January 11, 2009
Llano County, TX

Anglers of the ATX Bassmasters all seemed to notice the bright full moon and clear skies the morning of January 11, 2009, while on their way to the first tournament of the year at Lake Buchanan. They all discussed the seemingly difficult conditions they were about to face and everyone appeared to be on the same page believing the fishing would improve as the day progressed creating a late afternoon bite. It was a very cold start as anglers made their way to their first spots of the day around 6:45 AM. It didn’t take long after making the first few casts for ice to begin forming in everyone’s rod guides.

Despite the days beginning signs of a frustrating day of fishing, club president, David Bueche, was victorious with an astounding 21.74 pound limit! David produced his bass by throwing jigs on bluffs and ledges in a creek off the main lake. Although he threw a variety of colors and sizes of jig throughout the day, he says that the best choice seemed to be a 3/8oz football head jig. His two bigger fish came on the shallow end of the bluffs, but all other fish came on the deeper bottom in 20-30ft of water. “Things were slow and bites were few and far between,” said David commenting about his day. This is evident as David only had 4 fish in his livewell all the way up until 2:30 PM when he set the hook into his big fish of the day during his last few casts before weigh-in. That big bass of 6.64 pounds would anchor his 5 fish limit and carry him to victory. David echoed the words of many BASS angders before him, “Never give up.”

Coming in second place, 5 pounds behind the leader, was 2008 Angler of the Year, Dan Taylor, with an impressive sack of bass weighing-in at 16.72 pounds. Dan was amongst the anglers in the morning who were expecting the fishing to improve as the day wore on. He was right, but you can imagine just how nervous he may have been at 1:30 PM when he only had one fish in his livewell. Of course, it was a big 5 pounder he caught first thing in the morning, but it was still just one fish. At that point he realized that it was time to give up on many of his usual areas that were left high and dry due to the low water, and run into the Council Creek area. “I normally catch fish in that area, but just not good quality fish that I was really looking for,” commented Dan about his move into that area. It proved to be an excellent decision as he was able to fill out his limit in this area before the 3:00 weigh-in. Dan caught his big fish in the morning working a green pumpkin jig in two feet of water, then after making his move at 1:30 caught the rest of his limit working the same jig while targeting rock ledges in 8-12 feet of water.

Rounding off the top three was one of the club’s new anglers this year, Ander Meine, with a limit weighing-in at 15.19 pounds. Ander started and finished his day by fishing in the Morgan and Council Creek area of the lake and found steady action for most of the day. Around 11:00 AM he had managed to have 4 fish in his livewell, but began getting somewhat nervous when he lost a 3 pounder that could have finished his limit. Soon after that he became slightly more panicked when he had what he said was a giant 8 pound bass also come unhooked before making it to the boat. It didn’t take long though for him to finish off his limit and begin culling afterwards. Ander’s limit was anchored by a 5 pounder that he caught while jigging a 2oz Chartreuse spoon in a brushpile in 17 feet of water off a dock first thing in the morning. All of his other fish throughout the day, however, he caught while drop-shotting a 6” Margarita Mutilator Roboworm on 6 pound test fluorocarbon. Ander also targeted bluffs, ledges, and brush in 12-20 feet of water in order to catch his fish.

Big fish of the day was a 6.97 caught by Michael Waldrop. Michael caught his big bass on a blue glimmer (white) colored Zoom Super Fluke while fishing a rock pile at the end of a gravel bar. The big bass came up and ate his fluke in 8-10 feet of water. Michael also wanted to make sure to mention that he got his butt kicked from the back of his boat by Temple Thomas who actually finished in a close fourth place in the tournament.

Full Results Here

Our next tournament is scheduled for February 15th on Lake Travis at the Mansfield Dam. Those interested in participating in club events are encouraged to come to our club meetings the first Tuesday of every month at Threadgill’s on Riverside at 7 PM.