PERSPECTIVE AND FAITH

“How does he cast?” “Does he drive his own boat?” “Who ties his lures on for him?” Those were just a few of the questions members of several high school bass teams whispered to one another as they crowded nearer to talk with Clay Dyer.The Alabama pro fishermen was on hand to speak to the huge crowd at the First Baptist annual fish fry and he was already amazing folks well before he ever picked up a microphone.

One of the youngsters summed it up best when he stated, “I’ve been standing here twenty minutes just watching him sign autographs.”That is no easy feat for a man only thirty-six inches tall with no legs and only a stub of a single arm that barely extends below the cuff of his fishing jersey.

I was already familiar with his inspiring life story and while his fishing accomplishments are a testament to his will and persistence, he readily gives all of the credit to God and takes great joy in sharing that message. Lots of folks that arrived expecting to personally hear more about fishing from a pro returned home more humble and no longer taking the simplest of tasks for granted!

My thought as I made my way back to my truck Sunday night was that inspite of his physical limitations, Clay Dyer stood as tall as anyone in attendance.Congratulations to Reverend Bradley and all of the folks that made this yet another special event.

Team mentor, Nellie Miller, attendance with with several of her LCM bass team members and was especially proud of their performance at last week’s tournament on Sam Rayburn.The SETX High School Tournament drew 489 teams and two of her teams finished in the top ten.The team of Jack Tindall and Colin Currie finished second less than a pound out of first place with 20.85 pounds.

The team of Kameryn Henderson and Tyler Shearin finished in seventh place with 18.18 pounds.The Bridge City team made a very good showing as well with two of their teams finishing in the top 25.Balei Slaughter and Lacey Pender finished in 21st place with 15.05 pounds with the team of Tanner Wilson and Ethan Borque finishing right behind them with 14.98 pounds.

Closer to home, The S.A.L.T. Club hosted their monthly tournament last Saturday and the targeted fish for March was the heaviest Texas legal redfish.In talking with several of the members that fished the event, it appears that most of the winners were caught in backwater areas.

Eddie Roberts cashed the first place check with a 27.5 inch fish that weighed 8.74 pounds. Colt Westbrook and Mark Bertrand finished right on his heels with fish that both weighed 8.26 pounds.Colt took home second place money as his red was a little longer.

The Club welcomes new members as well as folks that just want to come out and attend a meeting.They frequently have a guest speaker, always have something good to eat and take pride in the family atmosphere.The Club House is located on Pleasure Island and their meetings are the first Tuesday of every month!

The river is still a little off-colored, but it apparently hasn’t slowed down the bite very much.I talked with Mike Delois and his son, Jodie, on Tuesday and they had seven very nice bass at the time.Their largest fish pushed the four pound mark.Mike was teaching his son how to flip a jig and they had caught every fish off hard structure with a pegged craw worm

I also spoke with local anglers in Simon’s Outfitters that were looking for a particular color in a square bill crankbait that ran 1 to 2 feet deep.They didn’t mind sharing the lure, but they preferred to keep the color a secret.They said they were fishing the bayous and doing the best on an incoming tide that flooded more structure!

The saltwater scene has pretty much been a case of out-dueling daily winds. The trout bite has not been that consistent, but the average size has been much better.Plastics fished under a cork, topwaters and tails fished on a light jig head have fooled most of our fish.