Lake Sam Rayburn Fishing Report by Guide Lynn Atkinson

Reel um N Guide Service
Owner
Lynn Atkinson

Water Temp.85
Normal pool 164.40
Water Clarity 2 feet
07-26-09
Sam Rayburn is at 161.19 ft and the water temperature has been holding 
around 85 degrees. Water color has been clear to around 2 ft and 
clearing as you move into some of the pockets down south.
The lake continues to fall but is still in good shape for the year. 
The fish have been moving this last week.  The rain and cooler 
temperatures have dropped the water temperature some 6 degrees. Some 
fish have set up in the pepper grass where the Stanley Ribbit frogs 
have been picking up a few of them.  The lily pads and Grass edges are 
still putting a few fish in the boat. Spinner baits and Crankbaits 
have still been catching some off the grass edges.  Carolina and Texas 
rig worms have snagged a few off the deep structure. Colors change 
everyday but you can bet Red Bug, Red Shad and Water Red are a few of 
the first colors I try.   Look for things to change with the weather 
and don’t get stuck on just one bite.  It may turn off and you’ll have 
to scramble to find something else to put some fish in the boat.
“StructureScan”, that’s a big word. Lowrance just released its new 
StructureScan Imaging System with DownScan Imaging. That’s a new one 
on me. This system should be out in the next few months and from what 
I have seen and heard it’s going to be awesome.  It’s will be an “add 
on” to the HDS units. You can check things out at Lowrance website for 
more details about everything.  I’ve got the HDS 10 setup on the boat 
and will be recording a few places and hopefully will be putting it up 
on the website in the next few weeks.  When the StructureScan is 
available I will be adding it to the boat and will again take it out 
here on Sam Rayburn and record some stuff and see how things look 
here. Some of the stuff will include underwater bridges along with 
some brush piles and grass lines to try to give you some idea how it 
works. I will be working to put together a few short films to help 
show how things look on the unit. .  I’ll be working it into The Bass 
Class on the Water to help everyone adjust to the new units.

Crappie; The Crappie fishing has been on and off.  One day you do real 
good and the next day it’s hard to get past the catfish and perch.  
Everyone has loved the new pontoon with the shade and the changing 
room with the port-o-potty.   It makes the trip a lot nicer for 
everyone. It’s one way to get the kids out of the house and have some 
fun. Get your trip booked for fun with the kids. We can handle up to 8 
anglers.
Big D Outdoors is the place to get your boat ready for tournaments or 
family fishin.   Give them a call 409-769-3700.

God Bless
Lynn Atkinson
srayburn@rayburncountry.com
www.rayburncountry.com
Home 936-897-3400
Cell 979-220-0251

Shane Williams & Mike Pharr WIN Anglers Quest!!

The newly formed team of Shane Williams from Frierson, La & Mike Pharr from Shreveport, La ran their Triton/Mercury bass rig to mid main lake points with grass to catch their bass with Custom Angle & Kistler rods tipped with Omega/Pro Mega Jigs & Tru Trac Jigs in 12 ft of water. They only got 4 keepers in the boat but had an 8.06 lb Big Bass to finish in 1st place with a nice sack of 21.53 lbs and collected $1770.00 for their day on the water.

Cory Rambo from Orange, Tx & Rusty Clark from Sam Rayburn, Tx ran their Ranger/Rude to south lake ledges in 25’ water to finish in 2nd place with a total of 15 bass culled to their best 5 bass at 20.65 lbs. They reported catching all their bass on tx rigged & c-rigged worms. They took home $880.00 for their day on the water. Their finish today moved them into the AOY lead with 2 events to go this year. Cory & Rusty were very appreciative of their sponsors: Golden Triangle Industries, Castaway Rods, Stanley Jigs, West Coastal Field Service, Hummingbird, MinnKota Trolling Motors & Ranger Boats.

Bill Burns from Brookeland, Tx & Cory Stanley from Deweyville, Tx ran their Champion/Yamaha bass rig to 12-14 foot main lake grass beds on points to finish in 3rd place with a total of 5 bass at 18.24 lbs. They took home $700.00 for their day on the water.

The team of David Curtis from Trinity, Tx & Shelby Shaw from Huntsville, Tx ran Shelby’s Triton/Mercury to various mid lake grass lines in 10-12’ water to catch their 5 bass limit with jigs making them a $435.00 payday for a 4th place finish.

