TAKING CARE OF A GOOD THING

It was supposed to be a combination fishing tournament/levee clean-up day, but Mother Nature had different ideas and the fishing portion of the day was quickly blown out.Not one to waste an opportunity, Ronnie Moon quickly changed the game plan and no one complained.

The group of anglers changed hats and rather than fish, spent the morning scouring the entire north revetment wall for trash and litter.Eric Roning said the amount of trash gathered up by the group in only half a day was incredible.

When they huddled up for hot dogs and drinks at noon, the participants simply drew tickets to divide the money allocated for prizes in the fishing tournament.Not a single fish was weighed in, but everyone left the S.A.L.T. Club a winner!

I met Eric on the wall two days later and it was obvious that they had done a helluva job.When I turned my truck around to leave I noticed that an inconsiderate angler had already left an empty donut bag and paper coffee cup on the ground.I don’t often pick up other folks’ trash off the side of the road, but the group’s efforts warranted the minor inconvenience.

Moon said that he is on the north revetment wall virtually every day and there is always something to be picked up which left me wondering, “What would it look like in a short period of time if he wasn’t taking time to perform that service?”

Hats off to Moon and a great bunch of fishermen!

I doubt that anyone at last weekend’s Southeast Texas H.S. Championship on Sam Rayburn was any prouder or happier than LCM team sponsor, Nellie Miller.Her team of bass fishermen not only placed two members in the Top fifteen, but walked off with the Team of the Year Trophy as well!

That is quite an accomplishment considering 410 teams were competing for the coveted trophy.Tyler Shearin and Kameryn Henderson along with boat captain, Lee Shearin, finished the two day event in second place with an impressive total of 42.40 pounds.

In the high school format, the kids do all of the scouting and catching, but are accompanied by an adult serving as the Captain of the boat.While that job carries a lot of responsibility it has to be equally tough just sitting there watching the kids fish under pressure.None of this would be possible, however, without these volunteers.

Team sponsor, Miller, is not only always there to support every youngster in the club, but take care of all of the behind the scene work necessary to give them a chance to succeed.Tournament day is actually the easiest and most enjoyable for her.For that reason, last weekend had to be extra special for her!

For you river fishermen that have been wondering how badly the muddy water may have affected the bass fishing on the river, the answer is, “ Apparently…. not too badly.”

Elliot Atkinson and his partner won yet another tournament with a 16 pound bag and a bass over 6 pounds.Everett Pizzalatto was crankbaiting cuts off the main river above I-10 Sunday evening and caught and released a bass just over eight pounds.He said he also released three other fish over the four pound mark, but didn’t take time to weigh them.

He sent me a picture of the largest bass and released them all.He said the crankbait bite has been good for him the past two weekends. He added that fire tiger and sexy shad have been the best two colors in the off colored water.

We are also drawing closer to the annual S.A.L.T. Club Memorial Day Tournament and the bite in the lake continues to improve.They are starting to see much clearer water all the way from the Causeway to the jetties and are catching everything from bull reds to Spanish mackeral.The trout bite has been better as well, but not consistent.

Patches of clearer water have produced some pretty decent catches of trout on the west side of the lake when the wind isn’t howling.Topwaters like the Skitterwalk and She Dog are working as well as a Swimming Image or Mirrodine.

Both redfish and flounder were a little tougher to pattern for us this past week, but that was due to really dirty water in the bayous and drains.That bite could improve overnight with less wind.