FLW Tour co-angler recap: Sam Rayburn
After a top10 finish on Wheeler Lake in Alabama it wasn’t long before I had to head to Sam Rayburn Lake in east Texas. I left Friday morning and spent the night in Shreveport, La., at a friend’s place to break up the drive. As usual, a cold front came through during practice and the bite was tough especially for Sam Rayburn standards. This was my first trip to Rayburn and it is one of the few lakes that remain mostly wilderness, no docks on the lake, definitely no 3G service and sketchy cell service in most areas. We stayed at a local fish camp which backed to the water so it was a nice week.
The three days of practice we caught a number of fish but most were below the 14-inch legal limit, mostly just grass fishing and some deep fishing. My goal in this one was just to catch as many fish as possible and try to get five keepers since it didn’t really matter what bait you threw.
Day one I drew a local from Texas and the day pretty much started as disaster. After hitting a few spots early he had some boats issues and we had to spend a good amount of the day at the service trailer getting repairs made. Once we were back on the water we hit an area where my boater was able to get a quick limit beating the bank. I struggled to get four keepers on a crankbait fishing heavily stained water. I finished the day just outside the money cut in 21st place.
Day two I drew another local from Texas and his plan was to start deep and then cover as much grass fishing with moving baits. This is the same way I like to fish so I felt comfortable all day. I managed one keeper on a drop shot deep and caught a bunch of fish on a Z-Man Chatterbait around the grass but only ended up catching four keepers again. I finished day two in 16th place and made back-to-back top-20 cuts to finish the season.
I knew on day three I was going to need a big bag to have a shot at coming back and I drew another local – Tim Reneau – who lived on the lake for many years. The wind blew pretty good on day three and we both struggled to catch fish, but I managed three keepers punching grass and one on a Strike King crankbait. Tim only managed one keeper but we both enjoyed our day on the water, I finished the tournament in 16th place and cashed a decent check.
The season is now winding down and I have one tournament left, the EverStart Championship in Monroe, La., at the Ouachita River where I will be fishing it as a boater. Shallow river fishing isn’t really my style of fishing but it will be nice fishing from the front of the boat. As you all know, I am an avid promoter of the co-angler program and it’s a great way to learn from the best in the world.
If you aren’t involved in tournament fishing at any level check out FLWOutdoors.com where you can fish at any level, whether it’s a boater or non boater at the local, regional, collegiate or national level there is a tournament for all skilled anglers. In my two years as a co-angler I can’t tell you how many great memories I’ve had and how many great friends I’ve made, I would like to thank all my boaters that have taught me so much in the last two years. I’ve had some great draws fishing with guys like Shin Fukae, Brent Ehrler, Bill Day, Jason Christie and too many more to name. Thanks for reading.
Until next time, Casey. www.caseymartinfishing.com