There was 7 money spots today as Todd Castledine & Brent Broussard finished in 7th and collected $155.00 for their day on the water.

The AOY team from Toledo Bend in 2008 brought in 5 bass at 12.99 lbs to garner the first place out of the money. Had they been present at weigh in, they would have collected 2 bags of ZZ Lures.

The entire results from this and all A/Q events put on by Anglers Quest can be viewed at the Anglers Quest website.


1st & BB - 21.53 lbs - Mike Pharr & Shane Williams.


2nd - 20.65 lbs - Cory Rambo & Rusty Clark

PL	Boat#	TEAM/NAMES	#FISH	B.B.	TOTAL WGT	$$$ PAID
1	10	SHANE WILLIAMS & MIKE PHARR	4	8.06	21.53	$1,770.00
2	24	CORY RAMBO & RUSTY CLARK	5	6.85	20.65	$880.00
3	15	BILL BURNS & CORY STANLEY	5	0.00	18.24	$700.00
4	33	DAVID CURTIS & SHELBY SHAW	5	0.00	16.17	$435.00
5	19	JONATHAN SIMON & DAVID AYETS	5	0.00	14.99	$275.00
6	7	MIKE NEEDHAM & TODD GUALANDRI	5	4.49	14.47	$180.00
7	35	TODD CASTLEDINE & BRENT BROUSSARD	5	5.56	14.26	$155.00
8	2	LARRY PEACHER & LARRY STOCKWELL	4	5.03	12.99	ZZ LURES
9	27	BRAD HUGHES & BRANT GRAVES	5	0.00	12.78
10	13	ALBERT WHITE & RANDY QUIN	5	0.00	12.37
11	6	TOMMY HILL & MIKE GRIFFIN	5	0.00	11.51
12	31	ALBERT COLLINS &	5	0.00	11.47
13	21	ALAN MOORE & KEVIN MARSHALL	5	0.00	11.24
14	17	CHARLES SHOFNER & JASON MOREHEAD	4	4.14	11.18
15	3	GREG CRAWFORD & JESSE JOHNSON	5	0.00	10.46

Sam Rayburn Fishing Report by Guide Lynn Atkinson

Reel um N Guide Service
Owner
Lynn Atkinson

Water Temp.89
Normal pool 164.40
Water Clarity 2 feet
07-19-09
Sam Rayburn is at 161.34 ft and the water temperature has been holding 
around 89 degrees. Water color has been clear to around 2 ft and 
clearing more as you move into some of the pockets or down south.
The bass have been hitting a few topwater baits early and late in the 
day around the hydrilla and pads. It’s been tough on a lot of folks to 
catch some of these fish. One day you find them back in some of the 
pads and the next it’s like they just vanished. Most of these fish 
will move a little way from where you first found them and just set 
there.  It can be a challenge to figure out what they want to bite. 
These fish can be tough to catch out of the grass but believe me, they 
are there. I caught an 8 lb bass in less then two foot of water one 
afternoon with the water temperature at 95 degrees. She was a hundred 
yards from any deep water just setting in the grass.  Grass is the 
biggest key here on Rayburn and learning how to catch them out of it 
is a lot of hard work. I have spent days out there locating a few 
groups of fish to have them move a hundred yards the next day.  A few 
top water baits to try are Stanley Ribbit frog, Yellow Magic’s, Buzz 
baits and Zara Spooks.   A Wacky Worm or Senko’s can also be worked 
across the top to try to get them to bite. On the deeper grass Stanley 
Spinner Baits and Crank Baits have been getting a little action going. 
On the outside edge of the grass we’ve been pulling some Carolina and 
Texas rigs along with bouncing a jig on the edge.  The offshore 
structure is starting to pay off some with C/R and Football Jigs 
working them very slow.

“StructureScan” that’s a big word. Lowrance just released its new 
StructureScan Imaging System.   It also has DownScan Imaging, that’s a 
new one on me. This system should be out in the next few months and 
from what I have seen and heard it’s going to be awesome.  It’s going 
to be an addon to the HDS units. You can check things out at the 
Lowrance website for more details about everything.  I got the HDS 10 
setup on the boat and will be recording a few places and hopefully 
will be putting it up on the website in the next few weeks for 
everyone to see. When the StructureScan is available I will be adding 
it to the boat and will again take it out here on Sam Rayburn and 
record some stuff and see how things look here. Some of the stuff will 
include underwater bridges along with some brush piles and grass lines 
to try to give you some ideal how its works here on Sam Rayburn.  We 
will be working on putting together a few short films to help show how 
things look on the unit.  I’ll be working it into The Bass Class on 
the Water to help everyone adjust to the new units.

