Chester Moore
The Port Arthur News
PORT ARTHUR —
Last weekend’s trout tournament held by Daley’s Hunt N Fish showed off Sabine’s trout potential in a big way.
The event allowed teams of one or two anglers to weigh in three fish with no more than one fish measuring 25 inches or more.
First place went to John Havens and Eric Renteria who weighed in 18.18 pounds.
Second went to Leon Robinson and Capt. Bubba Ray who brought in an impressive 17.89.
Aaron Stillwagon took third with 13.66 while the team of Albert Bates and Sydney Burge came in fourth with 13.62.
The fifth place team was Jeremy Sorensen and Saul Bautista who brought in 13.37 pounds.
The tournament, which had a format benefitting anglers that brought in fish alive, showed a high live release weight.
“Out of all the fish weighed in only one 16 incher did not make it all the others where swimming strong when the were released,” said Keith Daly.
Those fish are solid by anyone’s standards and show we are in for a great trout year in 2012.
For more information on Daley’s, go to http://www.daleyshuntnfish.com.
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All of you big bass fanatics will like this one.
Toyota ShareLunker 531, caught from Falcon International Reservoir March 16, spawned more than 44,000 eggs March 29.
Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) hatchery staff reported they removed the eggs from the spawning mat, counted them and put them into a hatching jar. The eggs will hatch in three or four days and the fry will be raised to about 1.5 inches in length before being stocked.
“ShareLunker 531 was caught by Gary Wingate of Amarillo and is the first ShareLunker to spawn this season. Multiple spawns from the same fish are not uncommon. Six of the current entries are pure Florida largemouth bass and are being held for spawning. Those fish came from Lakes Falcon, Austin (two fish), Fork, Ray Roberts and O.H. Ivie.”
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Speaking of bass fishing, the (FLW) Everstart Series is coming to Sam Rayburn April 12-14.
The event, which is being presented by Mercury, is the second of four stops in the Texas Division according to FLOW officials.
“The tournament will feature as many as 300 pros and co-anglers competing for top awards up to $35,000 plus a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard for the pro and a Ranger boat with an Evinrude or Mercury outboard plus $5,000 for the co-angler.”
“There have been so many drastic changes on Rayburn over the past couple of months that the fish are just messed up,” said FLW pro Chris McCall of Brookeland, Texas. “The water has risen over 13 feet, and I have never seen the water temperatures this warm this fast.
“Up until a couple of months ago Rayburn was extremely low — about 150 feet,” McCall continued. “Now we are almost above full pool, which is 163 feet, and it is just continues to rain. Unless something drastic happens, this could be a tough tournament. The lake just hasn’t had a chance to stabilize.”
FLW reported that McCall expects good fishing.
“The shad and perch are starting to spawn, and I think that will help improve fishing,” McCall went on to say. “I’m guessing that Carolina rigging inside the grass line will be one of the predominant patterns. Topwater bite shallow will also come into play. I really don’t want to predict a winning weight, but am thinking that 15 pounds per day will be a strong showing.”
According to FLW, anglers will take off from Umphrey Family Pavilion located at 5438 Recreation Road 255 W. in Sam Rayburn, Texas, at 7 a.m. each morning. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. daily.
Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at Walmart located at 800 W. Gibson St. in Sam Rayburn starting at 4 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
(To contact Chester Moore, e-mail him at cmooreoutdoors@yahoo.com. You can hear him on “Moore Outdoors” Fridays from 6-7 p.m. at Newstalk AM 560 KLVI or online at www.klvi.com. Find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/extremewildlife.)
