1994/95 Bassmaster -- Lake Livingston

[Music] [Music] I like it [Music] tournament bass fishing is no picnic flavor pay casting for cash on the Bassmaster tournament trail is not all buttered games some pros go to great extremes to find the fish as Lambie block it Felton I don't think these fish have seen a boat in months I mean the lakes really silted in bad from in the end and there's a lot of water in here that the fish have been not seniors a long time if you can get to and it's a real dangerous situation trying to run into some of these areas because you can literally beats your boat on bare ground so it's a just and which is good you know once you find a spot like that and really commit to going in there entail today our Bassmasters cameras are covering the one hundred and ninety five thousand dollar Bassmaster Texas Invitational at Lake Livingston the pros face a tough assignment recent flood waters had muddied the lake from end to end with the exception of a few small creeks and finding a spot to fish without a crowd of competitors but contend with is a problem how to beat the fishing pressure and get bass to bite in off-color water is a focus of this three-day tournament I'm Bob Cobb stay tuned the bass masters we'll be right back from Lake Livingston at Onalaska Texas [Music] Lake Livingston 70 miles north of Houston over 90,000 acres even by texas-sized standards a big body of water normally this Trinity River impoundment would swallow up a 165 vote tournament that's not the case this morning as the 330 contestants in the Bassmaster Texas Invitational check out the lakeside marina at Onalaska finding fishable clearer water is the problem the recent flood of the century left its mark on the lakeside area and folks are still trying to dry out from the rampage however the lake level has returned to near normal but almost everywhere its money there are isolated pockets and clearer water in Kickapoo Creek and Sandy Creek near the tournament headquarters the back end that Penn Wako is clearing and across the lake Indian Creek and Wolf Creek are possible places with improving conditions among the pre-tournament favourites is Jay Ellis a Jasper Texas based pro he flew the lake looking for the clearest water and zeroed in on Kickapoo Creek he's alternating between flippin the thick reeds with a 5/16 ounce jig and plastic kraler and casting a half ounce Stanley vibra shaft spinner bait two underwater stumps and brush a keeper bass in this tournament must measure at least 14 inches long the daily limit is 5y Ellis is off to a good start but he's had a hot hand this season after two tournaments Jay leads the Bassmaster Easterns Invitational trail this is the first of four Bassmasters Central Division invitationals on the 1994-95 bass angler sportsmen society schedule and the qualifying event for the 1995 Bassmasters Classic World Championship the top five anglers from the Central and Eastern Division invitationals and twenty five pros from the Bassmaster top-100 Tour will reach the classic finals the expanded Vass schedule has increased the opportunity for newcomers to test the pro vas fishing waters such as Rodney Richards of Ardmore Oklahoma it's his first major tournament he's paired with Jay Ellis a rookie pros dream then the icing on the cake Rodney's first ever pass master Pro tournament pass caught with the cameras rolling Barry Gross a former Houston stockbroker started as an amateur entered in the Bassmaster top-100 pro-am events after setting a record for the heaviest total by an amateur 59 pounds five ounces in 1991 at Sam Rayburn Lake here in Texas Barry decided to change careers he's fishing the BAS s trail while still playing the stock market Barry's optimistic but not bullish on his chances here they're still dropping the water a little bit but the problem is is that it's waters gotten muddy fissures staying close to cover and they're not seeing the bait as well you got to slow down your presentation a lot but I got one in the well right now it's still early yesterday was different that day though than what we're working today we've got a real overcast and yesterday it was Bluebird the fish were real tight to these reeds I think if I keep pounding these reeds sooner or later they'll get in there tight and I'll be able to nurse a few of them out of there yesterday they were bigger despite the post-flood situation Mike Livingston proves to be coming back as a pass fishery several bypass limits come to the scales at the day one weigh-in Richard McCartney and Alba Texas God charges out front with 14 pounds 7 ounces Richards problem that's what scared and we're just kind of milling around with each other and who is this other angry well I'm turning around look behind me and Rick fun was in there and he stayed all day and Tommy Martin pulled in behind us and he fished a little while and he left that every time I think Rick would be gone I'd turn around he'd be coming back but sharing the fish with four-time world champion Rick Clunn isn't the only concern Oklahoma's allen-head maybe a bigger news later 15 pounds and 3 ounces Allen head of Oklahoma hold up your two big ones Allen everybody's jaw drops and you just kind of like oh well another day at the office now tell the truth now how tough was it I'll tell you Bob it could turn around tomorrow and I might not get a bite that's how bad it is for