The number one tournament trail of Texas, Skeeter Bass Champs, just keeps getting better! The 2007 Central Texas season closed on October 28th with the final weigh-in at the Central/South Championship held on Lake Sam Rayburn. Over two hundred teams qualified and one hundred and sixty-nine fishing teams arrived for the two-day event. Everyone was on hand for the Friday night meeting to enjoy an excellent barbecue dinner catered by a local restaurant, The Stump.
Day One--Saturday morning, the wind was blowing from the north at ten to fifteen miles per hour according to the weatherman, but I believe it was more like twenty-five miles per hour on the lake. Pre-fishing had been tough with the wind and the high pressure, and Saturday proved to be the same with many anglers arriving at the scales empty handed. Leading the tournament for a while. Steve Tschirhard and Bill Kirchoff had a five fish limit that weighed 19.90lbs. Steve also had Big Bass of the day-8.98lbs. They held on to the lead until Speedy Collett and Jessica Walker put their sack on the scale. They missed beating Steve's Big Bass by four one hundredths of a pound-8.94lbs, but the three other fish that they weighed in tipped the scales at a whopping 26.68lbs to take the lead!
Day Two-Sunday morning dawned with more wind and bright blue skies. To me, it seemed that the second day was even tougher than the first. Speedy and Jessica weighed in early on day two due the reversal of positions during take-off and weigh-in. They had a five fish limit that weighed less than ten pounds. I'm sure they had some tense minutes during the rest of the weigh in, but as the scales closed Speedy and Jessica were victorious!

1st Speedy Collett/Jessica Walker 36.24lbs $30000.00
Sure Life Bonus $200 .00
2nd Mike Kernan/David Weber 30.74lbs $15000.00
Skeeter Bonus $5000.00
Tie:
3rd Tim Cook/David Washburn 30.20lbs $7500.00
3rd Adam Pereira/Arlen Hauschild 30.20lbs $7500.00
5th Jeffrey Richards/Bill Garza 28.80lbs $4000.00

Up to twenty-five places were paid with a total pay out of $112500.00 at this event. Steve Tschirhart won $2000.00 for his Big Bass, and he and his partner, Bill Kirchoff, also split $2000.00 for placing seventeenth in the tournament.
I spoke to Speedy after the tournament, and he said they were fishing an area in the Canyons with a drop-off ledge and deep trees. He pulled a DD22 crank bait off of the ledge, and when it hung, he finally broke it freed bumping one of the trees to get a good bite. He then changed to a deep little N and targeted the suspended fish-the rest is history. Jessica fished soft plastics on a Carolina rig, and on Sunday it was she who brought the lion's share of fish to the scales. Congratulations Speedy and Jessica.
Two weeks after the Skeeter Bass Champs Championship, the Fishers of Men held their annual open tournament on Lake Travis. The weather was balmy and shorts were the order of the day-quite a difference from Sam Rayburn.

1st Gary Weimer/Dean Taylor 17.75lbs
2nd Scott Stagner/Scott Stagner 14.98lbs
3rd Dan Daylor/Kevin Pederazani 14.18lbs
4th K. Everett/D. Everett 14.15lbs
5th Flint Fisher/Mike Hastings 14.03lbs
6th Bill Pokinghorn/Charles Whited 13.37lbs
7th R. Whithouse/D Blemrich 12.93lbs
8th C. Conner/K. Fairley 11.95lbs
Tie
9th Don Gordon/Jerry Shinn 11.64lbs
9th Jacky Roberts/Tal Sprinkles 11.64lbs

Gary Weimer and Dean Taylor fished the upper mid-lake area where the Pedernales River joins the main part of Lake Travis. They keyed in on water depths between three to ten feet using a combination of spinner baits, crank baits and Texas-rigged soft plastics. Gary and Dean want to thank their sponsors: GW Irrigation and West Marine.
Scott Stagner and his son, Sterling, were the second place finishers in the tournament. They also qualified for the Fishers of Men Regional Tournament in the Youth/Adult division.
I fished with Jerry Shinn who is the owner of Grande Bass Trophy Hunter Baits. We were using full sized watermelon red Rattlesnakes on a Spot Remover jig head. Grande Bass has a lot of new baits coming out this year. In production: a new flipping bait called the Machine, and also coming out soon, a new generation stick bait named the Dingo. Ask for them at Academy or go on-line to www.grandebass.com.
Be courteous on the water. Remember that we share this resource with everyone. Wear your life jackets and hook up the kill switch.

Email Don Gordon @ Don@countrylinemagazine.com