on the water with the best 5 going just over 20lbs but the biggest was in the 5lb class on a frog.

Lake Austin - Week of June 13th

Lake Austin is fishing rather well as of late. My clients are catching a lot of numbers anywhere from 20-50 bass a day. Some of those are nice fat ones in the 3-6lb range with most being 1-3lbs. Lake Austin is nice in the hotter weather because the water is cooler than the other lakes and there's lots of trees to keep the temperatures down in the summer heat. This lake holds some really big fish as well so every cast could be that double digit bass. It's a great time to get out on the water and still keep cool on Lake Austin. Holler at me and let's go catch 'em... ;-)

FAN Tournament on Lake Belton 5/21

My partner and I fished the Faith Angler Network (FAN) tournament on Lake Belton Saturday. I prefished Friday on the official practice day and had one of the best days ever on that lake with about 15.5-16lbs best 5 with a 6.5lb kicker that I caught on a frog of all things. I couldn't shake the fish off at one point they were so aggressive so I was really pumped for the tournament. After we took off when our number was called, we were heading up the lake to our first spot and a few miles from our destination, I hit something under the surface and my lower unit exploded cracking all the way up into the mid section. What a way to start a tournament. We just had to start fishing. Before we started, I told my partner that it's funny how you hear about a major problem happen to a team and then they do really well in a tournament and hopefully that will happen to us. Well, let me tell you.

Things weren't looking good. Tough as usual on ole Lake Belton. We managed to scrape 3 keepers up during the day on our long journey via trolling motor to my spot I caught my 6.5lber on a frog the day before. As we finally got to it, someone was sitting right on it not doing a thing. After they left, we were able to get to it and we also could not get anything going. Running out of time, I told my partner that we would make the Championship even if we didn't weigh any fish and we agreed that if we didn't we would just catch a ride to the truck and get the boat out and head home. Well, as we were leaving the area, I threw my frog to the last rock pile in that area and I noticed 2 big fish down there that I thought might be carp until the biggest one came flying up after my frog. It blew up and slammed that frog 4 feet from my trolling motor and it was game on. After a brief fight, we got her in the net and it was a beast. I knew it was over 10 pounds and yelled out a little whoop..well, big whoop... lol I got on the phone immediately and started calling people for a ride. As we were heading out, my partner turned and threw out a frog and caught a 3lb smally as well so that made it even sweeter. Come to find out, we didn't even need it and won by 4lbs with 17.13lbs! The big bass weighed 10.13 and easily claimed big bass as well. Talk about a bummer of a day turning out great. Wow! I'm also glad that there was a team up river from us and could take my partner to weigh-in with our fish for the win. ;-)

Lake Falcon - Week of April 18th

Well, what a week of fishing it was. Absolutely good times. The week was filled with excitement. Lots of catching and nothing but good times with a few PB's along the way. The week started out good with a bit of numbers and a few good ones mixed in with some 7-8lbers. On Tuesday, the biggest fish was caught out of the boats we were out in which weighed 11-9 and measured almost 29 inches. Wednesday was by far the best day though with 2 over 10 lbs landed from my boat and it was a great numbers day as well with us hitting the triple digit mark, not only in temperature but numbers of fish. Fun times. We had loads of fish from 1 to over 10lbs with quite a bit over the 5lb mark. We caught quite a few on our normal spots but when the temp got up over 100 and the wind died, the shad came in thick from offshore and the bass were schooling in the main lake trees. This was an absolute blast and my clients caught a lot of fish and even some into the 7-8lb class. Great times indeed. Friday was the slowest day of the week but we still managed plenty of fish with the best 5 at the lightest around 27-28lbs. All the other 4 days, our lowest sack was 34lbs best 5. What a lake!

Lake Travis and Fayette County (Mar 14-18)

During the week of spring break, we hit these lakes and it was game on. Lake Travis is on fire and we're catching a bunch of bass. There are even trips with some bigger bass being caught up into the 8-9 lb range. Most are smaller but a lot of fun. Great for the kids especially but a great chance for a big one. Lures used are mostly senkos, crawworms, spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Fayette County is fishing great as well with most fish in the 3-6lb range with a chance at a bigger one as well. We are using mostly senkos, flukes, some crankbaits and even a frog over spawning flats but the best bait in the grass areas are a Tornado by Hags Tornado Baits. Great product. Fun stuff! Book your trip today and come on out.

BSCBC Fayette County Lake Tournament - Dec 5, 2010

Fayette County started off a little slow in the dark until the sun was about to pop up from the horizon. Sitting on a point in 15 fow, started throwing a DD22 in tilapia color. The fish were on big time with a solid fish on in the 3-4lb range just about every cast with many more following each one. It was an absolute blast. After that bite turned off, headed out to work rocky points and areas with a jig. Caught several on that presentation up to 19 inches. Then headed out to work shallower areas with a frog and got one to slam on that but couldn't find any more where we were. Another boat was on that presentation and caught several bass in the 3-6lb range up until 11am on one small area. Other presentations that were working were using a c-rig with a senko or working shallower areas throwing a t-rigged blue fleck power worm.

If you want to get in on some of this action, don't hesitate to book your trip today and let's go catch some Texas hawgs. ;-)

Lake Travis Nov 21

Fished Travis from 7-noon. It was a good day on the water catching bass up to 4 lbs. We just worked rocky ledges in 4-10 foot using t-rigged finesse worms and craw worms. The craws caught the bigger bass and caught a few on shallow crankbaits as well. Fun times.

