The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

I cannot recall ever getting as many reports of personal best bass as I did this past week and most of them were caught either Saturday or

Sunday.Of the reports I received, six were caught on Rayburn, eight on Toledo Bend and one in a pond just north of I-10. All of which bade the

question, “How many more were caught that we don’t know about?”

Jackson Lefebre got it all started with a 7.2-pound bass that he caught Saturday morning. J.J. caught his bass fishing a plastic cricket that his

Mother, Faye, had tied on the business end of his fly rod hoping he could fool enough bream for supper. He had, in fact, already put three bream in the bucket when the bass very nearly jerked the fly rod out of his hands. “I thought it was a catfish,” said Faye, “but I got as excited as J.J. when I saw it was a bass. I know I made him nervous with all of my screaming, but I was so afraid he was going to lose it and his Dad would never believe our story.”

The big bass and three bream were eaten that night, but not before a trip to the grocery store to weigh J.J.’s catch. A seven pound bass

doesn’t raise many eyebrows anymore, but it does when the angler is only five years old and gets it done all by himself. “It would probably have weighed even more,” added his Mom, but he scaled one side of his fish dragging it back to the car!

I had hardly gotten off the phone with the Lefebres when Gerald Krater texted me a picture of a 10. 7-pound bass he caught on T-Bend. Then it

was Lloyd Garrett with a 10.1 bass and Kyle Merit with an 11.44-pound bruiser. All but one of those fish were live released.

I thought it was finally over when the phone rang Monday morning. Now don’t take this wrong as any double digit bass is a once in a lifetime

fish for most anglers, but catching it in a tournament makes it even more memorable. That is exactly what Gavin Cooper did in the Texas Fallen Heros event hosted out of Jackson Hill on Sam Rayburn. I think this was the last tournament of the year for the clubs fishing the East Texas High School Series and Gavin and his team mate, Justin James finished it off in style.

The LCM duo walked off with first place honors with a stout 22.97-pound catch anchored by Gavin’s personal best 10.88-pound lunker. The

youngsters had a great game plan that was obviously a tad different from the rest of the field and they made it pay off. Undoubtedly, the decision had been made in advance, but the following morning Gavin’s Mom, Laura, joined the boys to fish a Mom’s Madness tournament on Rayburn and their program proved just as effective as the day before.They blew away the field with a 21.08 stringer that was

anchored with Justin’s new personal best, an 8.22-pound fish. The rumor is that Mom also caught her first bass ever….. so that makes her fish a personal best as well! It came as no surprise that the common denominator on both lakes was that nine of the anglers willing to share more than a picture said they caught their fish in at least ten feet of water. On Rayburn that means fishing just outside most of the moss lines and on T-Bend it would likely mean fishing an isolated hump, outside creek bank or secondary point.

Two of the fish fell for a Carolina rigged lizard, four ate a jig and pig and three were taken on Traps or deep diving crankbaits. The same day

Jason Lee caught a 10.75-pound bass he also caught four other bass between five and seven pounds. “I fished a half ounce jig and caught all of my fish between 12:00 and 3:00 o’clock,” said Lee.“Not one of those fish came off the same spot because I was scouting for a tournament, but they all came off points on the outside edge of the same flat.” The following day he weighed in only one bass, but it weighed just over seven pounds.There are no guarantees in bass fishing!