Click here to continue
Sam Rayburn Reservoir showed why it ranks as one of the nation’s top bass fisheries at the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefitting Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
All captions: Craig Lamb
Photo: Nate Sims
Postspawn largemouth were on the move. Brandon Palaniuk dialed into the bite fishing from top to bottom of the water column. See what lures the winner and others used to intercept those moving targets on Rayburn.
Photo: Nate Sims
Jason Williamson
“I flipped cypress trees and cast to shallow water cover from 8 to 12 feet,” said the 12th-place finisher. Jason Williamson relied on this 1/2-ounce Buckeye Lures Mop Jig, Brown pattern. For a trailer he used a 2-inch Zoom Super Chunk, Green Pumpkin.
“I flipped cypress trees and cast to shallow water cover from 8 to 12 feet,” said the 12th-place finisher. Jason Williamson relied on this 1/2-ounce Buckeye Lures Mop Jig, Brown pattern. For a trailer he used a 2-inch Zoom Super Chunk, Green Pumpkin.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Gerald Swindle
“I kept it simple all week,” said the 11th-place finisher. Gerald Swindle used this 1/2-ounce Evergreen Jackhammer by Chatterbait, Green Shad. He added a matching 4-inch Yamamoto Zako Swimbait specifically designed for the jig. Key areas were hydrilla beds in 3 to 6 feet of water.
“I kept it simple all week,” said the 11th-place finisher. Gerald Swindle used this 1/2-ounce Evergreen Jackhammer by Chatterbait, Green Shad. He added a matching 4-inch Yamamoto Zako Swimbait specifically designed for the jig. Key areas were hydrilla beds in 3 to 6 feet of water.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Kelley Jaye
“I fished points with chunk rock for postspawners,” said the 10th-place finisher. Kelley Jaye used this Megabass Ito Vision Oneten FX jerkbait, Pro Green pattern.
“I fished points with chunk rock for postspawners,” said the 10th-place finisher. Kelley Jaye used this Megabass Ito Vision Oneten FX jerkbait, Pro Green pattern.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
He switched to No. 4 hooks for a reason. “The larger hooks made the lure sink down faster into the strike zone in 6 feet of water.”
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Cliff Crochet
“It was just like fishing back home in the swamp,” said ninth-place finisher Cliff Crochet. The Cajun Baby used this Spro Dean Rojas Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog, Midnight Walker pattern. Cypress trees and brushpiles were targets and especially during the bluegill spawn.
“It was just like fishing back home in the swamp,” said ninth-place finisher Cliff Crochet. The Cajun Baby used this Spro Dean Rojas Bronzeye Poppin’ Frog, Midnight Walker pattern. Cypress trees and brushpiles were targets and especially during the bluegill spawn.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Alton Jones Jr.
Alton Jones Jr. keyed on a shallow water bite using these two categories of topwater lures. Doing so helped the Bassmaster Elite Series rookie finish eighth.
Alton Jones Jr. keyed on a shallow water bite using these two categories of topwater lures. Doing so helped the Bassmaster Elite Series rookie finish eighth.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
“This one has been around since before I was born.” For feeding bass he chose this Heddon One Knocker Spook, Foxy Mama pattern.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
“I also fished heavy cover over a bluegill spawning area.” When hearing the telltale popping sound of bluegill spawning activity he used this Booyah Pad Crasher Frog, Bullfrog pattern.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Jason Christie
“I fished grass beds over spawning areas that funneled back into the main lake,” said the seventh-place finisher. Jason Christie chose a selection of walker, popper and swimming frogs to catch his bass.
“I fished grass beds over spawning areas that funneled back into the main lake,” said the seventh-place finisher. Jason Christie chose a selection of walker, popper and swimming frogs to catch his bass.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
The two main choices were a Booyah Poppin Pad Crasher Frog and the Booyah Pad Crasher. For both baits he chose the Shad pattern.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Greg Vinson
Greg Vinson went video game fishing to finish sixth. “I found specific isolated targets in 18 to 20 feet using the Panoptix feature on my Garmin.” Find the target and drop the bait on the bass. He did that with this 11-inch NetBait C-Mac Worm, rigged with 5/0 Owner 4x Jungle Flippin’ Hook and 1/2-ounce Reins Tungsten Weight.
