Johnny & Jolyne George win C.A.S.T. Couples tournament on Sam Rayburn
By Lynn Atkinson, srayburn@rayburncountry.com

C.A.S.T. Southern Region 5th tournament of the year was held at Jackson Hill Marina. I found John Anderson out checking boats and his lovely wife Jennifer checking in the anglers at the Marina. The smell of hot coffee and breakfast burritos was the next thing to catch my attention. There were 28 teams that showed up to compete in the event. The weather was pretty good the last few days with a small chance of rain. The wind has been blowing 10 to 15 mph with gust to 20 at times. This made it difficult to get around on the lake and look for fish. A few hardy souls did manage a little bit of scouting. These few anglers strive to be the best out here, but sometimes the fish have other ideas on tournament day. That's when you have to scramble and try to put a new game plan together. Knowing when your pattern has fallen apart is a hard thing to discern; but it's something you have to learn to come in on top. The weather looked to be a lot better for the tournament. The wind was still blowing, but not as bad. The little bit of over cast in the morning should have helped some. The weigh in site was set up and ready for the first contestants to come in with their fish. As the anglers started coming in there was a lot of talk about their day on "Big Sam". Some had found fish the day before only to have a lot of company on the water to help catch these fish on Memorial Day weekend. It sounded like there were fish caught everywhere. From the shallow grass and lily pads, to the outside edges, to the deep water offshore structure, these anglers covered lots of water in search of their fish.

1st Place 19.95 lbs Johnny & Jolyne George

1st Place went to Johnny & Jolyne George with 19.95 lbs. They started off fishing shallow and picked up 4 fish before the weekend anglers crowded them out of their spot. That didn't stop them. They went on to get a good kicker fish on the outside grass line. They culled 1 fish all day.

2nd Place went to Landan and Anne Ware with 17.96 lbs. This is a Mother and son team. They tried the brush and just couldn't get any fish with any size to them. Backing out to deeper water they fished the shallow grass and lily pads with the same luck. Their next move was offshore structure where they put together their pattern for that 2nd place.

2nd Place 17.96 Lbs Landon Ware

3rd Place went Dean Perkins & Debbie Peden with 16.94 lbs. This couple fished shallow all day and stuck to their pattern. They caught two limits of fish all day. These fish have been in one small area and haven't moved around much.

Nick & Sharon Albus came in with the Big Bass of the day with a 9.83 pound bass. Nick hooked this fish the day before on the third cast. She made a couple of jumps and came off. Nick said, "She looked to be around 8 lbs. so I decide to go back and try her again." On the second cast she took the bait and the fight was on, after a few minutes we had her in the boat. That's when I got a good look at her and knew she was easily over 8 lbs.

Also big thanks to Terry and Connie Sympson and the crew at Jackson Hill Park and Marina. They provide lodging and really great food for the anglers. If you haven't been to Jackson Hill lately you need to drop by and say hi to the folks. It's a friendly place to stay the night.

3rd Place Debbie Peden & Dean Perkins 16.94 Lbs Big Bass 9.83 lbs Nick & Sharon Albus