Crappie; The Crappie fishing has been on and off, one day you do real 
good and the next day it’s hard getting past the catfish and perch.  
Everyone has loved the new pontoon with the shade and the changing 
room with the port-o-potty.   It makes the trip a lot nicer for 
everyone. It’s one way to get the kids out of the house and have some 
fun. Get your trip booked for some fun with the kids. We can handle up 
to 8 anglers.
Big D Outdoors is the place to get your boat ready for tournaments or 
family fishin.   Give them a call 409-769-3700.

God Bless
Lynn Atkinson
srayburn@rayburncountry.com
www.rayburncountry.com
Home 936-897-3400
Cell 979-220-0251

Obituary of a Bass Rod

On Saturday July 11, 2009 one of my fishing partners was killed in action.  My partner known as Castaway Grass Rake who stood 6′10″ tall and was as stout as they come.   She joined me sometime around 1994 I believe and had quickly proven herself to be ready whenever she was called on.  She has traveled all across this country and has crossed the eyes of many a bass.  She fished her way up from the bass club level all the way up to the FLWs fishing against the likes of Vandam, Clunn, and Brauer.  She has pitched big jigs in hydrilla, coontail, and hyacinth in many lakes across the south under the Mason Dixon line.  She has won a Bass-N-Bucks, helped win an Angler of the Year Title in Red Man (now known as BFLs), and even helped qualify for the BFL All American.  She has fished in numerous championship and regionals over the years.

Grass Rake never complained if she was not called out for battle, she understood what team work was all about.  She was always ready for a good fight and never turned down the chance to take a swing at a fish.  She won the battle over hundreds of bass ranging from 6″ to almost 10 LBS, in her 15 year career.  She did have a few fights she did not get to finish because the fish managed to break free of her grasp and run. She always went back for more.

On Saturday she was ready to do battle like any other time we teamed up.  After about 30 minutes of fishing, she threw an upper cut on a 3 pounder.  She quickly got back in the action and stabbed a 1.5 lber on her next pitch.  She watched one of her kin (also known as Grass Rake) take down a 3 pounder at the other end of the boat. Not willing to stop and rest she dove back in.  The jig hit the bottom and she began to shake it.   The jig stopped moving and she threw what would be her last punch.  As the 10z jig burried its hook into the 6+ pound bass, the years of battle had finally met up with her. As the 60# power pro pulled tight, she exploded into 3 pieces. She had managed enough backbone to drive the hook deep enough to keep the fish from getting away.  I managed to get the fish up and in the boat.  She hung in there just long enough to get one last photo with her.  Thanks for always being there and giving your best Grass Rake!

 Grass Rake was preceded in death by her twin sister Grass Rake,  her mother Flipping Stick, triplet sisters, CRM6′8″, brothers SB3, 7Mag, WR1, and her 3 cousins Launcher7′6″, all from the Castaway family.  Others on hand were a couple from work both in the Shimano V Rod family, Team mates Shimano Curados, Chronarch, Calais, Power Pro, and Oldham jigs.

