Everyone our Annual Club Meeting will be January 28th at Longview Baptist Church in Deville. We will be eating, voting on lakes, any rule changes, and board members. All members and possible new members are encourage to come and join us. Tournament Dates are below and if anyone has any questions just give me a call.

Thanks,
Brandon Nugent

Another great season has come to an end. With the end of a season always comes an AOY champion and the Best Six team members. Coming into the last we had 3 anglers within 3 points for AOY and 4 anglers fighting for the last 2 spots for the Best Six team. Saline/Larto was the lake where all this was to be decided. With no cool fronts yet summer patterns were still in effect and fishing would be tough.

Before I go too far into this tournament, I want to mention a little something about the previous tournament since I didn’t do an article on it. The previous tournament took place on the Red River out of St. Maurice. This was the first time we had been on the river in 2 years. The winner ended up being a guest Sam Canoe with 15.03lbs and 2^nd place went to Will Walker. Both these anlgers locked up into Pool 4. Congrates to Sam on the win! With Will getting first place points in this tournament it set up the 3 man race for AOY going into the last tournament.

When all the fish had been weighed in, the man standing on top was Will Walker. Will brought in the biggest sack with 17.86lbs. This win secured his first AOY title and his first SBBC win. All members may not know that Will had an accident a week ago that required him to have eye surgery to remove a piece of metal, but this would not stop him. This kept him from being able to drive his boat so Rick Villamerette was his caddy for the day. There is no doubt that Will earned this title the hard way. This also shows that when it’s your time there is nothing that can stand in your way! Congratulations Will on your win and AOY title! I am sure there will be more to come!!! Will caught most of his fish on a magnum worm except for his first and biggest fish (6.29lbs) which came off of a frog first thing that morning. He caught 7 keepers all day with his 5^th fish coming at 1:45. He focused mostly on the massive amounts of vegetation on Saline right now.  He said his 2 biggest bites came as he was beginning to pick up his bait to reel it in. Second place in the tournament and also AOY was Wallace Woodson with 13.37. Wallace focused mostly on shallow cypress trees flipping a beaver style bait. He did however catch one on a spinnerbait. Wallace mentioned an early morning bite and then didn’t catch much until the end of the day. Third place went to Jason Brown with 13.29lbs. Jason is the frog KING. He didn’t have a fish at 10:30 then caught 17 fish between then and 3. All his fish came on a frog in the lily pads in Big Creek. Rounding out the top 5 was Jeremy Sonnier with 12.58lbs & Mike Barbat with 10.91lbs. We had 6 fish weighed in between 4.3lbs and 4.63lbs.

When the final standings were added up (dropping the 2 lowest) the 2016 Best 6 Team is as follows: Will Walker, Wallace Woodson, Josh Bordelon, Aaron Belgard, Brandon Nugent, and Mark Barbat.

We had 22 members show up the last tournament. The tournament stats will be listed at the end. Overall we had a great year with a total of 49 members. We had a total of 8 tournaments and had 8 different winners. This goes to show you how competitive this club is. We have a great bunch of guys and I hope to see everyone back next year. I will post a proposed date schedule and meeting date sometime in December. I talked about this some yesterday at the tournament and ended up having a few members ask about it at the end so I am going to try and have an open tournament on Saline the 3^rd weekend of October (10/15). I post a flyer this week.

TOURANMENT STATS

NUMBER OF ANGLERS – 22

NUMBER OF FISH CAUGHT – 62

NUMBER OF LIMITS – 8

TOTAL WEIGHT – 140.47LBS

RELEASE PERCENTAGE – 98.4%

AVERAGE WEIGHT PER FISH – 2.27LBS

AVERAGE WIEGHT PER ANLGER – 6.39LBS

AVERAGE FISH PER ANGLER – 2.8

Due to possible unsafe conditions on the Red River in Shreveport the board members voted to change our 6^th tournament to Saline/Larto Lake. We had 24 anglers show up for the tournament the lake did not disappoint. Even with near 100 degree temperatures, water temps hovering between 88-91 degrees, and hardly any wind, we had 3 sacks over 15lbs. Saline fish apparently love the heat! The anglers that love to flip shallow water structure really flourished in this tournament and the ones that don’t well we just stunk it up. When the scales closed the angler that flipped his way to the top was new comer to the club Josh Bordelon (apparently new boats catch big fish… Must be why I can’t catch em)!!!!!!