me on the day one leader board allen head posts the best score fifteen pounds three ounces but only a 12 ounce advantage richard McCarty is second followed by veteran pro Dion hitman of Missouri with 13 pounds 13 ounces Darrin Seebeck of Texas and Homer Humphreys of Louisiana are close on their heels richard McCarty's big worry Rick Clunn who ranks 10th with 12 pounds oh we got my Nate amount of water out there and you got a lot of both fish now so it's just a matter of trying to how to execute the few that are around you good luck Rick we may need a traffic cop to control the boats in pin Wong Creek tomorrow stay tuned the bass masters are coming right back day to allen-head the leader in the Bassmaster Texas Invitational is also fishing the pin walk Creek area but he's working a cove near the mouth the only bite I could really give him to hit good with a chartreuse spinner bait with a chartreuse blade on it and they want it slow they didn't want it very fast I don't know today the shed is not actually been here like there was yesterday and there dis not biting what challenge strategy when faced with muddy water conditions first thing I did I tried to find the clearest water I could but I think every boat that's in the tournament did the same thing so I took the next best I went to what I thought was about the second clearest water and the water down next to the dam was quite a bit clearer than what this is and then there's a couple little creeks up in the river that's pretty clear but basically just slow it down and and fish it as hard as you can and hope that you come up with a strike back in pin wah Creek Richard McCarty is flipping a 3/8 ounce jig trimmed with a plastic crawdad trailer he's working used water fishing in a crowd of other tournament boats [Music] there are numerous targets in this winding tributary most of the anglers are fishing the shoreline structure however Richard McCarty and Rick Clunn are concentrating their casts along the creek channel drop where the 2 to 4 foot flat tapers off into the 6 to 8 foot deeper creek bed underwater stumps on the edge of the creek are key to their pattern Rick Cleanse basic presentation is at Craig bait but he's also fishing a jig and plastic crawler almost the same lure that Richard McCarty is using with success just across the creek [Music] yesterday's leader allen head is struggling but partner Poe Turner of Memphis Tennessee picks up a strike on a white spinnerbait their fishing back in the creek now with inside of McCarty and club Eddie deal of Alabama dragging a Carolina rig Blizzard hooks a bass and Richard McCarty's instant reaction is to help land the fish Richard a guide on Lake Fork is well known among Texas trophy bass hunters but is fishing only is second Vass pro event [Music] several keeper fish are still being caught in the relatively small tributary but this bass is not going to help he's yet to bow to keeper today but Richard McCarty definitely has figured out how to trigger the bass to bite in the off colored water he's got a five bass limit in the live well and a good bet to take over the lead however getting to the way in maybe a rough trip strong winds turned the main lake into a Whitecap rollercoaster it's a wet and wild ride across Lake Livingston but no matter how rough the ride Jimmy olive of Texas wasn't about to quit short of the weigh-in don't have a new big bass leader this is for what - bass ten pounds and 6 ounces and what happens got to be big let's see it hold it up quote alright now put your hands together okay whoa daddy pound two ounce lunker's worth a $1,000 bonus to Jimmy Olly for the day's big bass honors the big strength 14 pounds 5 ounces belongs to Doug Garrity barking John he's pumped up for the final round tomorrow that mean I earn 50 minutes to to catch my limit and a partner wouldn't wasn't catch anything and I've got a little trick I'm doing now give him a bait and he immediately caught one lost one and caused another one they're not I've been trying some other baits to see what they hit and I had a bite on one bait and I took it away from the fish and I said there's a fish right there catch him and he threw it in coding do I understand this now that you had a fish bite and you didn't set the hook and he told your partner to throw in there and he caught the page yes sir that's right hey nice speech people are fishing for $35,000 do you feel alright well he didn't feel like a big bite but knows next when I said hook on weight for seven or four said Oh choking his side Doug Garrett has jumped from 17th place in the believe Richard McCarty stays in the hunt with 11 pounds 7 ounces and you look like a dynamite handler are you nervous well you know I spent two days in the same Creek with my hero you know he's been my hero since I started fishing who's your hero he's just you know he his theories and his and his the way he fishes and everything our styles are a little different but his theories and his thoughts on fishing just you know they they taught me how to fish what do you think about tomorrow now the fish are there they're beginning to move around on us a lot but you know it's just one deals and Richard McCarty will be fishing for his first bas s victory to say nothing of $35,000 to the winner he leads with 25 pounds 14 ounces Doug Garrett is just 9 ounces off the pace followed by Darren Seebeck of