Austin Christian Bass Club

Summer is here and it is hot!! Time to start thinking about fishing at night. Check out the newsletter and join us next Thursday, June 15th, at the next club meeting.

Tournament Overview

Our May tournament on Lake Travis produced some great stringers and lots of limits for a second month in a row. Twenty of 26 participants caught a limit of 5 fish. Jim Pollard and T.V. Minner captured first place with 29.98 pounds. This is the second month in a row that T.V. has been on the winning team. Darryl Smith and Dale White took second place with 22.48 pounds. Bob Duda and Tom Clark finished in third place with 22.17 pounds. There were no bass caught that weighed more than 5 pounds. T.V. had the biggest stringer of 5 fish weighing 15.83 pounds.

Top Ten Standings

Currently, Art Cruser, T.V. Minner, Dale White, and Darryl Smith are all tied for Big Bass of the 2nd Quarter. Each member has caught a 25″ bass.

June Meeting and Tournament

Our next meeting will be Thursday, June 19th, at 7:00pm. Our June tournament will be Saturday, June 21, 2008. Tim Jolly and Gary Schriber have volunteered to bring refreshments to the next meeting.

Proposed Change to the Club Constitution

A proposed addition to the club’s bylaws has been submitted for consideration by the club at the next club meeting. This proposed addition has been named the “Missed Tournament Rule” and would become Bylaw IV.20 if approved by 2/3 vote at the next club meeting. The proposed bylaw would read as follows: “Missed tournament rule- If a team, or a person, was sanctioned by the ACBC to fish a particular tournament and was unable to do so because of (1) mechanical problems arising from the rigger’s vehicle or boat which were beyond his control or (2) any other unforeseen circumstance over which the team had no control, then the team could present their circumstance(s) to the voting membership at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the club and ask for permission to make up the tournament. If the club approves the request, the tournament must be made up (1) before the next regularly scheduled meeting of ACBC; (2) it must be fished at the same lake as the missed tournament, on the same day of the week and within the same time frame as the missed tournament; (3) the rigger and the non-rigger should fish together, but cannot fish with any other fisherman; (4) any poundage of fish will not affect awards given in the missed tournament, but will count for total poundage for the respective angler for the year; and (5) any large fish will be eligible for big bass of the quarter and year.”

I realize the proposed rule may seem complicated, but it is not intended to be. Part 1 of the rule would cover things like having your vehicle’s water pump break on the way to the lake and your vehicle over heats and repairs would take awhile. I can think of other examples; each one beyond the control of the team. I can also think of several examples of things that may not be beyond the control of the team; ie. having a flat tire on the way to the lake or forgetting to charge your trolling motor batteries or boat starter battery. Part 2 may seem ambiguous, but it is intended to cover such things as a sudden death in the family and a team member has to leave town or a team member is suddenly hospitalized due to an automobile accident. The current club bylaws allow a rigger to fish alone if he chooses to do so. The proposed change would create another option.

Couples Club Tournament Results

The Couples Club held its final tournament of the spring segment on June 7th at Lake Bastrop. Four couples participated and because of the hot weather and heavy wind, they fished from 7:00am until noon, starting an hour earlier than normal. They began the day with breakfast at the Texas Grill in Bastrop. Fishing was tough due to the wind and boats were everywhere due to an open tournament; plus more boats arrived throughout the day. Twelve fish were weighed in totaling 32.9 pounds. Nita and Bob tied for big bass with each having a 19.5″ bass. Fish were caught early in shallow water on points and later on drop-offs using soft plastics. Bob’s daughter-in-law, Mona, fished as his partner since Peggy was out of town. We finished up the tournament with a picnic and weigh-in at the lake. We will commence our fall segment on September 6th at Lake Travis, followed by an overnight at Fayette County in October and closeout at Bastrop in November. The current standings follow:

Fishing Report

Although daytime temperatures are starting to quickly soar, the fish are still biting. Recently, Mike Wiles and I caught several quality fish at Decker Lake on a frog. Mike caught one around 20″ and several others that were 16 or 17″ long. I caught a 25″ (see below) and one that was around 18″ long. We didn’t catch a lot of fish, but our best fish were caught on a frog. Recent fishing reports for Lake Bastrop indicate fish are beginning to school at certain times of the day. Jim Pollard says he is still catching quality fish at several of his favorite spots on Lake Travis. Recently, Dale White and I fished Lake Travis at night and we caught a bunch of nice white bass and about 10 black bass, the largest was a nice fat 20 incher. I hope to see all of you at the next club meeting and bring a friend or a good fishing report.

Decker Lake, 5/28/08, 25″ on Scum Frog
Photo taken by Mike Wiles