Josh brought an impressive 5 fish limit weighing 16.53lbs anchored by big bass of the tournament weighing 6.07lbs. Josh flipped mainly buck brush with a watermelon red speed craw. This is Josh’s first win in the SBBC with I’m sure more to come. Second place went to Anthony Bunting with 15.83lbs. Anthony had 2 twin 5lbers that really anchored his weight (5.44 & 5.72). He also flipped brush with a black/neon beaver. Third place to Aaron Belgard with 15.11lbs. He flipped a jig all day around brush and laydowns. Aaron has been on a roll lately with 3 top 3 finishes in a row! Finishing up the top 5 was Curt Paul with 13.98lbs with a 4.19lb bass as his anchor fish and Mike Barbat with 13.45 with a 4.29lb bass as his anchor fish. Congratulations to Josh Bordelon on his first win and all the top 5 finishers for some great catches on a really hot day. All top 5 finishers were flipping experts who know how to pick apart some structure.

With the season ¾ of the ways over AOY points are becoming more and more important. New comer Josh Bordelon retook the lead after his win but 2 time AOY Wallace Woodson won’t go down without a fight. Also 9-10 anglers have a legit shot to make the Best 6 next year once 2 tournaments are dropped. This should make for an exciting last 2 tournaments. With only 24 anglers showing up first place paid $270 put with the Caleb Stark Farm Bureau winners bonus he ended up with $370 plus his big bass winnings.

The next tournament will take place on August 13^th on the Red River out of St. Maurice. River should be in good shape by then. Hope to see everyone there! Thought it would be interesting to see big fish facts for year so see below stats for Saline/Larto Tournament and overall for the year.

TOURANMENT STATS

NUMBER OF ANGLERS – 24

NUMBER OF FISH CAUGHT – 79

NUMBER OF LIMITS – 14

TOTAL WEIGHT – 182.04LBS

RELEASE PERCENTAGE – 96%

AVERAGE WEIGHT PER FISH – 2.3LBS

AVERAGE WIEGHT PER ANLGER – 7.59LBS

AVERAGE FISH PER ANGLER – 4.15

OVERALL YEARLY STATS

NUMBER OF ANGLERS – 198 / 33 PER TOURNAMENT

TOTAL NUMBER OF FISH CAUGHT – 565 / 94 PER TOURNAMENT

TOTAL NUMBER OF LIMITS – 73 / 12 PER TOURNAMENT

AVERAGE TOTAL WEIGHT – 1,347.42 / 224.57 PER TOURNAMENT

TOTAL DEAD FISH – 8

AVERAGE WEIGHT PER FISH – 2.4LBS

AVERAGE WIEGHT PER ANLGER – 6.87LBS

AVERAGE FISH PER ANGLER – 2.85

OVERALL LARGEST WEIGHT – 20.01LBS JOSH SIKES TOLEDO BEND

OVERALL BIGGEST FISH – 7.95LBS MARK BARBAT TOLEDO BEND

The board members voted to change the July tournament from Red River South to Saline/Larto due to high water/dangerous conditions. If anyone has any questions feel free to give me a call.
Thanks,
Brandon Nugent

We are officially at the Mid-Point of the 2016 SBBC season with the 4^th tournament of the year taking place at the Black River Lake Complex. This place consists of 3 lakes all with different water clarity and structure types from mud and cypress trees to clear water and deep docks. Most fishermen can fish to their style and still catch fish. The weather for the most part of the day was sunny with a light north to northeast wind at times and plenty of gnats for everyone! The tournament is known for its numbers of fish not its size. We have more limits brought in to this tournament than anywhere else every year. It takes a good bite to win this tournament and the man to get it this year was none other than Northwestern College fishing team member Aaron Belgard.

Aaron brought an impressive 5 fish limit for 14.58lbs. Aaron caught only 5 keepers all day but they were the right keepers. His big fish and big fish for the tournament weighed an impressive 5.74lbs. All of his fish came on either a football head jig or a j-bug rigged texas rig in Black River Lake. He focused on docks and brush piles around docks. This is Aarons 3^rd win in the SBBC and his 2^nd win on Black River Lake. Second place went to me with 13.03lbs. My fish came from both Black River Lake and Horseshoe Lake. I was 100% junk fishing. The 5 fish I weighed in came on 4 different baits (Spinnerbait, Frog, Buzzbait, and Squarebill). I had real good pattern going! Leave trolling motor on high and go!!!!! Third place went to Derik Hebert with11.92lbs. Derik spent all day in Black River Lake and his better quality fish came on a Ike Mini jig around the reeds and cypress trees. He said he caught quick limit on a DD22 that morning. Fourth and Fifth place went to Kevin Woodson and Will Walker. I some point I seen both of these anglers in Black River Lake and Horseshoe Lake.

