The Southeast Region Individual Trail held their 2025 Top 40 Championship on October 4-5, 2025, on Lake LBJ in Granite Shoals, TX. They had 17 Boaters and 16 Non-Boaters competing for a spot to represent Texas B.A.S.S. Nation at the 2026 B.A.S.S. Nation Central Qualifier, on Toledo Bend Reservoir in Many, La., April 22-24, 2026. In this format the Boaters fish for a 5 fish daily limit, while the Non-Boaters fish for a 3 fish daily limit.
Lake Lyndon B. Johnson (more commonly referred to as Lake LBJ and originally named Lake Granite Shoals) is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country about 45 miles northwest of Austin. The reservoir was formed in 1950 by the construction of Granite Shoals Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). The Colorado River and the Llano River meet in the northern portion of the lake at Kingsland.
I was not there personally, so I am unable to provide any pre-tournament dock talk or predictions.
The conclusion of the Day 1 weigh-in found Vidor Bass Anglers Association member Ryan Watkins atop the Boater field with 5 weighing in at 17.35 pounds. Fellow Vidor Bass Anglers Association member Tye Grissom was in second with 5 weighing at 15.37 pounds. The Bass Club member Mason McQueery was in third with 5 weighing at 14.00 pounds.
In the Non-Boater Division Seven Coves Bass Club member Arron Slaten was in first place with 3 weighing in at 8.42 pounds. Fellow Seven Coves Bass Club Member Caleb Murski was in second with 3 weighing at 7.66 pounds. Bill Huskins with the Bass Club was in third with 3 weighing in at 7.05 pounds.
Sunday’s tournament was shortened by one hour to allow more travel time for anglers to return home.
In the Boater Division, Tye Grissom with the Vidor Bass Anglers Association brought in a 5 fish limit weighing 14.65 pounds, this combined with his day one weight of 15.37 gave him a two-day total 30.02 pounds, clinching the win and spot on the Texas B.A.S.S Nation Team at the 2026 B.A.S.S. Nation Central Qualifier.
Tye states that he had to just scramble and junk fish to catch his fish on day one, and that he caught a nice fish on a topwater bait to the start the day and then he caught a couple of more on a squarebill crankbait and finished the day out throwing a wacky worm to fill his limit and make a couple of culls. On day two he found the better fish feeding on bluegill in the back of creeks; in order to catch this fish, he utilized a 6th Sense Buzz Gill and he would like to thank Ryan Watkins with 6th Sense fishing for the prototype color.
Ryan Watkins with the Vidor Bass Anglers Association weighed in a five fish limit weighing in at 13.14 pounds, however, he received a fish care penalty reducing his day two weight to 12.64 pounds, this brought his two-day total to 29.99 pounds and landed him in second place overall, securing him a spot on the Texas B.A.S.S. Nation team at the 2026 B.A.S.S. Nation Central Qualifier.
Ryan said that he primarily targeted docks from the main lake to halfway back in the smaller pockets of main creek channels. Having shad or bluegill in the area was essential to finding quality bites. Ryan was skipping a black magic 6th Sense Hush Frog to the very backs of docks and working a 6th Sense swim jig around the outside poles. Both set ups were on a 6th Sense Team 6 series 7’3” rod. Ryan went on to say that with the full moon approaching bites were critical in the first hour and then he would get a late bite between 1:30 – 3:00PM and that is when he caught his bigger fish. He states that his biggest key was fishing fast and efficiently, as they were not on every dock and that you needed to be able to cast in places that were overlooked and to cover as many docks as possible.
Jason Branham with the Katy Bass Masters finished third overall in the Boater Division with a two-day total of 10 fish weighing in at 26.55 pounds.
In the Non-Boater Division Arron Slaten with the Seven Coves Bass Club brought in a 3 fish limit weighing in at 8.66 pounds, this weight combined with his day one weight 8.42 pounds brought his two-day total to 17.08 pounds, earning him the wire-to-wire victory in the Non-Boater division and secured his place on the Texas B.A.S.S Nation team in the Non-Boater division at the 2026 B.A.S.S. Nation Central Qualifier.
Arron states that both days his boaters were fishing boat docks and that he just focused on trying to get his bait in as many places in and around the docks that his boater may have missed or hit it from a different angle. He kept it simple and threw a Texas rigged stick bait both days and fished it as slow as he could. He was able to cull a couple of times both days. He said that on day two with about 10 minutes to go, he had around five or six pounds and thought it was probably going be close, but then he caught one close to four pounds and culled out a 1.5 pounder and then he knew someone would have to really catch them to overtake him.
David Walton with the Onalaska Bass Club brought in 3 fish limit weighing 7.77 pounds, this weight combined with first day weight of 2 fish weighing 5.00 pounds gave him a two-day total of 12.77 pounds securing second place and earning him a spot on the Texas B.A.S.S Nation team in the Non-Boater division at the 2026 B.A.S.S. Nation Central Qualifier.
David is one of our Senior members on the Southeast Region trail and he said that he went old school for this tournament. He stated his boater the first day started fishing submerged rocks and David targeted the submerged rocks with a White Tiny Torped and on day two he utilized a clear Tiny Torpedo in canals. He utilized an older Kistler rod paired with Shimano Curado.
Andrew Rutherford with the Seven Coves Bass Club finished third overall in the Non-Boater division with a two-day total 5 fish weighing at 10.83 pounds.
Ryan Watkins with the Vidor Bass Anglers Association captured the Boater Division Big Bass of the tournament as well as the overall Big Bass of the tournament with a 5.06 pounder.
Seven Coves Bass Club member Robert Thierry caught the Big Bass of the tournament in the Non-Boater division a 4.39 pounder.
We would like to thank Southeast Region Director Tye Grissom, Assistant Director Jason Branham and Vidor Bass Anglers Association member Mark Grissom for their time and efforts in making this tournament a success.
Written by: Robert Royal Southeast Region Secretary
Pictured L-R Andrew Rutherford 3rd Place Non-Boater, David Walton 2nd Place Non-Boater, Arron Slaten Non-Boater Champion, Tye Grissom Boater Champion, Ryan Watkins 2nd Place Boater and Southeast Region Angler of the Year, Jason Branham 3rd Place Boater
n Watkins shows his Big Bass of the tournament a 5.06 pounder.