Texas Joe Flynn of Wisconsin and Rick Clunn now in 5th place Glen posted a 5 pass limit weighing 10 pounds stay tuned the Bassmasters we'll be right back with final round action of the Texas Invitational from Lake Livingston [Music] the final round Doug Garrett likes his chances for winning the Bassmaster Texas Invitational he scored back-to-back limits and this morning has the back end of Wolf Creek mostly to himself I came here in practice and it was about one o'clock during the day and there was ten boats moving around in here and I stayed here probably no more than thirty minutes and I went to flipping a jig on some of these isolated stumps here and I had to fish I shook off and I knew if I could come in here behind that many bolts for love so that's I elected to make it some time area area and I drew a partner that was catching fish up the lake about the same weight and so we went to his fish the first morning and I couldn't get couldn't get a bite on my spinnerbait pattern and he was strolling this big dated spinner bait and he caught a lemon fish and we left his fish and I came in here and I took the front of the boat and caught a lemon fish and we left them again so I can thank him because I didn't have one Easter baits and he did give me one you know went to yesterday and I said ty I got to have a backup spinnerbait please give me another and he did and what's what's real funny about is his his partner today is the ones leading the park tournament he had amoeba nine ounces tournament leader Richard McCarty is still sharing his water and after a heavy rain overnight conditions in pin wah Creek have changed I haven't had a bite on the jig yet the only by our guys on spinner bait and I just don't know what's gonna happen I don't know where they positioned themselves since the waters hired blade size and color are keys to Doug Harrods pattern in the water color green right now copper just seems to work great and hardly anybody throws copper anymore they go to the bright blades this is really a dull the door flashiness water and as far as the size of the blade the number 8 it's a big old thumping spinnerbait and there's so many shad in here that the fish really didn't have to eat a spinnerbait and I think this old bait just thrashing thrashing around diner beside that cover aggravate him or anything Richard McCarty's moved toward the back end of the Creek a wave from Rick Clunn and he's casting a spinnerbait Rick Clunn signals our camera crew so far he's voted only one keeper the bike may be over in pen waa Creek the final way Lake Livingston area fans anticipate an old-fashioned Texas shootout but they didn't expect five baths limit as you might expect unbelievable brick I got chill bumps let me tell you buddy you have blown it off the top 15 pounds 15 ounces today I knew its matter when I saw there wasn't no boats in there I knew it was just a matter of granting it out and I could catch a good spring because I knew it had time to let those little spots in there rest and have chucking them left meat you know film business typically at 11:30 and I had one fish I had a new Mikey stretches that they've gotten a little bit muddier in there from last night from last night's rain so I didn't know how that was gonna take it but also knew my fish were gonna buy it late they've been biting late anyway and so I went down through there and I can't you know brought after check left I caught one at 12 I called another one at 12:30 I called another one at 1 another one at 1:30 and that was like that was the fact keeper shot you saw me weigh-in Rick Clunn the champion of the Bassmaster Texas Invitational his 12th bas s career victory a winning total of 15 bass and 37 pounds 15 ounces Richard McCarty finishes second behind his boyhood hero with 33 pounds 15 ounces Doug Garrett ranks third with 33 [Applause] right now it's time for the pros pointer the how-to section of the battery brought to you by Wrangler real comfortable jeans key to my success here at Lake Livingston was many things that one of them was the lure I chose it's an old Norman lure called the big end it's excellent and muddy water high water flood condition type Lakes the reason is is because it's a it's a wide wobble a short short bill got a real wide wobble push this moves a lot of water it's got a rattle in the middle and I chose Shorter's color all those things go into allowing the bass to locate the lure I fished debate for three solid days working pretty much the same area I was fishing a one to two foot channel bumping off into a six foot deep this was my whole key I really felt like I had to find a lure that I could present to the fish to more potential fish than all the other fishermen and this bait allowed me to do that mr. amazing trick flood watch them come from behind many times but this time it was truly a championship performance long odds and tough conditions next week the Bassmaster tournament trail heads to Lake Lanier near Atlanta for the Bassmaster Georgia invitation a different fishery deep water and finicky spotted bass the objective join us on the bass masters I'm Bob God hope to see you all right here next week the best

Channel: Lynn Dollar

Views: 3,825

Rating: 4.826087 out of 5

Keywords: bassmaster bass fishing tournament

Id: OOzDMAjwNbE

Length: 21min 2sec (1262 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 22 2018