Forum | ABA Dist. 51 Falcon tournament canceled

5 fish for 8-10#'s ain't a problem…. After all the "issues" last week my heart just wasn't in locating new spots – maybe some other day! I figure I can get 15-16#s without a lot of problems n' if I can get in front of a few hungry big'uns… add 10#'s to that. Just guessing but something just shy of 20#s will probably win both/either tournaments this weekend.

I'm going back this Thursday n' try it again. Got the failed axle/bearing healed and the other hub on that side has been disassembled, cleaned, re-packed and a new seal. Gonna get the other side either today or tomorrow!

Gotta friend loaning me a Lowrance 520. I don't have an external antenna but just having sonar on the bow will be rite nice. At times I've been switching my 522c from console to bow and bow to console. Besides being a pain…. it's time consuming!

LOL…. good question!

Actually it'll probably be in better shape when he gets it back than it was when I got it. Got replacement bearings the other day. Went to install them only to discover the inner bearing race had spun and wallowed out the hub sooo…. got a new hub with bearings. In the process of repacking and replacing seals on the remaining 3 hubs. Had a spare prop so I'm good there. Guess I'll take a picture of the damaged one n' see if Jay can heal it.

Going back to Choke Canyon next Thursday. Will subscum to the lake and fish the lower end on points. Still gonna be working deep water. Well on tournament morning I may hit the bank n' get 5 quick ones then…. try to cull'em!

Wrote a long report but the server monster ate it…. The short story is…

1.) wheel bearing failure – wheel didn't come off and 2 – 1500# ratchet straps will not hold an axle up.

2.) Idle out to no wake bouy. Hammer down – hit large rock folding over about 1/2″ of the tip of one blade and putting a nasty gash in the middle of another blade. While fiddlin' with PFD/kill switch failed to notice the bouy was a "Warning HAZARD" bouy and not the no wake bouy located to my left.

3.) Freeking wind just will not stop blowing around here. GPS doesn't update very well if you're not moving an appreciable distance/speed. Checked out many of the spots I had. Only one had the type bottom I was looking for and it held no fish.

4.) Stopped at one of "my" spots close to the ramp near dark on Wed. first cast puts a 3#er in the boat with a mag. fluke on a c'rig. Content to know fish are still holding on that spot I go to lift the trolling motor. It won't budge. Stompin' on it, cussin' it, nor no amount of tugging on the rope releases the pins. Last resort of removing the trolling motor from the bracket and laying on the deck allows me to trailer out. The latching pin had shifted and MotorGuid, in their infinate wisdom shrouded the pin with a plastic cover making it near impossible to re-center the pin. But using a tire iron(once ya' get back to the ramp and loaded up) will deflect the plastic enough to allow the pin to release.

Early Thurs. I ran to an area I discovered late the day before… Huge flat with a creek channel brushing the bank in one 50 yd. stretch. A fluke put'em in the boat. Worked on top fast then later in the day using the fluke as a soft jerk bait continued to produce. The jig boated one cat fish. Rat-l-trap zeroed. C'rig zeroed(but didn't chunk it much once I moved to the bank)

Came off the water around 1pm due to knowing I was trailering back 240 miles with a 3 legged dog. If something else was going to happen I wanted it to happen in full daylight.

Some of my shallower spots did hold fish and catching a limit was not a problem. Howev'a… I don't think 5 fish @ 8#'s is gonna do very well. Will replace the wheel bearing this week and return to choke next Friday. If push comes to shove I may have to mingle with the I-dots on the lower end of the lake to catch a decent limit. I sho' hope not.

When I first moved here they had me fishing deep as ledge fishing,beliieve me there are ten in bass down there at 36 ft.

Im more comfortable than most when fishing less than 4 ft the majority of the time,our favorite hole down south averages about 2 ft,where we are actually tossing the bait to.And when the lake goes toward winter pool much shallower,often a v wake towards the bait preceeding a strike.

So yeah so long as the boat has enough to float and im getting bit downt care how skinny it is.

And shouild I happen to fall out wont get much more than my knees wet.

A couple of years ago Choke was down 20+ feet. The grass grows in 15' or less. The fish moved off to deeper cover and have gone there as summer approaches because the grass has not returned in full force yet. Down by the dam 30-35' is the prefered depth. I'll be, for the most part, starting in 20' and working ledges, humps and holes. Some of the holes go to 45'. It's those holes located in outside river channel turns that I'll be working. I'm not real fond of fishing that deep but can get fond of it in a hurry if it starts puttin' double digit fish in the boat!!!! My fishing style is pretty simple. I fish for 5 quality bites. Some folks come to weigh in talking about going through 3-4 limits and on that particular day I may have only caught 5-6 fish.. But.. my 5, at times, have weighed twice what their 5 did.

Choke Canyon is the place where I almostest got into a fight with 3 guys that started fishing right on top of me after I located fish. I don't expect it to be much different this time if I fish the same area(down by the dam). Soooooo….

Hoping to avoid confrontation I have plotted approximately 50 waypoints in the mid-river area where I seldom see folks fishing. After several hours in front of the GPS/Navonics I've marked river channel drop-offs, underwater points, creek channels leading to the main river and road beds that intersecet any of the afore mentioned. These are all off-shore locations and located in and amongst fairly dense standing timber. Water depth ranges from 20' to 45'. Baits of choice will be the c'rig(wm/r baby brushhog), Magnum fluke on a 1/8 oz. #6 swimbait hook, Mag. fluke rigged with 1/8-1/4oz texas rig, weightless TR mag fluke, 3/4oz. jig and a drop-shot. I'll probably ending up trying a 10-11″ TR worm as well and if conditions permit a deep diving crankbait. "IF" I get lucky and locate some decent fish the location will greatly reduce the possibiliy of folks seeing what I'm catching. It's not a real popular area due to all the standing timber and the easier/better known spots down by the dam or up the river.

I'm'a going there tomorrow morning to check out those spots then… should I find something promising I'll check it out again the Friday before the tournament. These are the two final one days prior to the 2 day championship scheduled for Amistad – which is now in question as well….

To answer LM question…. The Mexican Military is conducting a major offensive that pushes the drug cartel members up against the Texas border. It probably ain't gonnna be a pretty site over there. Falcon is not all that wide…. Kinna like Pickwick but a tad wider than that. My suggestion was for the US Military to hoover Cobra Helicopters spacing the as required to povide over-lapping coverage. The could do it with 1/2'a dozen or so Cobras…. See'a problem….. Whooosh… release missile – problem solved!

Maybe that area of the lake remains relatively emtpy for a reason ,like automatic weapons toting mexicans.

While some states permit firearms in the open many do not but the standard 12 ga flare pistol makes a fair defencive weapon,along with a high powered bass boat on a collision course.

Why is this weekend supposed to be the bloodiest on record?

Id say at a guess some armed cg boats are in order,any one with a firearm displayed blow out of the water,ask questions later.

Another possiblity fill the lake in where it meets mexico,therefore they cant come over or launch in texas without a permit,or green card or visa.