A whale of a first hour

Yes, everyone knows there are big bass in Lake Travis, where the lake record largemouth is 14.2 pounds. Fred Roumbanis mentioned seeing 7-, 8- and 9-pounders during practice, but admitted he wasn’t sure how he was going to be able to catch them. All the talk was about the incredible numbers of bass just under and just over the 14-inch keeper length.

So what’s happened in the first hour of Texas Fest has been astounding. It’s been a whale of a first hour. The headliner was Cliff Pace’s 10-pound, 5-ounce bass. But there were others, including Josh Bertrand’s 8-3, Brent Ehler’s 7-10 and five bass over 5 pounds: Ray Hanselman Jr., 5-13; Micah Frazier and Drew Benton with 5-10s; Chris Lane, 5-8; and Steve Kennedy, 5-6.

A 4-pounder is a difference-maker at Lake Travis, and two have those were recorded in the first hour: David Walker with a 4-13 and Dustin Connell with a 4-10.

Lake Travis and the Bassmaster Elite Series pros are showing out this morning. As Brett Hite noted yesterday, “These guys always surprise you.”