SouthRegionLakeAmistadMay182008

Couples Association of Sport Tournaments

Larry and Patt Martin Weigh-in 26.48 Pounds to Win at Amistad!

by Steve & Lori Herries

Several cloudy days with light rain enabled the couples of CAST South Region to catch huge numbers of fish, at their fifth tournament of 2008 on beautiful Lake Amistad near Del Rio, Texas. Sunday’s tournament dawned bright and sunny bringing with it skeptic concern from everyone concerning whether or not the patterns that had been located during pre-fishing would hold up. Skepticism soon turned to optimism as all the CAST South couples brought a five fish limit to weigh-in.

Larry & Patt Martin brought in a monstrous bag of bass weighing 26.48 pounds to take First Place. Larry said, “He and Patt caught three fish over five pounds from one tree in just a couple of minutes.” Throwing a trick worm to the tree started the Martins’ catch fest with Larry landing the first fish. After putting the nice bass into the livewell, he threw back to the tree and caught the second. While Larry was re-tying his frayed line, Patt cast to the tree and pulled out the third. Larry said all of the fish were caught in about 8-9 feet of water. This is why we love to come and fish at Lake Amistad! These type of days and those type of fish catching situations are common.

Jim & Jessica Behnken brought 23.83 pounds of fish to the weigh-in table to capture Second Place. Jim said that the original limit was caught on a black Zara Spook and a fluke in green pumpkin. Notice how I said the “original limit”. Jim & Jessica culled the “original limit” of quality keeper bass by throwing a Tru-Tungsten Tru-Life swimbait in and around bluegill beds in 4-8 feet of water. Some days you catch a limit on Lake Amistad and on others you catch more than one limit. More often then not it is the latter that seems to occur.

Steve and Lori Herries, CAST South Region Directors, caught 20.75 pounds of bass to finish in Third Place. Their fish were caught throwing a Strike King Zero and an 8” Strike King Iguana into flooded willow trees in 9 feet of water. The key was to find hydrilla growing near the trees. At one point, Lori had four of the five keepers in the boat, including, of course, the largest of the fish. As we all know, Lori carries the Herries team in most tournaments. Steve’s contribution is usually in a support role. Steve and Lori are in their second season as CAST South Directors. Congratulations to a fine couple!

Big Bass for the tournament was caught by Bill and Mary Beth Langenburg with a nice 7.63 pound Lake Amistad toad!

The Lake Amistad water level has dropped approximately 15 feet since CAST South Region’s first visit earlier in the 2008 season on March 16th. Without significant rain over the course of the summer, the lake could potentially be 50 feet lower by October. For everyone who will be fishing in this year’s CAST Classic and are not familiar with Lake Amistad, don't let 50 feet low scare you. It is a fantastic lake and fishes even better when it is low. The lake is over 200 feet deep in places at full pool (according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department), and well over 100 feet deep in many parts of the lake.

We want to once again thank Skeeter Boats www.skeeterboats.com and Yamaha Outboards www.yamaha-motor.com for their outstanding support of CAST and CAST South.

Thanks to Strike King lures for the tackle items our couples used at this tournament. www.strikeking.com.

Duncan Enterprises at www.duncanbags.com for the Just Keepers weigh bags. Don’t forget CAST members receive a great discount on weigh bags purchased on line.

CAST will provide each member requesting a quote from Costlow Insurance Agency and Progressive Insurance a $25.00 rebate on your CAST membership. Go to www.fishing4insurance.com and get your boat insurance quote today!

Lets not forget Wave Spin Reels www.wavespinreel.com for the incredible offer on one of the best spinning reels on the market. CAST members can purchase a DH3000 spinning reel from Wave Spin at the discounted price of $49.95.

We have a reel that we've placed on a CastAway rod, courtesy of the fine folks at CastAway Custom Rods in Montgomery, Texas. www.castawayrods.com Any member can test out this excellent spinning rig at any of our South Region tournaments. The Wave Spin reel and CastAway Rod will be given away at our last tournament of the year.

Remember to thank the folks from Save Phace at www.savephace.com for providing a $20.00 gift card as a door prize drawing at one of our tournaments.

Genesis Home Care and Hospice Care official sponsor of the CAST 2008 TOP SIX Invitational Tournament. www.genesishomecare.net

ProRule measuring boards the official measuring board of CAST. www.prorule.com

The South Region’s final tournament for 2008 will be at Choke Canyon Reservoir on June 15. We will launch at the Caliham Unit boat ramp. We will see all of you there!