Sabine River 2/24/24
The 2024 Southeast Region Individual Trail made their second stop of the young 2024 season, at the Sabine River in Orange, TX on Saturday, February 24, with 47 anglers competing. This was a Texas waters only event, however, the tournament boundaries are monstrous.
The drought of 2023 had brought an influx of salinity into both the Sabine and Neches waterways, however, the recent rains in January had brought large amounts of freshwater into both waterways, scattering the fish.
According to dock talk the pre fishing had been downright tough, with anglers reporting very few fish being caught and even less of the 12” variety.
At the conclusion of the weigh-in Vidor Bass Anglers Association member Dillon Y’Barbo had topped the field with five bass weighing in at 6.75. Dillon stated that he targeted main channel Cypress trees, flipping 2 different Strike King products. One was a ¼ ounce Strike King Tungsten Casting jig, tipped with a Strike King Menace Grub. His second set up was a Strike King Rage Scounbug with a ¼ ounce weight. Dillon utilized Reneau Tackle Rods The One 04, paired with Lews Reels. Dillon reports that he caught at least 20 fish throughout the day and culled 4 times to achieve his winning weight.
Bryan Trahan with the Vidor Bass Anglers Association finished second with a five bass limit that weighed 6.52. Bryan reports that he and his boater partner hit a combination of 2 cuts off the main Sabine River channel, they started South of the take-off, to take advantage of the outgoing tide. He picked up one fish on a wacky rig at the first stop and noticed that the fish was off the bank. They then moved further North of the ramp to stay with the moving water, at their second stop he switched to a Neko rig and started targeting a depth of 4’, Bryan states the bite was continuous for about 4 hours, he estimates he caught close to 30 fish and probably 2 limits, he culled 3-4 times throughout the day, with his last cull coming about 30 minutes before weigh in. Bryan would like to thank fellow Vidor Bass Angler Dustin Berry for keeping him around the fish all day.
Vidor Bass Anglers Association member Jordan Downs finished third overall with a five bass limit tipping the scales at 6.35, Jordan says he utilized a ¼ ounce Red & Black spinner bait around trees and laydowns and if they missed the spinnerbait, he followed up with a 4” Black trick worm on a drop shot.
Stephen Skyvara with the Onalaska Bass Club had the Big Bass of the event with 2.40 pounder and Mason McQuerry with The Bass Club had the second Big Bass with a 2.11 pounder.
Thank you to the members of the assisting clubs and a special thank you to The Bass Club member Bill Huskins and Vidor Bass Anglers Association member Garrett Smith for the termite damage repair on Friday evening, as well as of the Southeast Region Directors for their assistance in conducting a smooth tournament.
The Southeast Region next individual event is on Toledo Bend out of Lost Frontier, on March 23, 2024.
Written by: Robert Royal Southeast Region Secretary