JASPER, Texas – Thanks to a mild winter, bass fishermen around east Texas have enjoyed an excellent early-season lipless crankbait bite. These lures, more commonly known as rattletraps, are fished shallow, just above the emerging Sam Rayburn hydrilla. But as the temperatures cooled over the past few days, so did the ‘trap bite. As deep-water specialists, local anglers Ben Matsubu and Brannon Mire benefited from the changing conditions. Relying on two historically productive spots, Matsubu and Mire pried over 28 pounds from the brush, clinching the 2017 Texas Team Trail season opener, presented by Cabela’s.

At 11 a.m., Matsubu and Mire were struggling with no quality keepers in their livewell. After running way up north towards the Highway 103 Bridge, Matsubu and Mire regrettably observed dirty water and realized they had wasted even more time. With their backs against the wall, the two decided to roll the dice on a pair of historically productive deep brush piles.

“We caught an 8-pounder at about 11:30 and shortly after got a 7 1/2,” recalled Matsubu, the former Bassmaster Elite Series champion. “Then we went to the other spot and caught a 4-pounder and a 7-pounder.

“We’ve been fishing these same spots for five years and we’ve won so much money on them,” added Matsubu. “And the incredible thing is that we still have them all to ourselves. Hopefully it stays that way for a while.”

Matsubu reported that he boated three of the weigh fish and that Mire boxed two. Not surprisingly, Matsubu, a renowned jig expert, used a 5/8-ounce Talon football jig paired with a Yamamoto Hula Grub. He fished the jigs on 20-pound XPS fluorocarbon line. His best color combinations were cinnamon purple and green pumpkin. Mire employed a similarly-sized Biffle Bug in watermelon.

“In January and February, I don’t put the football jig down,” said Matsubu. “These are staging areas in 25 to 30 feet. Both spots have a bunch of brush. There’s baitfish down there and a bunch of little Kentuckys. The big largemouth are definitely eating the Kentuckys.”

Matsubu explained that most of his bites came before the jig reached the brush.

“That’s how it normally happens. We normally catch them 5 to 10 feet away.”

Altogether, Matsubu and Mire only received a dozen bites on the day. The best five officially weighed 28.73 pounds, giving them over a 2-pound margin of victory. For winning the season opener, Matsubu and Mire claimed a new boat and motor package – a Stratos 189VLO with a 225-horsepower Mercury outboard and $3,555 of Anglers Advantage cash.

“When I throw the football jig out deep, I throw it for one reason – I don’t catch many small ones. At times it works and at times that means you’re at the bottom of the barrel. We’d like to thank our sponsors, Talon Fishing Lures, Yamamoto Custom Baits and MidLake Kampground.”

Bland and Franks second

TXTT rookies Ronnie Bland of Indian Creek, Texas, and Malcolm Franks of Florien, La., finished second with a five-bass limit weighing 26.42 pounds. The two started out shallow as they experienced success prefishing in 5 to 8 feet.

“They were in real shallow water, but they moved out,” said Bland, who lives on nearby Toledo Bend. “We eventually found them in 8 to 12 feet on brush piles and points.”

Bland and Franks’ five-fish stringer consisted of four bass in the 4- to 5-pound class and one giant weighing 7.36 pounds.

“We were throwing Carolina rigs with Ol’ Monsters and Lizards,” added Bland. “We caught three on those and two on 3/4-ounce V&M Cliff Pace football jigs with a Havoc Pit Boss. Normally we like to use Rage Craws as trailers, but the Havoc has more subtle action, which was what we were looking for.”

Bland and Franks earned a total paycheck of $11,072.75.

“Malcolm and I had a great time; we couldn’t believe how well the tournament was run. Being that we both live on the lake, we’re sure looking forward to the next one.”

Johnston and Wilson third

Stephen Johnston and Dan Wilson took third with 23.47 pounds, earning $7,735. Johnston threw either a Strike King Red Eye Shad or a squarebill crankbait, while Wilson used a Carolina-rigged lizard.

“We caught them from 4 foot to 10 foot in hydrilla,” said Johnston, the well-known area guide. “I was barely winding over the top of the grass.”

Considering Johnston and Wilson drew boat 336 and their first six places were covered up by other boats, they were pleased with third place.

“It was a grind. Our best window was probably from 1 to 2 p.m. The fish are really screwed up right now. It’s been hot lately, then all of a sudden it’s been cold, so that slowed the fish down. We all want to win, but third is a good tournament.”

Richard-Osbourne fourth, Diberardino-Howell fifth

In fourth place with 22.20 pounds was Mark Richard and Gary Osbourne. Anchoring their stringer was a 10.30-pound brute. Behind them was Nick Diberardino and Shane Howell with 21.80 pounds. Both teams brought five-bass limits to the scale.

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 teams at the 2017 Texas Team Trail event on Sam Rayburn:

6th: Brian Shook and Weston Kelley, 21.76

7th: Cory Rambo and Rusty Clark, 21.74

8th: Michael Brewton and Scott Bailey, 21.26

9th: TJ Goodwyn and Philip Crelia, 21.10

10th: Dean Jones and David Rabalais, 20.85

Up next

The second qualifier of the 2017 Texas Team Trail season is slated for Feb. 18 on Toledo Bend in Many, La.