The Northwest Region of the Texas BASS Nation held its last two regional tournaments of the year on Hubbard Creek May 17th & 18th. Saturday’s tournament saw cloudy skies with a light breeze. Angelo Federation Bass Club member Derrick Ard blew the competition away with a massive 5-fish limit weighing 25.85 lbs! Derrick’s catch was anchored by the big bass of the day weighing 6.84 lbs. Derrick reported catching all his fish in a small area using plastics in 4-6 ft of water. Hunter Crossland was 2nd with 16.31 lbs. Shawn Taylor landed in 3rd with 15.27 lbs.

Sunday’s tournament also saw cloudy conditions but with a stiff breeze from the south. These tougher conditions saw most of the angler’s weights drop. Not for Angelo Federation angler Chuck Coger. Coger took 1st place with a huge sack of his own weighing 25.21 lbs! His catch was anchored by a giant weighing 8.47 lbs. Chuck reported catching all his fish early on a hump in 4 ft of water. Hunter Crossland had his second 2nd place finish of the weekend with 12.09 lbs. Shawn Taylor finished in 3rd place with 10.38 lbs. Shawn also had big bass on the day with a Hubbard Creek stud weighing 8.95 lbs!

The Angler of the Year title was also settled this weekend. It was a close race all year with several anglers in contention. In the end, Hunter Crossland took the AOY title with 395 points. Congratulations Hunter on a well-deserved title! Grayson Morrow was a very close second with 389 points. Third in points was new member Colin Walker with 385 points.

The Northwest Region Championship has been set for Lake Amistad on June 21st & 22nd.

Hey everyone!

The regular season has come to an end and its time to start thinking of a place to have our championship that will be on 8/16/25 – 8/17/25. The majority had voted in the poll that was sent out before the season started for the championship tournament to be random drawn out of a hat. Each person in the top 20 that intends to fish will be able to put a lake into the drawing and duplicates are allowed. It doesn’t have to be in our region, but should be within a 4 hour drive of the DFW area. If you do not intend to fish, please let me know by June 16th so we can try to fill the spot. I will need your submissions by June 25th. This will give you guys plenty of time to collaborate together on a lake and stack the deck (increase your chances of it being drawn) if you so chose to do that. I will reply to all emails confirming that I received your choice. I will do the video-recorded drawing on July 1st. The video will show all the tickets laid out on the table with your name and lake written on them and you will see that all the tickets will be put in a hat and one ticket will be drawn.

If you have any questions feel free to reply to this email or call!

Thanks,

Wes Bennett
TXBN NETX Tournament Director
832-385-5663

The 2025 Southeast Region Individual Trail made their fourth and fifth stops of the 2025 season, at Lake Conroe out of April Plaza on Saturday and Sunday, May 3 & 4, 2025. Sunday May 4th was a make-up date for a tournament that was originally scheduled back February on Toledo Bend.

Pre-tournament talk had anglers catching them in a variety of methods ranging from shad spawn, bream beds, clay points and around vegetation with frogs and swim jigs.

On Saturday May 3, 2025, Vidor Bass Anglers Association member Ryan Watkins bested the field of 74 anglers with a limit of bass weighing in at 19.37 pounds, Ryan states that he targeted grass that was holding shad all day and mixed in some sight fishing the inside grass line. Ryan went on to say that watercolor was an important factor for him to find productive areas. Ryan utilized a 6th Sense, Hush Frog worked at a high speed in the morning and once the sun got up, he had to slow his retrieve down with long pauses in order to get bit.

Vidor Bass Anglers Association member Ryan Watkins shows off his winning catch of 19.37 pounds from Saturday 5/3/25.

Tim Jahn with The Bass Club, fresh off his recent win in April on Sam Rayburn finished second with a five bass limit that weighed 19.32 pounds, his bag was anchored by a 6.07-pounder, which earned him the second big bass of the day honors. Tim said he targeted isolated pepper grass and reeds with a black frog early and around mid-day he would target grass lines in the hydrilla using the frog, a bladed jig, and a speed craw.

Tim Jahn with The Bass Club shows off his second-place bag 19.32, as well as the second-place big bass of the day a 6.07 pounder on Saturday, May 3, 2025.

Vidor Bass Anglers Association member Tye Grissom finished third overall with a five bass limit, tipping the scales at 18.95 pounds, anchored by 7.37 pounder that earned him big bass of the day honors. Tye said he targeted a shad spawn early with a Pineywoods spinner bait and then would target shallow grass with a 6th Sense Hush Frog.

On Sunday May 4, 2025, Wesley Baxley with The Bass Club topped the field of 72 anglers with a 5 fish limit of bass weighing in at 21.42 pounds. Wesley said he started out targeting a shad spawn with a frog, boating two keepers. He then moved to bream beds for most of the day and could not catch another keeper. In the last hour of the day, he went to post spawn area and caught a 6.32 pounder and two more keepers on a shaky head to fill out his limit.

The Bass Club member Colby Bryant finished second with a limit of bass weighing in at 20.81 pounds anchored by the second big bass of the day a 7.49 pounder. Colby said he targeted hard spots in the grass that the shad were spawning on and utilized a swim jig and a wacky rig to catch them.

Jason Branham with the Katy Bassmasters captured third place with a 5 fish limit weighing in at 20.16 pounds, anchored by a 9.05 pounder, earning him big bass of the day and is also his personal best to date. Jason states that he targeted shallow grass and vegetation and kept a frog in his hand all day.

Jason Branham shows off his 9.05-pound big bass of the day on Sunday, as well as two others from his 20.16-pound bag that earned him 3rd place overall.

Thank you to the members of the assisting clubs as well as the Southeast Region Directors for their assistance in conducting a smooth tournament. The Southeast Regions final stop of the year is scheduled at Toledo Bend on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

Written by: Robert Royal Southeast Region Secretary.