The North Central Region held it’s 2024 tournament trail mid-season qualifiers on Lakes Belton and Stillhouse on March 23^rd and 24^th.  The weekend kicked off with dollar dink day on Lake Belton.  Water temps in the low to mid 60’s along with a full moon had the buck bass moving up in droves with the entire field having their fill of 13 ½ inch bass. However, when it came to keeper size fish, Lake Belton was having none of it and only produced 21 keeper size bass with an average weight of 1.04 lbs. per bass!!  

When the dink dust settled, Boater Malcolm Middlebrook, Centex Bass Hunters, weighed in 4 fish for 7.34 lbs. to take the top boater spot just edging out new boater Toby Tucker, Big Sandy Bass Club, who weighed a five fish limit for 7.11 pounds. 

On the Co-Angler side, newcomer Zac Stacy took first place weighing in a three fish limit for 4.79 lbs.  anchored by a GIANT 1.85 pounder big bass of the tournament and forcing the pre-tournament odds on favorite Co-Angler Joe Sciuto out of Big Sandy Bass Club to settle for second place weighing in two fish for 2.38 pounds!

On Sunday at Lake Stillhouse, despite the forecast of southerly winds sustained at 14-22 mph with gusts to 38 mph, the anglers were eager to turn the page on Belton and were hoping to move on to bigger and better fish.  The start of the day saw conditions that were fairly mild as the anglers spread out across the lake, but it didn’t take long for the wind to ramp up and the stronger gusts to appear and continue as the day progressed. Undeterred by the weather, the anglers’ hope of bigger fish came to fruition with all the anglers bringing fish to the scales and the weights shattering those of the day before. 

Once again and by the thinnest of margins, Malcolm Middlebrook took the top boater spot with a five fish limit of 16.65 lbs., a mere .02 lbs. more than the 16.63 lbs. brought to the scales by Justin Hallmark, Big Sandy Bass Club.  Justin did take the big bass honors however with a nice 4.89 lb. fish. 

And with rookie co angler Zac Stacy (5.15 lbs.) again edging out Joe Sciuto (4.66 lbs.), he completed the sweep and he and Malcolm finished out the weekend undefeated.  Congratulations to Malcolm and Zac.

          The North Central Region will finish up the season after the Allstar Break (The State Championship on Cedar Creek April 12-13), on May 4^th and 5^th on Lakes Amon Carter and Ray Roberts.  The AOY race for both boater and coangler is still up for grabs and will come down to the wire.  The qualifiers are open to all Texas Bass Nation anglers from all five regions, so register and join in on the fun.

          Now, for all you nation anglers who are “boasting” that, after seeing the results for lake Belton, you would have “crushed ‘em”, “wacked ‘em”, and/or “kicked their bass”, I invite you to register for one or more of our qualifying tournaments and come out and show us how it’s done!  See you on the water!

Stephen Farrar
North Central Region Director
Club Division
Texas BASS Nation

The Northwest Region of the Texas BASS Nation held its first Club Division tournament of the year on Possum Kingdom Lake, Saturday, February 24. The weather was nice and the fishing was good despite reports of some spotty golden algae outbreaks. Twenty-five anglers weighed-in fifty-five fish. Fifty-four of the fish were released alive. Average weight per fish was 3.04 lbs.

New member Hunter Crossland won the tournament with five-fish limit weighing a whopping 25.80 lbs! Hunter also had big bass of the tournament with a big 7.85 lb PK stud. 

New member Tristan Marsh also came in with a big bag of his own weighing 21.83 lbs to take 2^nd place.

Andy Allen took 3^rd place with a 17.09 lb bag that included some nice smallies. Derrick Ard took 4^th with 15.58 lbs. The top three finishers were a clean sweep by the Angelo Federation Bass Club!

The next stop on the Northwest Region schedule will be at Lake Brownwood on Saturday, March 23. We invite all Club Division members of the Texas BASS Nation to come out and fish with us. Hope to see you on the water!

Floyd Kaerwer
NW Region Director
TBN Club Division
(325) 370-7976

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