Choke Canyon Nov 20

Had some clients coming in late so I started off on a duck hunt since I never have hunted my favorite lake but knew it could be good. Well, it was great. Shot a limit in less than 10 minutes. What was crazy was a red-tailed hawk swooped in and grabbed one of the teal I shot down so I had to get another one. Not a problem. Fun times.

I then picked up my clients and headed back out on the water. Bite was again a little slow but one of my guys picked up 4-5 nice chunks along a wind blown grass line. After fishing a few more areas in the wind, it really picked up so across the lake we went. I hit an area that had the fish stacked up a month prior and again they were there. My guys were catching them on crankbaits, spinnerbaits and 7-10" worms. A large majority of them were all 4-5lb bass and a quality of fish I haven't seen on the lake in a long time. This year's catches have been mostly 1.5-2.5lb bass with an occasional 5-10lb bass mixed in but not a lot of solid chunks in the 4+ or more range. Great time on the water with the best 5 probably going a good 23+ lbs.

Choke Canyon Nov 19

Choke started a little slow this morning with a few in the 12-15 foot range on texas rigged plastics. As the day went on, we caught more and more in the 8-10 foot range along grass lines and anywhere you could find scattered rock off points and ledges. Flukes, crankbaits and senkos would catch a few but rattlesnakes seemed to work the best. We caught a few dozen with the biggest about 4.5lbs. Fun day as always.

BSCBC Lake Dunlap Championship Tournament - Nov 14

Headed out to my favorite spot on Dunlap with my partner and started throwing frogs to no avail so switched to t-rigged plastics to get the bite going. We worked an area that had a small ditch in it and my partner caught 2 right away in it including a nice 6.5lber. The worm of choice was a Berkley blue fleck powerworm. I was also throwing a Grande Bass rattlesnake in the same color but the bass kept ripping them in half without getting the hook in them. After switching to the powerworm, I got the fish to stay on and we caught quite a few. After not catching any more bigger ones and running out of time, we headed back to the small ditch to hopefully upgrade our catch. Finding none in there, I followed the bank up to some roots going into the water and threw a jig in them. It paid off with a nice 3lber and that was enough to give us the win with big bass honors to boot. Fun day on the water.

BSCBC Choke Canyon Club Tournament Oct 16-17

Hit up Choke Canyon with the club for the 2 day October tournament. It was a fun tournament catching lots of fish using flukes, worms, crankbaits, frogs and topwaters. We didn't finish in the top 2 places but my partner landed the fish of a lifetime at 10lbs 2oz. It was by far his personal best and took big bass honors not only for the tournament but leads the big bass of the year for the Big Sandy Creek Bass Club as well. Being we only have one tournament remaining for the club and it's on Fayette County Lake, chances are really good it will hold up. Congrats Kyle!

BSCBC Lake Georgetown Club Tournament 9/19

Fished the Big Sandy Creek Club Tournament on Sunday. I've only been on the lake a total of maybe 5 hours prior to this tournament so 2 of those hours were spent a few days prior just looking at the lake. I decided to start on the first area we fished around after catching some solid keepers in the 2.5 to 3lb range.

The morning started off slow but patience paid off and we finally started catching a few. One of those was one of a size I was not expecting after hearing how difficult and rare it is to catch a big one out there. She went 8lbs 11oz on the club scales. She was a beast at 25 inches! We caught several more there, but most were 10-11 inches. Very small. I caught 8 keepers there and my partner caught 1 there and another off a deep rock pile in another spot. Not knowing the lake, we really didn't have any other areas so we only fished maybe 1.5 hours outside of the main area we started. It paid off though coming in 1st place with the only big fish brought to the scales since the lake is a slot lake. Definitely a fun time on the water. I would like to come back to the lake soon as well to learn it a little better. Hopefully being able to find some more Texas Hawgs in there. ;-)

Lake Travis Jackpot Fishoff 08/28

Lake Travis has been tough all summer. But as we started off at 6am, there was a bit of a chill in the air. This told me that the bite should finally be better. Sure enough we had a good day on the water and caught plenty of fish. One technique that worked throughout the day was an El Grande Lures Sapo frog. I would throw it over submerged trees and along deep vertical banks. I caught several keepers using the frog, some on a jig in 20+ feet of water and we caught several more on GrandeBass rattlesnakes, c-rigs, poppers and crankbaits. One of the most enjoyable parts of the day though was when we found this shallow little ledge and I proceeded to catch 7-8 Guadalupe bass on consecutive casts with a crankbait. Fun stuff! We finished in 3rd place for $470! We edged out the 4th place team by 1/100th of a pound!!

O.H. Ivie 5/14

Fishing was good as it has been for a while now. We started off throwing El Grande Hatch-Match Sticks and shallow cranks catching several in the 2-4 pound range on different structures such as channel swings and roadbeds with wood and grass. We then moved on to ledges with deep water nearby and found some nice ones up to 4 lbs including a 2 lb small mouth and a nice 3.5 lb small mouth using the El Grande baits and flukes. We found a nice tree right on the ledge in 8-10 foot and had a big one on that came off after a bit of a fight and then caught a small one off the same tree. As we were moving down the bank, my client Tim turned back and threw back at the tree and hooked into another big one, maybe the same one that came off just before, and the fight was on. He was using a light spinning combo so it was a mighty fight. After calming him down when the fish was stripping the drag out, he was patient and let her wear herself out and I netted the big hawg. It was a fish of a lifetime for sure at 11.75 lbs. That pretty much made the day. We caught some more up to 3 lbs and called it a day.

If you are looking for that fish of a lifetime, there is no better time to go than to O.H. Ivie right now. Book today.