The Southeast Region held its 4^th event on Lake Conroe. Weather patterns were hinting to a slugfest and it held true. Had some nasty weather the day before which had some anglers nervous but tournament day turned out to be gorgeous and also a new moon the night before.

Collin Bode with the Bass Club took honors of 1^st place and 1^st place Big Bass with 31.59lbs and a 8.47 kicker, followed by Tim Jahn with the Bass Club with 24.84lbs and a 7.94 kicker. 3^rd place went to Ronnie Wagner with the Bass Club with 24.43lbs with a 5.29 kicker. 2^nd Big Bass went to Jason Slot with the Houston Bass Bandits with a 8.28 toad.

Collin had his initial limit in the first hour of fishing for around 25 pounds with two swimmers. Collin was targeting flats with channel swings and creeks close by. Throwing purple pearl/ yellow wooly dawg tx rigged.  Around 10:00 he caught one around 6 pounds and at this point he had no idea which fish to cull because he had no scale. Luckily Kenny Curlee was in the area and he was kind enough to let him borrow his scale so Collin could make an accurate cull, so Collin wanted to thank him for that. He also do wanted to point out that some other fishermen were in the area, and we were all able to fish around each other, get along, and have a good time. Everyone was respectful to one another. Those guys are truly a class act.

Wanted to throw a shout out to our sponsors Swagger Tungsten and Jordan Marine. Also a big thank you to April Plaza Marine for the welcome and awesome hospitality!

Next up April 23 Sabine River!

The Texas B.A.S.S. Nation Southeast Region held its 3rd event of 2022, February 19th, out of San Miguel Park.  The day started with a 2.5 hour fog delay, cold temps that covered anglers equipment with a nice layer of frost.  While the anglers were concerned about missing the early bite, safety was priority.  However, the Region Directors (encouraged by the anglers) agreed to delay the anglers check-in time 1 hour.

Some anglers were able to make the bite happen, but most reports showed those were few and far between as 31% of the field did not weigh fish.  However, someone always can find them, and Vidor Bass Anglers Association Justin Royal did with a consistent 5-fish limit weighing 17.43 lbs. 

Justin’s bigger fish were biting early in the first hour of daylight. “We left at 9:05 and pulled up to the first spot, and the 7th cast caught a 3.5.”, said Justin.  “This gave me confidence to stick with the pattern of cranking channel swings with a 6th Sense Crush Flat 75x in Wild Shad color, on a Power Tackle PGC 173.  He ran with that the rest of the day and was able to put together a solid limit.

BJ Tarr with The Bass Club took Big Bass for the weekend. He caught that Big Bass using a Kistler Argon 7′ light medium heavy fishing rod and on a 1/2 oz chrome blue Original Rat L Trap. She was his fourth keeper of the day and was caught around 1:30 in the afternoon out of San Miguel. In a protected creek arm that he found in practice that was holding a few solid fish. Fishing shallow flats, ditches and drains to catch his limit that day!

In second was fellow Vidor club angler Nathan Wolfgang with 5 for 15.71.  Rounding out the Top-3 was BJ Tarr with 5 for 14.76, anchored by a 7.47 toad which earned tournament Big Bass. 

Thank you to The BASS Club and Katy Bassmasters for assisting with set-up & weigh-in duties. 

Right in the heart of the spawn, our next event will be March 19th will be our 4th event at Lake Conroe out of April Plaza Marina.

Special thanks to Swagger Tungsten for being a sponsor this year.  Be sure and see your club president for a special discount code for purchase.

Ed Dillow
SE Region Director

The Southeast Texas B.A.S.S. Nation held its 2022 first & second events at Sam Rayburn January 22nd & 23rd, where Cassels-Boykin Boat Ramp & Pavilion was the host facility.  A meeting was held Friday evening where Assistant Director Matt Russell went over new expectations for 2022, which includes more financial transparency, new and deeper payouts, as well as a modified weigh bag procedure.

Day 1 – After a major cold front on Thursday, Saturday morning freezing temperatures played havoc on some anglers’ equipment.  Frozen steering & throttle cables, and cold starting outboards made launch difficult.  Nonetheless, the 118 angler field were ready to go by 7:00 AM after the National Anthem. 

At the end of the day, only 10 anglers weighed in weighed in limits with 40% of the field with no keepers.  However, while the top angler Chris Glass only had 3 keepers to weigh, he managed a 16.81 pound bag anchored by an 8.37 lunker and tournament Big Bass!  Chris  used Lowrance SI to locate laydowns in 15-25 foot of water near creeks channels, drains, & flats near creek channel bends by using Drop shot & Ned rig. The fish were caught with Lew’s Crush spinning reel and Old 18 Hollow Point series 7’1″ spinning rod.  Line was 10lb Diawa 8X braid and a fluorocarbon leader, Gene Larew plastics.  2nd Place went to Jason Gunter with a 5-fish limit for 14.89, followed by Wesley Baxley with 4-fish for 13.52, anchored by 2nd Big Bass of 7.28 pounds.

Day 2 – Sunday morning was slightly colder as the previous day, but with very light to no wind.  Fortunately the anglers were able to defrost as the limits (14) and bag weights improved over Saturday.  Ed Caskey earned First Place with his limit of 16.35 anchored by a nice 5.64, which was 2nd Big Bass.  Ed stated day 1: cold conditions, went to a no name bank near Cassels Boykin and caught a 3lb bass quickly.  The spot seemed promising. Then caught a limit, all on a Bill Lewis Rat-L trap crawfish color.  He decided to leave after getting 5 fish in the boat, hoping the spot would still have potential for day 2. Day 2:  Similar conditions on day 2.  Went back to the same area and things were slow early in the morning. I stayed persistent and things started to turn on about mid morning. The bite did not last long, but it was just long enough for me to get another limit on the same type of lure. Wesley Baxley had another good day with a limit of 15.67, followed by Tim Jahn with 5 for 14.61.  Using a “small lipless crankbait”, Chris Brewsaugh landed a 6.14 earning Big Bass for the tournament.

Thank you to the Nacogdoches Bass Club, Houston Bass Bandits, Vidor Bass Anglers, and Beaumont Bass Anglers for assisting with set-up & weigh-in duties. 

February 19th will be our 3rd event. It will be at Toledo Bend out of San Miguel Park

Special thanks to Swagger Tungsten for being a sponsor this year.  Be sure and see your club president for a special discount code for purchase.

Ed Dillow
SE Region Director