PABC Standings

The PABC December Weigh Ticket tourney concluded 1-5-10 with the following participants recording weight.

1/2. Cavaness, Roy 13.88
1/2. Miner, Scott 13.88 (Big Bass: 8.94. The biggest bass caught in PABC History.)
3. Leeper, Jay 13.75
4. Watkins, Bandy 9.31
5. Palko, Chip 2.31
6. Lucas, Jesse 1.63

This shook up the standings considerably. The current overall standings going into the final month of the Fall Season are:

1. Cavaness, Roy 38.29
2. Leeper, Jay 35.93 (Who'da thunk?)
3. Morris, Jeff 30.77
4. Miner, Scott 29.26
5. Palko, Chip 28.87
6. Dorman, Bryan 25.26
7. Watkins, Bandy 24.47
8. Lucas, Jesse 23.33
9. Snyder, David 23.32
10. Whitt, Bob 23.03
11. McAlpin, Thomas 14.92
12. Day, Garrett 9.02
13. Dorman, Mike 8.75
14. Gagliano, Scott 6.81
15. Day, Jim 5.33
16. Carter, Randy 5.31
17. Lucas, Travis 4.81
18. Hall, Jason 4.34
19. Brumley, Justin 3.57
20.Elloitt, Carl 3.06
21.Rutledge, David 3.00
22.Strange, Cameron 1.25

The next meeting for the PABC is February 1 at the Paul Ann Baptist Fellowship Hall. Food served at 6:30 with the meeting starting at 7. This will conclude the Fall season. The first tourney for the 2010 Spring Tourney will be at Twin Buttes on February 27.

Concho River: January 1, 2010 (I hope this is a good omen on the upcoming year!)

Wow! Wendell said it already, but .... WOW!

This day had great weather, friendly faces, and some big fish to include a personal best! It's always a great learning experience for me as my partner put me to the test on a quality experience.

Wendell and I took the plastic yacht up the Concho. We were tossing creature baits and he lost a couple of quality fish on the first set of bluffs. On our way up the river, we saw a few friendly faces from the Paul Ann Bass Club: Jesse and Travis Lucas as well as Scott Miner. Scott caught a nice fish.

We headed on up where the above mentioned yo-yos just left and started fishing. We cast at some rocks in the channel for a bit when I saw Wendell tying on a big crank bait. I thought he was nuts. Within a couple of casts he caught 2 fish to include this one.

Please note the Bass' Revenge on the camera.

For reasons which will hopefully become apparent soon, I cannot post all the fish that Wendell caught. Just note that I believe him to be a bass magnet. It seems that whatever he ties on almost calls to the green monsters. He claims that isn't so, but I have to wonder and the camera doesn't lie. If the fish get much bigger, I'll have to quote Brody from Jaws, "You're going to need a bigger boat" as my plastic piddler might start to look like a top-water.

After a bit, I got into the action with this one.

Dig the rubber boots?

This was my second catch of the day. Wanna see my first?

Now, THAT'S the way to start the new year! The funny thing is that this wasn't even the big fish of the day (although it was up there). It was; however, my biggest kick fishing-wise of the new year! Man, I gotta check that scale!

We had an unexpectedly great day. The winter has been good to us and I am appreciative of the relaxation and thrill bass fishing gives me. I know you share similar beliefs.

I want to post this last fish Wendell caught just because of how unusual the circumstances were regarding it. It is good for a few laughs.

Thanks for logging on and checking out the blog. Big shout out to Wendell Ramsey for taking time to take me out and show me a few things. He is an incredible fisherman. I hope to continue to bring you great info on the best west Texas fishing has to offer. I also hope to continue to bring in some great writing and writers from the area. This experience has definitely been worth while.

Remember, "Cast straight, cast often, and be kind to the guys in the plastic boats!"

*PS: For the record, Jesse Lucas was finally nice to the guys in the plastic boat! ;-P

*PSS: I'm still tinkering with format and some feedback would be appreciated. Do you like the above text-with-video-component format as opposed to the webisode format? Let me know!

First Trip a great start in 2010
It was Jan. 1,2010 at 11:45 a.m. and after I had just got off work ,headed to Jay,s house, loaded his 9ft.2 man buster boat, we were headed to Twin Buttes. My boat is out of commision for another week or so so when Jay offered taking his little boat I did not hesitate to go wet a hook. Dropping the boat out in the middle concho river we trolled to a couple of rocky spots along the banks. We started with creature baits and soft plastics ,slow and methodical but only one bite for our efforts. Then at about 1 pm I tied on the only Deep Diving Crankbait I had in my little carry on tackle box. A Berkly Frenzy Crankbait in a color that kinda looks blue green??? Anyway a couple of casts later I swung the rod hard and with a slow heavy pull the 1st of several big fish came to the boat.
After my 2nd fish(a 5+lber) it was time to get Jay set up and let him fill the power of one of these brutes. Jay tied on Bomber Fat Free Shad in (Citrus Color) and fired it along the rocky bank. It wasnt long before his rod loaded up heavy and I new it was a giant. Sure enough after a brief fight and a scoop of the net we were high fivin and getting the camera a good work out.
Jay and I never expected to make a video that day. Maybe a few snapshots and do a little story on an afternoon of fishing. But as you will see things changed that day.
I dont want to spoil it to much for you but as soon as Jay gets the video up you will see what an exciting few hours of fishing was all about. We caught 7 or 8 quality fish ,nothing under 2.75
lbs and Jay with a personal best.You cant ask for much better when your catching 5-7 lbers and your best 5 are well over 20lbs......
Maybe it was the full moon, maybe it was light winds with 48degree water temps. Maybe Jay is good luck charm? "NAAAAA that aint it" We will see ya on the water. Wendell

