Texas Bass Couples Looking For Good Fishing On Lake Amistad In First Tournament Of Year
Fishing is expected to be very good on Lake Amistad in Texas for the first tournament of the year in the West Region of the Texas Bass Couples Trail, according to trail organizer Tommy Busbee.
“I talked to pro angler Keith Combs, who grew up and guided on Lake Amistad before hitting the tournament trail, about the fishing and he is looking for a good topwater bite there this weekend,” said Busbee who serves as West Region tournament director with his wife, Pam.
“This time of year there will be a good shallow water bite and we will be looking at the 40-to 45-foot range for catching fish on a swim bait. Amistad is notorious for having a good swim bait bite,” he said. “Some will also be working a drop shot and jigs in the hydrilla beds to try to get a big bite.”
Busbee said the lake is about 8 feet low from full pool, but it is a very clear lake so anglers can actually catch spawning fish in 8 to 10 feet of water.
After fishing together in a number of couples tournaments over the years, Busbee and his wife founded the Texas Bass Couples Trail about seven years ago and it has grown from one region to seven in that period of time. In fact, the East Region will be holding its first tournament of the year on Brady Branch lake in east Texas this weekend, too.
“The others will follow suit and start back in February,” Busbee said. Each region will hold six qualifying tournaments and then the qualified teams will meet in the 2012 Championship Sept. 11-13 at Lake Bob Sandlin, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce in nearby Mt. Pleasant, Texas.
“Everybody who is a director has fished in the Texas Bass Couples before becoming a director,” Busbee said. “Many of them had a long drive to fish so they formed their own region.”
Busbee said the main theme of the tournaments, while super competitive, is to have fun fishing.
“We’ve tried religiously to set things up so folks will have a good time. A lot of guys fish with their mothers, some fish with their daughters and some with their wives or girlfriends. It’s just a family atmosphere.”
Teams pay a $35 membership fee and the entry fee per tournament is $85. The payback is 80 percent to one in every five teams. Directors keep 20 percent to cover expenses, Busbee said.
If there are 25 boats in a tournament, first place pays $642, second $315 on down to fifth place, which pays $125. Money for the championship is $125 and Big Bass pays $125. If there are 50 boats, first place jumps to $900 and places are paid down through 10th place, which gets $115, and the championship and Big Bass money are both doubled. With 75 boats first place is worth $1,250 and payback goes through 15th place at $100, with $375 for championship Money and $375 for Big Bass.
The Angler of the Year team in each region earns free entry fees for the region the following year, Busbee said.
“We enjoy some stiff competition, but it’s all in fun. And we try our best to be an asset to the fishing community.”
Texas Bass Couples
Sun, Jan 15, 2012
Lake Amistad
Call Tommy & Pam Busbee, 325-647-4116 or 325-217-8522
