Since I was a boy I’ve bass fished and several lakes have always been held a notch above the rest. Several come to mind like Toledo Bend, Lake Lanier, Lake Seminole, Georgia’s Eufala, Champlain and Sam Rayburn.
Sam Rayburn….I got the chance to fish the legendary lake this past June. The Hobie BOS had it’s sixth trail stop there and I wasn’t going to miss it.
Preparation started months in advance, YouTube videos, magazine articles and some in depth map study. With a combination of the print and video media I honed in on an area that seemed to dish out a great deal of success and when I pulled up the navionics topo map I saw why. The abundance of offshore structure and contour was remarkable…still, it was a huge patch of water and I’d need actual fishing time to break it down but I was pretty sure I could find fish somewhere in that area. While looking at the maps, one place jumped off the map at me….a small feeder creek called “ Ware Branch”. I actually joked that I had the winning spot picked out because of the name alone… (My last name is Ware) and how awesome it’d be if I won it in Ware Branch.
Fast forward to the week prior to the official tournament practice…the lake is ten feet above summer pool and it’s being debated if it’ll be held or postponed. After a long meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers our tournament director A.J. McWhorter came back with exciting news. The tournament was a go AND we’d virtually have the normally congested lake to ourselves. While that was great news the drawback was, all the homework I’d done would have to be thrown out the window. This was going to be an even playing field because of the high water and any past knowledge of the lake would be obsolete.
I arrived in Broadus Texas at sunset on the Sunday prior to the tournament and drove to the main bridge across the lake. She was so high that most boats couldn’t pass underneath and water had flooded deep into the woods making for some very tasty looking fish habitat but I decided to stick with my offshore fishing plan. The areas in the eighteen to thirty foot deep range I had marked as possible spots months ago was now over forty feet deep so I did some adjustments and keyed in on areas with structure like tapering points, possible shell beds and grass that at normal pool were ten to twenty feet deep.
I spent the first three days on the lower end of the lake and caught large numbers of fish with a few really good ones scattered in but knew that it’d take a higher population of bigger fish to win. The last two days were spent in the original area I had planned to fish.
The first day I probed around some islands that sat on the main channel…there was one strip of old brush I found in thirty two feet of water that I was dead set on fishing. The wind was horrendous that day and it took a while to finally get my twelve inch Texas rigged worm in the sweet spot. I pulled a three pounder out then I hooked into a giant. Although it jumped at the boat and came unbuttoned I know it would’ve been my personal best. She was a true giant and that gave me the confidence that I was doing the right thing and I certainly needed it.
Last day of practice was spent further back from the main river channel and the day started out with absolutely nothing to brag about… I got suckered into the flooded trees and spent most of the day flipping the newly flooded forest. I eventually hit open water and headed to “Ware Branch”. On Google earth the branch winds its way to the main creek channel through a huge patch of lilly pads, the navionics maps showed the winding channel being ten to fourteen feet deep and the surrounding pads sitting in six to ten feet of water….with the high water that entire area was submerged under an additional ten feet of water. No pads were visible but it definitely looked neat on my electronics. I also noticed there were a lot of submerged hydrilla beds bordering the pads. I spent a long time scanning the entire creek channel and when I reached what would have been the original mouth of the creek which was now in twenty four feet of water I also saw fish, lots of fish! I questioned myself if they were bass and my first four casts produced four bass in the one to three pound range. I had found a motherlode of bass but were there any giants mixed in? Probably around my tenth bite I locked into a big fish that I’d guess was between five and six pounds…luckily she jumped and tossed my lure. I knew I had found my spot…the same spot with my last name, the same spot I had joked about months earlier being the winning spot.
I set out checking similar creek mouths in the area but none had fish and as I was passing “Ol Ware Branch “ temptation got the best of me and I had to make another cast in it. I pulled out my big Texas rigged worm and buried the hook in it to minimize my chances of actually hooking anything and made a cast into what I’d determined to be the “juice”. I could feel the worm coming through the grass and pads then I felt that “thump” we bass fishermen live to feel. I didn’t set the hook, I just kept tension on it and she rocketed straight for the surface, jumped and spit my worm. That fish was atleast six pounds and without a doubt I had my spot. When I say spot, I’m talking and area the size of a tennis court.
That night I spoke with my mom and she asked if I had found a honey hole…I answered yes, we got a kick out of the name of the little creek channel and before I hung up I told her “Mom, if those fish stay there, I’m gonna be hard to beat”. I prayed that night for consistent weather and water conditions and thanked him for planting the seed in me to fish.
