The Texas B.A.S.S. Nation – Southeast Region held its fifth Region Qualifier of 2019 on May 11th.  The tournament was held on Lake Belton and scheduled to launch out BLORA.  The prior week Southeast Texas was plummeted with rainfall and storms, raising the Belton lake level over 5 feet since the previous weekend, putting the Region Directors on high alert to make difficult decisions.  On Wednesday the decision was made to continue the tournament, but the club presidents were notified there could be changes at the last minute.  Lake Belton was continuing to rise and Region Director Eddie Dillow was notified by lake authorities of the potential of ramp and even lake closure.  This came true as Friday as the lake rose another foot, and BLORA was forced to close their ramp.  The directors made the decision to allow trailering with the weigh-in at BLORA.

Weather conditions Saturday were not favorable as storms came through, but the fishing was great as 37 of the 75 angler field weighed in limits!  The Bass Club angler Eric Adams took advantage of the flooded conditions throwing bladed jigs and pitching bushes filling his limit early.  While culling several times throughout the day, Eric bested the field with a 21.28 pound limit, and a 6.26 pound kicker, to win the event!  Fellow TBC angler Brian Jones earned the 2nd spot with a 17.24 pound limit with his 6.20 pound kicker, followed by Vidor Bass Angler Association angler Carl Skiles. with 16.36. 

Big Bass honors went to Vidor Bass Anglers Association angler Justin Royal with a 8.16 pound Lake Belton Toad, followed by TBC angler Kenny Curlee with 6.44!

Thank you to Seven Coves Bass Club & Onalaska Bass Club for assisting at this event.  Also, thank you to BLORA for being the host site.

June 8th will be our last qualifying event of 2019 on Sam Rayburn out of Mill Creek.  We will announce our Angler Of The Year, Top-40 Championship Qualifiers, as well as the Top-40 lake.  See you at Big Sam!

Special thanks to sponsor partner McCain Rods and Swagger Tungsten.  Please know that Swagger is offering a special promotional discount to Region anglers, so please contact your club president for more information.

-DT

The Southeast Texas B.A.S.S. Nation held its 4th event of the 2019 tournament season.  After 5 years, we returned to Somerville Reservoir, April 6th, out of Overlook Park.  The lake level was at nearly full pool, down from historically high levels over the past year.  With looming storms coming in, the anglers began blast-off at 7:00 AM.

During the morning, many anglers were forced to take cover for nearly two hours at nearby parks and their trucks as two-waves of thunderstorms crossed over the lake.  There was even one report by an angler of seeing a lightning strike on the water.  At the end of the day, 58% of the field, 62 anglers, weighed in fish, and 19 had limits. 

Finishing in 1^st was Vidor Bass Club member Brandon Simoneaux with a 5-fish limit of 21.88, with a 6.93 kicker!  Brandon stated that his 2nd largest bass did not come until 3:00 PM.

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Second through 4th place was a tight race.  Following in a very close 2^nd was fellow VBC angler, Robert Royal, with a 19.60 pound sack.  Seven Coves Bass Club angler Jonathan Roberson followed in 3rd place with 19.49, followed by 4th Place VBC angler Dillon Y’Barbo, with 19.37, and 5th place, Brazos BC Angler Steven Nieto with 17.75 

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Big Bass Honors went to Ray Hillhouse with 7.48 followed by both Nathan Perdue & Derrick Shoffitt with a nice 7.15 toads!

In the Angler Of The Year Race, Ed Grisham has moved up to the top spot, followed closely by fellow The BASS Club Members Brian Jones and Colby Bryant.

Thank you to Katy Bass Club and Brazos Anglers for assisting with the event.  Also, special thanks to Overlook Park for hosting the event. 

Good luck and safe travels to all anglers at the State Championship being held on Lake Belton, April 26th & 27th.   We look forward to seeing you all May 11 at Lake Belton for our 5th stop of the 2019 Region tournament season.

Special thanks to sponsor partner McCain Rods and Swagger Tungsten.  Please know that Swagger is offering a special promotional discount to Region anglers, so please contact your club president for more information.

The Texas B.A.S.S. Nation – Southeast Region held its second Region Qualifier of 2019 on February 9th.  The tournament was held on Toledo Bend Reservoir out of San Miguel Park.  The week of the tournament had temperatures in the 70’s and water temps in the 60’s.  However, in typical SETX Region tournament fashion, mother nature had other plans for tournament practice and tournament day.  Friday mid-day brought a major cold front dropping the air temperature nearly 30 degrees, bringing in the wind as well with up to 30+ mph gusts, thus limiting many to trailer their boats to their desired practice areas.  Conditions worsened throughout the day with sleet and light snow in the evening and overnight.  However, this did not deter our TOUGH Region anglers as we had a total of 145 participants!

While anglers awoke Saturday morning to slush in their boats, frozen boat covers, and frozen boat parts, tournament launch and take-off was successful.  Despite the frigid conditions, the wind did fortunately subside to about 10 mph, allowing most anglers to go to their desired fishing areas.  Once on the water, most anglers found the water temperature  had dropped 10 degrees overnight.  These tough conditions obviously made it tough as 52% of the field were not able to weigh in a keeper.  However, 10 anglers were at least able to weigh in a 5-fish limit.

One of those anglers was The BASS Club angler Jody Rhoden.  Anchored by a 7.79 pound kicker, Jody not only earned 2nd place Big Bass honors, but took home the Champion title.  Jody’s success was due to pitching baits to cover in 3-4 feet of water, and “covering tons of water”.  Following in a close second was Nacogdoches Bass Club angler Troy Reed with 19.35, followed in 3rd by The BASS club angler Wesley Baxley with 16.07.

Big Bass honors went to Vidor Bass Anglers Association angler Robert Royal with a 8.16 pound Toledo Bend Toad!

Thank you to the Vidor Bass Anglers Association for assisting at this event as the weather and launch ramp layout out made tournament morning tough.  Also, thank you to San Miguel Park for hosting the event. 

Special thanks to sponsor partner McCain Rods and Swagger Tungsten.  Please know that Swagger is offering a special promotional discount to Region anglers, so please contact your club president for more information.

Our next event will be held on Sam Rayburn out of Jackson Hill Marina, March 9th.  See you at Big Sam!

-DT