Sam Rayburn Fishing Guide Report by Lynn Atkinson

Reel um N Guide Service
Owner
Lynn Atkinson

Water Temp.89
Normal pool 164.40
Water Clarity 2 feet
07-12-09
Sam Rayburn is at 161.56 ft and the water temperature has been around 
89 degrees. Water color has been stained up river, clearing as you 
move south.
This week  we got out on Thursday morning early; launching at Caney 
creek  boat ramp; before daylight trying to get in a little fishing in 
before the it got to hot.  We made our first run to a spot where we 
had a few fish earlier in the week on topwater and started fishing. 
The fish just weren’t doing anything at all there. We fished from 3 ft 
of water out to 12 ft without a bite. We picked up and made a short 
move to out next spot with a little deeper grass edges. We started 
working the pepper grass out to 12 ft where the hydrilla ended.  We 
picked up 3 nice fish and lost one that almost pulled my rod out of my 
hands before breaking off. We had several more short bites but just 
couldn’t get them to hook up. We made another short move and fished 
some more grass on the outside edges to pickup 2 more keepers to end 
up with about 16 lbs. I would have liked to see the big one that got 
away but we have had several big fish out of there in the last few 
weeks.   Basically we started off with topwater baits and got a few 
swirls at them but no takers. We switched to Stanley Spinner Baits and 
Small Crankbaits to pick up the active fish and then moved over to 
Texas rig worms in hopes of picking a few more up.  That only got a 
few small bumps. When working spot three around the deeper edge of the 
grass, Stanley grass Jig put the last two keepers in the boat. This is 
the time to get out there and work the grass and work on the jig bite. 
  This is something that you have to learn to do this time of year to 
pickup some fish.  To beat the heat get a wet towel and keep it around 
your neck.    It is just as easy to pour some water over your head.  
If you are a little more adventurous jump in to cool off.  If  you 
bail out of the boat please wear a life vest.  A little breeze makes 
everything even better. Drink plenty of water while you out there and 
have a good time.
I just got my New Lowrance  HDS 10 on the boat and it is very 
different. It has a lot of new screens to master and will be a whole 
new learning curve for you.  I’ll be working it into the Bass Class to 
help everyone adjust to the new units.

Crappie; The Crappie fishing is picking up some nice fish. Minnows 
seem to be the best bait so far.  Everyone has loved the new pontoon 
with the shade and the changing room with the port-o-potty.   It makes 
the trip a lot nicer for everyone. It’s one way to get the kids out of 
the house and have some fun. Get your trip booked for some fun with 
the kids. We can handle up to 8 anglers.  What are you waiting for?
The Bass Class on the water.  I offer this class year ’round to help 
you learn your electronics. You will also learn about fishing 
structure on and offshore.   Check it out on the website and give me a 
call. Come join the fun.   Let me teach you how to find and catch fish 
anywhere.
Big D Outdoors is the place to get your boat ready for tournaments or 
family fishin.   Give them a call 409-769-3700.

God Bless
Lynn Atkinson
srayburn@rayburncountry.com
www.rayburncountry.com
Home 936-897-3400
Cell 979-220-0251

Giant Salvania Day on Sam Rayburn

Giant Salvania Day on Rayburn… 5:10 PM 6/19/2009 Reply Edit

——————————————————————————–

Greetings!

On July 18, 2009, dedicated anglers and outdoors enthusiasts will gather at Jackson Hill Park on Sam Rayburn Reservoir and attempt to eradicate giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta) from one of the best fishing lakes in Texas. The project involves volunteer boaters coming to Sam Rayburn, netting giant salvinia, mapping the locations where they collect, bagging the plant and disposing of it in dumpsters to go to the landfill. The goal of the project is threefold:
Educate anglers and other boaters about the spread of invasive water species such as giant salvinia;
Reduce the giant salvinia population on Sam Rayburn through mechanical harvest;
Increase public awareness about invasive species
In order to make this project a success, we have already been in contact with Texas Parks and Wildlife and have obtained the proper permits as well as professional guidance and recommendations. We are including a reporter from the Houston Chronicle who has already written an excellent piece on the topic (see: http://www.chron.com/disp/stor….html) in this announcement so he can continue to cover this topic as he sees fit.

We’ll be searching for funding to aid with the cost of disposal, supplies and if we’re really lucky, food and lodging for the volunteers. Mr. Terry Sympson of Jackson Hill Marina has agreed to be a Sponsor, waiving the launch fee for the first 35 boats and providing use of the weigh-in site.

If you’d like to learn more about the project, I can be reached via email at mcgaha78@yahoo.com or leslie@AndersonPollutionControl.com; or 832-266-6242.

Giant Salvinia Round Up Agenda

Giant Salvinia Round Up Registration

Thank you and have a wonderful day!

Respectfully;

Leslie McGaha
SE TX Bass Federation Co-Director
832-266-6242

Cassels-Boykin Park Ramp Installation Video

Hey everyone, I thought you might enjoy seeing the video I stumble on at Youtube.  I know a lot of you wonder how they build these boat ramps.  I found the vidoe to be very interesting.  Take a look.   Cassels-Boykin Park Ramp Installation

Cypress Hills Development now on Youtube!