Greg Vinson went video game fishing to finish sixth. “I found specific isolated targets in 18 to 20 feet using the Panoptix feature on my Garmin.” Find the target and drop the bait on the bass. He did that with this 11-inch NetBait C-Mac Worm, rigged with 5/0 Owner 4x Jungle Flippin’ Hook and 1/2-ounce Reins Tungsten Weight.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Hank Cherry
“I fished over hydrilla beds extending into the deepest water in the backs of pockets,” said the fifth-place finisher. Hank Cherry intercepted postspawn bass using this Livingston Lures JerkMaster 121 (Cherry Picker), AYU pattern. A key was the EBSMT Technology and specifically using the EBS Shad tone. He also switched to Mustad KVD Elite Series Short Triple Grip 4 Hooks for the jerkbait.
“I fished over hydrilla beds extending into the deepest water in the backs of pockets,” said the fifth-place finisher. Hank Cherry intercepted postspawn bass using this Livingston Lures JerkMaster 121 (Cherry Picker), AYU pattern. A key was the EBSMT Technology and specifically using the EBS Shad tone. He also switched to Mustad KVD Elite Series Short Triple Grip 4 Hooks for the jerkbait.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Jordan Lee
Jordan Lee targeted transitional bass returning to deeper water using these baits. He used this lineup to finish fourth.
Jordan Lee targeted transitional bass returning to deeper water using these baits. He used this lineup to finish fourth.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
For deepwater bass he used a 10-inch Strike King Rage Thumper Worm, alternating between Carolina and shaky head rigs. For the Carolina rig he used a 1-ounce weight and 5/0 offset worm hook. He also fished the worm on a 1-ounce Strike King Jointed Structure Head Weight.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
For an early morning bite in the lily pads he chose this Strike King KVD Popping Perch, Green Pumpkin Gill pattern.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Jacob Wheeler
Jacob Wheeler keyed on bass holding around isolated stumps and wood cover to finish third. “Guys were saying no way could I fish a big jig in heavy brushpiles without getting hung up.”
Jacob Wheeler keyed on bass holding around isolated stumps and wood cover to finish third. “Guys were saying no way could I fish a big jig in heavy brushpiles without getting hung up.”
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Wheeler proved them wrong and the evidence are these teeth marks. He used a 9/16-ounce ENR Jig, black/blue. To give the fish a bulkier or smaller profile look he alternated between two trailers. Those were a 3.75 inch Gene Larew Wheeler’s Junior Punch Out Craw and a soft plastic chunk.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Brent Ehrler
Brent Ehrler fished shallow and deep using two lures to finish second.
Brent Ehrler fished shallow and deep using two lures to finish second.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
For shallow bass Ehrler chose this Lucky Craft Slender Pointer 127, fishing the lure over hydrilla beds.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Alternatively, Ehrler used this 1/2-ounce bladed jig, green pumpkin, with a matching 4-inch Yamamoto Zako trailer.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Brandon Palaniuk
Shallow and deep. Brandon Palaniuk fished both strike zones to win the tournament. Using sonar he discovered bass near tight bottom contour lines from 5 to 30 feet of water. To cover that broad water column he chose three lures.
Shallow and deep. Brandon Palaniuk fished both strike zones to win the tournament. Using sonar he discovered bass near tight bottom contour lines from 5 to 30 feet of water. To cover that broad water column he chose three lures.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Palaniuk intercepted postspawn bass migrating back to deeper areas for summer. During an early morning topwater bite he chose this Storm Arashi Top Walker, Pro Blue pattern.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Palaniuk found bass holding on the deeper side of the contour lines near brushpiles. The weedless feature was key for this Neko-type rig. He made it using a 5-inch Zoom Magnum Finesse Worm, Green Pumpkin. To that he added a 1/32-ounce VMC Neko Weight at one end of the worm. He completed the rig with a prototype VMC Weedless Neko Hook.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Alternatively, Palaniuk fished deep using this Texas rigged 10-inch Zoom Ol’ Monster, Plum pattern. A VMC Sinker Stop ahead of a 1/2-ounce VMC Tungsten Weight and 5/0 VMC Heavy Duty Wide Gap Hook completed the rig.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
