Vaughns Cap Terrific Tournament Year

Capt. Dickie Colburn

For The Record

The Triangle Tailchasers hosted their year-end championship event this past Saturday and had it been a horse race rather than a fishing tournament, the winning ticket would not have earned you much at the windows.The “odds-on” favorites once again showed why they were the “odds-on” favorites.

In spite of the fact that there are some very skilled teams that participate in this local redfish circuit throughout the year, the Vaughans have been all but unbeatable from start to finish. Michael and Kevin won three of the four regular season tournaments and their one loss was by less than half a pound!

They closed a remarkable season out in style in winning the championship by a whopping four pounds.Their 24. 52 pound total earned them not only the “Team of the Year” honors, but the first place check as well as two Sarge’s custom wrapped rods. The team of Jeff Simons and Freddy Frederick finished second with 20.25 pounds followed by Jim Oliff and Bobby James with a 19.72 pound total.Corey Sattler and Scooter Daleo won the Blackjack redfish side pot.

Michael Braxton and Damon Silva started the Tail Chasers Club and tournament series six years ago and it has proven to be very popular with area fishermen looking to try their hand at competitive fishing.Ancelet’s Marina has gone the extra mile in providing the Club with an angler-friendly weigh-in site and Sarge’s Custom Rods, Del Papas, and Neches River Wood Works have provided door prizes at every event.The Club also draws for gift cards at every weigh-in making it hard to not win something just for participating!

Several of the teams that have consistently done well in these Tail Chaser events have moved up to fishing the larger circuits in the state and tend to be very competitive, especially when their home waters come into play.A fact that is not lost on local recreational anglers is that the Sabine area attracts more than our own local pros in many of these larger tournaments.

For my money, regardless of how stiff the competition may be, the biggest benefit in fishing a creditable series like that provided by the Tailchasers is the opportunity to learn from the other teams.What did they do to catch fish that day that you may have over looked? Tips on choice of lures, colors and how to more efficiently use your allotted time are also just a few of the things that justify the modest entry fee and will make you a better fishermen. These guys are probably not going to draw you any maps simply because they are trying to beat you, but they all know the value of sharing at least some information.

Hats off to the winners, the sponsors and every member in the Tail Chaser Club!

This has definitely been a week of ducking and dodging fast moving thunderstorms, but thus far the runoff has yet to drastically slow what had been a rapidly improving bite in Sabine Lake throughout the brief mini-drought.Cash Benoit called to say that he and a couple of other anglers have done well drifting the Causeway reefs on an incoming tide.“We were afraid to get too far from the launch and it has paid off,” said Cash

“We have only seen a few redfish schooling on the surface, but we have caught slot reds and trout bouncing Rat L Traps off the bottom in 8 to 12 feet of water.Most of the trout have been 16 to 20 inch fish.”He also added that anytime you see small ribbon fish jumping out of the water you better get over there.

The flounder bite has apparently also improved a little as well.The drain pipes on the revetment walls and the ship channel north of Lighthouse Cove have yielded not only good numbers, but decent size as well.According to the folks I talked with, no other lure has outperformed a 4-inch GULP shrimp rigged on a quarter ounce jig head.

Watching the Olympics afforded you a great opportunity, but if the daily storms, back to school duties and football have you temporarily dry docked, this is a great time to change hooks on your topwaters, reverse or change the braided line on your reels and replace damaged eyes on your rods.These are all projects that you can easily tend to rain or shine that will make your next trip much more pleasurable.