For those of you who may be looking to retire near Sam Rayburn, relocate to the Jasper area, or just want to get outside the city limits to Jasper, take a look at this  link.  Cypress hills is located on HWY 63 just north west of Jasper about 5 miles.  It is about 10 miles to the lake and only about 5 miles to the boat ramp on the Angelina River just south of the Sam Rayburn dam.  It really offers a good over all location to Jasper and the lake.

 Youtube Video Link - Cypress Hills Development

You may want to let it load for about 10 seconds before playing.

THE BIG BITE!

I caught this big one last night at the lake……OK maybe I didn’t.  I thought some of the readers might like to see what could turn out to be the New World Record largemouth that was caught in Japan.  There has not been any official word on it yet but it does look to be an impressive fish either way.  There is some Youtube video of it but it is not in English.  For more info on the story check out www.bassfan.com .

Lake Sam Rayburn Fishing Guide Report by Lynn Atkinson

Reel um N Guide Service
Owner
Lynn Atkinson

Water Temp.90
Normal pool 164.40
Water Clarity 2 feet
07-05-09
Sam Rayburn is at 161.85 ft and the water temperature has been around 
90 degrees. Water color has been stained up river, clearing as you 
move south.

This week has been a hot one with high pressure setting on top of use 
for sometime now. Sunday morning was a little cooler with a chance of 
rain in the afternoon. The shower we got was nice with more on the way 
thru Monday. This will cool things down and hopefully move the high 
pressure out of here. The lake is still in good shape as for as the 
water level.  We have a few fish setting up on the summer bite. We’ve 
been catching some fish on a little bit of everything from topwater 
baits to deepwater jigging the grass.  The topwater has been early and 
late for the most part. Covering a lot of water and looking for some 
active fish is the hardest thing to do when everything looks so good 
out there.  That’s what it takes to catch a few fish. There are a lot 
of baits to use; here are a few of them.   Stanley Ribbit Frogs, Buzz 
Baits and Yellow magic’s are all good bait to start with.  Throwing 
senko’s and wacky worms around the pads and grass lines will pickup a 
few fish. The next thing would be to work the outer edges of the grass 
and pads with crankbaits and spinner baits. There are a lot of fish 
that hide on the edges.  Now for fishing the humps and ledges, 
Carolina and Texas rig comes to mind.  Work them over structure and 
try to get a monster bass to bite.   El Grande Lures has great baits 
that have been catching some fish for us. The Gila Monster and Mexican 
Rattler are big baits for big fish. One of the new colors is Toledo 
Bend Bruise.   Just looking at the colors in this bait makes me want 
to be out there fishing.  So break out the deep stuff and get fishing.
When I get home I don’t want to spend hours cleaning and polishing the 
boat.  I was a little skeptical when Bob Davis introduced me to B.T.S. 
  I can say it’s the best product that I have ever used and it is so 
easy.  I followed the instructions about cleaning the boat and then 
sprayed the surface down.  I wiped it into the surface with a sponge 
and let it dry. I wiped it down again with a soft cloth it looks 
really good. Now all I do is spay some on a sponge and wipe it down. 
All the vinyl and plastic look like new. The rain beads off everything 
and the boat looks great. Just like you’ve spent hours polishing and 
cleaning it.   It has UV Protection to protect from the suns rays. Use 
BTS on virtually all surfaces, Gel-coat, Vinyl upholstery, plastics 
and Metal.  My Trolling Motor and depth finder looked three years old 
from being out in the sun.  They both look new again. So get a bottle 
and try it.
Crappie; The Crappie fishing is picking up some nice fish. Minnows 
seem to be the best bait so far.  Everyone has loved the new pontoon 
with the shade and the changing room with the port-o-potty.   It makes 
the trip a lot nicer for everyone. It’s one way to get the kids out of 
the house and have some fun. Get your trip booked for some fun with 
the kids. We can handle up to 8 anglers.  What are you waiting for?
The Bass Class on the water.  I offer this class year ’round to help 
you learn your electronics. You will also learn about fishing 
structure on and offshore.   Check it out on the website and give me a 
call. Come join the fun.   Learn how to fish any lake then share the 
magic with friends and family.
Big D Outdoors is the place to get your boat ready for tournaments or 
family fishin.   Give them a call 409-769-3700.

God Bless
Lynn Atkinson
srayburn@rayburncountry.com
www.rayburncountry.com
Home 936-897-3400
Cell 979-220-0251

« Previous Entries