Day one: I launched and reached the spot with only minutes until official lines in. Within an hour I had a limit and the rest of the day until eleven thirty was me culling little by little to reach an 86” limit. I didn’t have any 4G so I couldn’t submit my fish but my wife stayed in contact with me….I’d catch a fish and send her the measurements via text message…she finally told me around eleven thirty, “You need a kicker, one really good fish and you’ll take the lead”. Shortly after that a rain shower with some wind blew through and I tossed a black and blue Picasso Shockblade Pro out over those deep submerged pads and it got absolutely hammered. After a really good fight I landed my kicker, 22.50” in all her glory. When you catch a significant fish like that AND it puts you in the lead at a tournament stacked with hammers…you yell, NO…YOU LET OUT A YAWL!!!...and that’s exactly what I did. I finished day 1 with 93.75” and in the lead.
I had to leave thirty minutes early from that spot, load up, drive fifteen miles to the top of a hill where there was sufficient 4G service and upload my 5 biggest fish into the TourneyX app. I’ve felt pressure to catch up in a big tournament but never this type of pressure. I had to maintain and I was pretty sure there were enough fish left to keep it up. The calls and texts I received that night were humbling but I knew I still had a lot of work to do.
Day two: I made it to my area right at lines in but they weren’t liking my texas rigged 7” finesse worm that had caught 90% of my day 1 fish but a big texas rigged 10” "U" tail did the trick, I caught a lot of fish on that worm and a few more on a 4.25” skinny dipper on an owner flashy swimmer, I just couldn’t get a big bite, all of the fish were between 15 and 17 inches. My mind kept telling me to load up and hit that brushpile I had hooked the monster on in practice but my gut wouldn’t let me leave fish to find fish. I beat the hell out of that area and then some but it just wasn’t meant to be. On the way back to my launch I reflected on the day and smiled….I had fished 100 percent clean, I caught what bit and didn’t lose anything that would’ve helped me climb the leaderboard. I had sent my fish measurements periodically to my wife throughout the day but I had no idea where I stood or exactly what my total was. I made it to the top of the hill and entered my 5 biggest bass to TourneyX then called my wife. She said I should be in 2nd if no one upgraded after the lines out deadline. Note: they turn off the leaderboard at 2pm on day 2 to build anticipation for the awards ceremony.
I stopped in Zavalla Texas to grab a BBQ sandwich and unwind when I got the text from Hobie stating I was in the top 10 and was invited to the awards ceremony. That text was music to my ears and I eagerly drove to the weigh in. I parked at the tournament location, got out and was walking across the parking lot when I saw a woman with two teenage boys….”Lord that woman looks just like Meredith Henderson “ I thought, then I saw Clint….my buddy and his family had made a detour from their trip to the Bassmaster Classic being held in Fort Worth to our awards ceremony. You don’t know how happy that made me, that’s one of the happiest moments I’ve had while fishing these tournament trails.
I went over my day with Clint and his boys and told him I guessed I was below 4th place….even though my wife was adamant that I was in 2nd.
A.J. called 4th place….it wasn’t me. That meant I was top 3 AND qualified for the Hobie Tournament of Champions to be held at Georgia’s Lake Eufala later in November. He called Caleb Helbig at 3rd place and wow what a feeling I had. Sure enough, Amber was spot on, Bryan Scarberry had one hell of a day to take the lead and I was happy to take 2nd, a good chunk of change, a cool trophy and a chance to compete in the Tournament of Champions, the most prestigious championship in kayak fishing.
I’ve been traveling and fishing these tournaments since 2014, I’ve learned an enormous amount about fishing, people, regional cuisine, where to camp, where not to camp, alligators, other critters and the differences in fun fishing and competition fishing. There’s similarities but there’s also huge differences. Up until this day I had only earned one national win and a 4th place in another national tournament but I never gave up and I won’t. If someone is on the fence about entering a national tournament, don’t be intimidated by what you think you’re going up against. Pay your entry and get busy on your homework. I doubt you’ll be as lucky as I was with the 2nd best spot of the tournament bearing your last name but you’ll be surprised how after a few tournaments under your belt, you’ll feel the groove and everything will slow down, allow you to grasp it then prepare you for success.
I’ve always just been a creek chub fisherman from Silver Creek Georgia but that JUST might be all I need to be. We’ll see how that works out at the Hobie BOS on Toledo Bend in February 2022. Until then stay tuned….
Thank God for Little Plastic Boats!
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