The Southeast Region Individual Trail held its fifth event of the 2026 season Saturday, May 2, at Sam Rayburn Reservoir, with registration and weigh-in at Jackson Hill Marina.

Because of weather, low water conditions and other tournaments on the lake, the event was designated a trailering tournament.

The 41 anglers faced unseasonably cold temperatures and high winds that never let up.

Dewey Bonner of the Onalaska Bass Club took the win with five bass weighing 16.59 pounds, anchored by the tournament’s Big Bass, a 9.44-pounder. Dewey stated that he targeted main lake points with scattered wood in 12-18 feet of water, he utilized Carolina and Texas rigs with lizards and Yum Dingers.

Stephen Skyvara of the Onalaska Bass Club finished second with five fish weighing 12.52 pounds, anchored by the second-biggest bass of the tournament, a 4.84-pounder.

Justin Royal of the Vidor Bass Anglers Association placed third with a five-fish limit weighing 12.21 pounds. Justin states that he utilized his forward-facing sonar to target fish in and around timber with a jerkbait and Neko rig.

Skyvara also won the Senior Division side pot with five fish weighing 12.52 pounds. Gary Robin of the Vidor Bass Anglers Association finished second in the Senior Division with five fish weighing 11.43 pounds.

Ed Caskey of The Bass Club took home an Edge Rod for being first out of the money.

The Southeast Region thanks the regional clubs that provided members to serve as tournament volunteers, as well as the Southeast Region directors for their assistance in conducting the event.

The Southeast Region Individual Trail’s next event will be on Saturday, June 27, at Lake Stillhouse, launching from Riverbend Park.

Written by Robert Royal, Southeast Region secretary

Events 4 & 5 of the 2026 North Central Region tournament trail took place on Saturday, May 2^nd and Sunday May 3^rd on lakes Eagle Mountain & Granbury. A rarity in the North Central Region, the wind finally decided to behave for a change  and the anglers were treated to conditions that can only be described as pleasant.  However, the actual fishing was far from pleasant as the fish apparently took the weekend off to protest the lack of whitecaps, and not one angler, boater or non boater, could scratch out a limit either day.  

On Eagle Mountain, fresh off the heels of his victory on Limestone, it was boater Charlie Barnes, Big Sandy Bass Club, that would take first place with four fish weighing 13.09 pounds.  Charlie’s impressive back to back win earned him $432 for his effort.  Second place boater went to Toby Tucker, Big Sandy Bass Club, who also brought four fish to the scales for a total of 9.92 pounds.  Rounding out the boater top three places on Eagle Mountain with just two fish for 7.67 pounds was Andrew Wren, Tarrant Christian Bass Club. Andrew’s two fish bag was anchored with the big bass of the tournament, a nice 4.65 pound Eagle Mountain chunk earning him a crisp $100 bill.  The conversations at the ramp focused on how tough the lake was fishing and of lost opportunities (“the ones that got away”).  The silver lining, if you want to call it that, was that there were no zeros on the boater side as the remaining boaters all brought at least one fish to the scales.

On the non boater side, the conversation at the ramp was a little more “colorful” as everyone was saying the “F” word!  “Fudge” that is.  Jordan Fudge, The Colony Bass Club, weighed in two fish for 6.47 pounds securing fist place and a check for $288.  Jordan’s two fish were exactly two fish more than any other non-boater.  Yep, the rest of the non boaters blanked, leaving them to say “What the Fudge”! 

Unfortunately Sunday on lake Granbury was no different and again, there would be no limits brought to the scales and this time there was a zero on the boater side. “Mr. Consistent”, Charlie Barnes would bring four fish, yet again, to the scales that totaled 6.28 pounds, however, it was only good enough for second place snapping his winning streak.  First place belonged to Andrew “Big Bass” Wren, who brought in only three fish for a total of 8.44 pounds, which included, yep you guessed it, the big bass of the day weighing 3.69 pounds.  Andrew earned $432 for the win and $90 for the big bass, making his weekend very productive, at least financially.  Third place went to Toby Tucker, who also only had three fish and his total weight was 5.05 pounds.  Toby manages to stay just outside the winner’s circle, but I imagine it won’t be long before he takes the top prize.

As for the non boater side, Jordan Fudge only managed to bring in one fish to the scales for 1.48 pounds.  Turns out that one fish earned him the top spot again (and $216) as the rest of the non boaters failed to weigh any fish.  All of the non boaters, except for Jordan, expressed their opinions of the two lakes and their desire not to return anytime soon.  I am sure that they had their fill of Fudge for the weekend as well!  

They, as well as the rest of the field,  will have their chance at redemption at the sixth and final stop of the trail on Lake Texoma on June 14^th.  Will Andrew Wren once again bring in the big bass? Will Charlie Barnes finally get that fifth fish? Will there be a non boater that can give Jordan Fudge a run for his money?  If you are curious and want to know the answers to those questions, by all means sign up and come fish with us.  All Texas Bass Nation members, regardless of region, are eligible to participate and we would like you to join us.  So say “What the Fudge” and lets go fishing!!

See ya on the water!

Sincerely,

Stephen Farrar

Texas BASS Nation

North Central Region Director

Club Division

(682) 465-6165

Sfarrar@texasbass.org 

The Southeast Region Individual Trail held their fourth event of the 2026 season on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at Lake O’ the Pines out of Lakeside Park in Jefferson, Texas.

This was many of the 36 contestants first time visiting this lake and pretournament practice results were mixed.

Cord Rawls with the Vidor Bass Anglers Association captured the win with 5 bass weighing 23.20 pounds, anchored by the second Big Bass of the tournament a 5.55 pounder. Cord stated that he targeted hard spots with rock and clay leading out of spawning pockets using a Carolina rig and a jig on the points, as well as a mooch minnow.

Wesley Baxley with The Bass Club came in second with 5 fish weighing 20.48-pounds, Wesley started out the day fishing a shad spawn and caught a few small fish, he then went looking for bedding fish, but was unable to locate as many as he expected to, so he then transitioned to looking for pre-spawners and was able to run that pattern for the remainder of the day.

Arron Slaten with the Seven Coves Bass Club finished third overall with a 5 fish limit weighing in at 19.76 pounds, anchored by the Big Bass of the day a 7.70 pounder. Arron stated that as he was idling out of a ramp, on Friday morning, he graphed some rip rap leading into the cove and noticed a lot of bait in the area, he made a few cast and got a few bites and decided to leave it alone. On tournament morning he was one of the first boats there and spot locked on a spot where he could fan cast around the point and a ledge with a Carolina rig, Arron says he caught between 40-50 fish throughout the day and culled four or five times to his final weight.

Robert Royal with the Vidor Bass Anglers Association won the Senior Division side pot with a 5 fish limit weighing 16.79 pounds and fellow Vidor Bass Angler Mark Grissom was second with 5 fish weighing 15.27 pounds.

Robert Thierry with the Seven Coves Bass Club took home the Edge Rod in open drawing for all contestants still present.

We would like to thank the regional clubs that provided members to serve as tournament volunteers, as well as the Southeast Region Directors for their assistance in conducting the tournament.

The Southeast Region Individual Trails’ next event is on Sam Rayburn, out of Jackson Hill on Saturday, May 2, 2026.

Written by: Robert Royal Southeast Region Secretary