The Club Division North Central Region 2024 tournament trail kicked off with a double header on Lakes LBJ and Austin on February 24 and 25^th . The anglers were greeted with a chilly start on Lake LBJ with temperatures in the 40s, clear skies and a light breeze.  As the day progressed, the temperatures warmed up and so did the fishing.  Finding them shallow in the early afternoon, it was Andrew Wren from the Tarrant Christian Bass Club, that finished on top on the boater side with a healthy 16.49 lbs. limit, which included the day’s big bass of 4.30lbs. Joe Sciuto with Big Sandy Bass Club tagged first place on the coangler side in a nail bitter by just over a half pound!  At weigh in time the wind had picked up significantly and was a sign for what was to come on Sunday at Lake Austin.

After LBJ it was on to Lake Austin for the second half of the double header.  The temperature at take off was already close to 60 degrees and the wind was deceptively calm to start out, but would quickly begin blowing 15-20 mph with gust over 30mph!  That wind, when combined with the massive number of wake boarders on the lake, made for some pretty rough conditions for the anglers.  However, the conditions didn’t seem to phase  boater Justin Hallmark and coangler Joe Sciuto as they closed out the double header and took the win.  Justin brought in a 23.05 lb limit of Lake Austin bass, anchored with an 8.25lb Austin fatty, earning him first place and big bass of the day.  Coangler Joe Sciuto, remember him from LBJ?, sealed the deal on the coangler side with a 7.08 lb three fish limit for his second win in a row. Joe is definitely on a hot streak.

Next up for the North Central Region are Lakes Belton and Stillhouse on March 23^rd and 24^th., so sign up and come fish with us and see if Sciuto can keep the streak going!

Stephen Farrar
North Central Region Director
Club Division
Texas BASS Nation

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