2009 Latest News

Alan Henry - Sunday, April 4, 2009

In typical panhandle fashion, the weather changed, making it a tough
bite, for our first region tournament of 2009. Alan Henry was setting
up to be a great start to our tournament season, but that all changed
a week prior. The panhandle was enjoying a nice warming trend, when a
strong northern pushed through with freezing conditions and a thick
blanket of snow in the north. This set back along with a cold front
that pushed in early Sunday morning made for rough fishing
conditions. High winds and gusts to thirty made casts to passing
targets an endeavor for only the most dedicated and skilled anglers.
Darrel Blades, Roger Conn and Gene Lowrey proved to be the most
skilled anglers of the tournament. Darrel boated 13.67 lbs. taking
home first place and securing the top spot in angler points. Darrel
also took big bass of the tournament with 7.3 lb. large mouth. Roger
Conn took second place with 7.9 lbs., and Gene Lowrey placed third
with 6.62 lbs. Please join with me in congratulating these top three
anglers. I would also like to congratulate Cale Crappie Sanders on his
3.11 lb. big crappie, which should have been taken to certified scales
as it would have beat the lake record of 2.67 lbs set back in March of
2008. Our next two tournaments will be held at Conchas Lake, New
Mexico on April 25th and 26th.

Cecil Carter
Texas B.A.S.S. Federation Nation
Panhandle Region Director
 

 

Conchas - Saturday, April 25, 2009

For our second region tournament of 2009, Conchas gave up very few
bass over the states fourteen-inch minimum length limit, proving to be
a tough day on the water for over half the field of anglers. All
anglers caught plenty of the sport models (Tom Jessop’s term for bass
under the minimum length limit), in fact there were reports of anglers
boating thirty plus during the tournament. The field of 20 anglers
only weighed in ten bass with a total weight of 24.61 pounds. Tom
Jessop, Gene Lowery, Rod Lambert, and Cale Sanders proved to be the
most skilled anglers of the tournament. Tom Jessop boated 8.27 lbs.
taking first place. Gene Lowery boated the big bass of the tournament
weighing in at 5.78 lbs. putting him in second place. Rod Lambert
boated 3.82 lbs. putting him in third place. Cale Sanders boated 1.88
lbs. putting him in fourth place. Please join me in congratulating
these top four anglers.

Conchas - Saturday, April 26, 2009

For our third region tournament of 2009 the high winds racing down the
canyon walls and short fish, provide another tough day on the water
for over half the field of anglers. The quality of fish brought in
was better, with six weighing in over 3 lbs. with the big bass going
6.71 lbs. With bigger fish being caught on the second day, it’s
possible that the bigger fish were moving-up or maybe anglers just
targeted deeper fish. Darrel Blades, Roger Conn and Tom Jessop proved
to be the most skilled anglers of the tournament. Darrel Blades
boated 7.96 lbs. putting him in first place. Roger Conn boated big
bass of the tournament weight in at 6.71 lbs. putting him in second
place. Tom Jessop boated 6.47 lbs. putting him in third place. Please
join me in congratulating these top three anglers

 

Gene Lowrey

Big Bass Day One

Roger Conn

Big Bass Day Two Bass Day Two

Ute Lake - May 30 & 31

 

Our forth and fifth tournaments of 2009 at Ute was by far, the best fishing seen this season. Everyone enjoyed the light winds, compared to tournaments passed. Most anglers reported good numbers of fish being caught both days. The one main issue I heard and experienced my self, was fish just holding the bait in their mouths and then letting go right at the boat. It was suggested by Tom Jessop and relayed to me by Rod Lambirth to use heaver line and a heavy rod, so that hook sets are better.

Ute - Saturday, May 30th & 31st, 2009

Congratulations to the following anglers for their top finish on Saturday.

1st Place - Tom Jessop - 5 fish @ 10.97 lb.

2nd Place - John Basinger - 5 fish @ 10.78 lb.

3rd Place - Gene Lowrey - 5 fish @ 9.72 lb.

Big Bass - John Basinger - 3.38 lb.

Congratulations to the following anglers for their top finish on Sunday.

1st Place - Rod Lambirth - 5 fish @ 10.62 lb.

2nd Place - Gene Lowery - 5 fish @ 10.24 lb.

3rd Place - Darrel Blades - 5 fish @ 9.85 lb.

Big Bass - Gene Lowrey - 3.16 lb.

I had mentioned the possibility that we would need to cancel the Santa Rosa tournament based on a rumor I heard about boat ramps not being usable due to low lake levels from irrigation. But that was just a rumor. I talked to one of the park rangers this morning and they are not scheduled to open the irrigation gates for another month, so we will have the tournament next Sunday as planned. The lake level has risen twenty one feet in the last month and the boat ramp is in good shape. The ranger also said that the fishing was good.

The State Park is currently checking all out of state boats for Aquatic Hitchhikers, specifically Zebra Mussels. So in order to eliminate any loss of your fishing time on the tournament day, please stop by the park office and have them check you boat out before the tournament. We will not delay the launch for any boats not checked by the park ranger.

Protect Your Waters

Santa Rosa Lake Map

Santa Rosa Lodging

I will be at the ramp around 5:30 CDT (4:30 MDT) and we will launch at safe light around 6:30 AM CDT (5:30 MDT). I hope everyone has a good week and we will see you all on Sunday!

Cecil Carter

Texas B.A.S.S. Federation Nation

Panhandle Region Director

 

Santa Rosa - June 7

 

Four our sixth and final tournament, it was a battle for points to
make the fourth, fifth and sixth placeless heading to the Top Six
Championship. The top three anglers, Darrel Blades, Tom Jessop, and
Gene Lowery already had the top three positions locked in and did not
compete at Santa Rosa. When the final weights were entered and points
tallied only nine points separated the fourth from the sixth place
anglers. Making it even more difficult to obtain points the good
fishing experienced on the lake over the weekend. Over half of the
field brought limits to the weigh-in. Congratulations to Rod Lambirth
for taking first place and to Cale Sanders for his second place finish.

Two ties had to be resolved by applying the first tie-breaker rule
listed in section 14 (Ties) in the 2009 rules. The rule reads, "The
individual with the most fish weighed in". The tie between Darrel
Blades and Tom Jessop for first and second place was broken with
Darrel having 17 bass caught in his top four tournaments and Tom
having caught 16 in his top four tournaments. This put Darrel in
first place and Tom in second. The tie between Gene Lowery and Rod
Lambirth for third and fourth place was broken with Gene having 14
bass caught and Rod having 13 bass caught. This put Gene in third and
Rod in fourth.

Please Join me in congratulating the six anglers who made the top six
for our 2009 tournament season.