A New Year With New Goals
First of all Merry Christmas to everyone and hope your stocking is stuffed with Plastic worms and spinnerbaits. .. Ok ,maybe thats my stocking wish list but I hope you get what you wanted and have the best of New years.
I would like to Thank Jay for inviting me to write in the WTJB Blog and hopefuly share in the outdoors activities we all so much enjoy. This upcoming year I will try to keep you posted on tournaments in the West Texas area, Local anglers that are on a winning streak, tips and tricks that are happening as current as possible on certain lakes and stuff that floats between my ears that will hopefully translate in this Blog in keeping you entertained in a manor that will keep you reading ,or get you in a debate with fellow anglers. Some of it will make sense, some will come off the top of my head and not make sense. But that is what it is all about, figuring out the madness of trying to catch a fish that we put on a pedistal. We all chase the Gilled Green Monster for different reasons ,but it pulls us together with a common goal of Knowledge,competition,companionship and memories.
Jay and I will do more videos for your pleasure and in some cases your amusement. We will hopefully get to see new lakes in West Texas and show you different baits along with techniques that will help you catch more fish. Talk to you soon .See you on the water. Wendell

Hello Everybody ..or anybody. My 1st Blogging expierance and like alot of older guys like me I am taking baby steps. I am sending this now to see what I am doing. Reporting back soon.

Paul Ann Bass Club Standings

We have 28 guys in the PABC mix with the below registering their weight.

1. Morris, Jeff 30.77
2. Dorman, Bryan 25.26
3. Palko, Chip 24.26
4. Snyder, David 23.32
5. Whitt, Bob 23.03
6. Lucas, Jesse 20.07
7. Cavaness, Roy 18.81
8. Leeper, Jay 15.93
9. McAlpin, Thomas 14.92
10. Watkins, Bandy 10.36
11. Day, Garrett 9.02
12. Dorman, Mike 8.75
13. Gagliano, Scott 6.81
14. Miner, Scott 6.44
15. Day, Jim 5.33
16. Carter, Randy 5.31
17. Lucas, Travis 4.81
18. Hall, Jason 4.34
19. Brumley, Justin 3.57
20. Elloitt, Carl 3.06
21. Rutledge, David 3.00
22. Strange, Cameron 1.25

Roy Cavaness won the Weight Ticket Tourney with a 6.50 pound bass. Nice catch, Roy!

The PABC will be conducting a Weight Ticket tourney for the month of November and December. This means we will be recording the top 3 legal bass we catch for the month as a tourney and adding this to our standings. Our single biggest fish also gets added seperately if we participate in our Big Bass Weight Ticket tourney.

Big shout out to the guys participating in this!

Catch and Release Tips

I was approached last week by Sawyer Warwick, a senior at Central, who is completing a project for an Environmental Science class he is taking. His project was to, in his area of interest, "make a difference in the environment." Sawyer chose to research Catch and Release Tips and try to get a fishing blog to post them. You can imagine that I was a hard sell! ;-P

Thanks, Sawyer, for the info. Hope it helps our fishing community!

Catch and Release Tips

1. While fishing with artificial lures, consider replacing treble hooks with single hooks. Single hooks are quicker and easier to remove, which causes less tear and damage to the fishes mouth. By pinching the barb on your hooks, fish can still be caught without a chance of losing them and are less harmed during release.
2. Plan your release strategy. Decide whether to keep or release any fish prior to angling or at least before removing the fish from the water. Familiarize yourself with any regulations in effect for the species targeted, and gather any items that will facilitate handling and releasing the fish.
3. When a fish is hooked, use a steady retrieval technique. This can reduce the amount of stress a hooked fish undergoes when pulled up from the depths too quickly, or when physically exhausted from an overly slow retrieve. Stress causes lactic buildup in muscle tissues which removes oxygen from the fishes muscle and often result in death.
4. Once you have decided on releasing the fish, avoid netting or even removing it from the water if possible. Use needle-nosed pliers to pry the hook from the fish while it is still in the water. Fish that can be lifted by the line can easily be removed by a "dehooker" end of the fishing line to the lure or hook – can easily be released over the rail using a "dehooker." If live bait or a lure is deeply embedded in the fish’s gill, cut the leader close to the fish’s mouth and let the fish keep the hook. Studies have shown that fish can get rid of the hook up to 120 days later.
5. When landing the fish, it is important to minimize out-of-water time and any fish contact with surrounding surfaces or objects.
• Avoid using landing nets if possible. If a landing net must be used, one with a neoprene bag rather than natural twine should be used. Neoprene removes less of the fish’s mucous coat.
• Keep hands moistened. This helps prevent removal of the fish’s natural protective mucous layer, and reduces the chance of subsequent infections in the fish’s skin.
• Minimize handling, particularly of the gills and soft underbelly. Gently prevent the fish from battering itself on surrounding hard surfaces.
6. Return the fish to the water headfirst. In most cases, it is best to point the fish’s head straight down and allow the fish to plunge down into the water.

Thanks again to Sawyer!