We had a low turnout for this tournament. We had only 24 members and 2 guests show up. I’m sure the Mcdonalds tournament had a little to do with that. First place paid out $270 and with his big bass winnings Aaron ended up with $400. Still not a bad pay day! Now Aaron can finally pay me for that guided fishing trip I took him on a couple of months ago where he showed up with a hamburger and didn’t even bring me one!!!!!!!!!!!

With 4 tournaments down the AOY race is starting to take more shape. New comer Josh Bordelon is starting to get a little distance from 2^nd place former AOY champion Wallace Woodson still a long season with the dropping of 2 tournaments. It’s good to see new guys come in and put it on us makes us stay sharp and not get lackadaisical. The 5^th tournament will take place at Toledo Bend Reservoir. This will be a trailer tournament so you can put in anywhere. As usual you will takeoff of each landing by point standings. Also anyone with a guest or NOT getting in the side pot must let me know before takeoff. Weigh in time will be 3 at the Pendleton Bridge Marina on the Texas side. Also I have everyone’s T-Shirt and Louisiana Archery Discount Cards (Thanks to them for sponsoring the Club again). I will continue to hand them out at the tournaments.

Below are the tournament stats for this week’s tournament. Also I was finally able to make a video. The link is below. Thanks to Rick for his footage at Toledo Bend.

Brandon Nugent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKXt7SjLlbk

TOURANMENT STATS

NUMBER OF ANGLERS – 26

NUMBER OF FISH CAUGHT – 108

NUMBER OF LIMITS – 16

TOTAL WEIGHT – 199.96LBS

RELEASE PERCENTAGE – 100%

AVERAGE WEIGHT PER FISH – 1.85LBS

AVERAGE WIEGHT PER ANLGER – 7.69LBS

AVERAGE FISH PER ANGLER – 4.15

After a 2 week break, the men of Southern Boyz Bass Club join together again for a tournament on Toledo Bend Reservoir the #1 ranked lake in the US. It lived up to its ranking especially considering the fishing conditions. There were 2 other big tournaments going on and every spot had multiple boats on it. The lake was like glass. Absolutely no wind!!! These make for very tough fishing conditions, but with the spawn all but over and so many ways of catching them right now you can’t count anyone out. The top 3 finishers were all doing something different. But the man with that brought the biggest fish to the scales was Josh Sikes. He brought an impressive 5 fish limit weighing 20.01lbs! This is Josh’s 2^nd win on Toledo Bend and I believe his 4^th win overall in the SBBC.

Josh spent his entire day south of the bridge and out deep. He caught his fish in anywhere from 18-30ft deep on a variety of baits. He used big crankbaits and Carolina rigs to do most of his damage. He had most of his sack by 8 o’clock. His sacked was anchored by a 6.89lb (DEAD) toad!!!!! The first runner up was Josh Bordelon. He caught 5 fish weighing an impressive 18.56lbs. He was also south of the bridge all day staying in less than 5ft of water. He caught all his fish on a jig or spook.  Third place went to Derick Hebert with 15.84lbs. He had only 4 fish but they were impressive. I wasn’t able to get a hold of Derick so I am not sure what he did. Finishing out the top 5 were Mark Barbat with 14.94 and Wallace Woodson with 14.37lbs. Mark also had big bass with a very impressive NON-SPAWNED 7.95lb toad that he caught up North Flipping some lily pads! Great job to all of our top 5 finishers!!

With 37 anglers (3 didn’t get into side pot) showing up to fish 1^st place paid out $340 and you add the Farm Bureau Sponsor Money that’s a total of $440 for first place! As you can see from the stats Toledo Bend lived up to its name. We will be back in 2 months for another road on the Bend. AOY is starting to take shape with new comer Josh Bordelon leading the way early and for AOY Wallace Woodson right behind him a long season still ahead with the ability to drop 2 tournaments. The best six is next weekend back at Toledo Bend the guys that are representing this year’s team are Mike Barbat, Brandon Nugent, Mark Barbat, Wallace Woodson, Michael Watts, and Jamie Dubroc.

Our next tournament will be at Black River Lake on May 21. This is always a fun tournament with lots of fish caught. Also if you sponsored the club please try and get me your money in the next couple of weeks. I will try and put the order together this week or next for the t-shirts. I would like to thank everyone who helped with the weigh in this week. Everything went much smoother.

Brandon Nugent

TOURNAMENT STATS

NUMBER OF ANGLERS – 37

NUMBER OF FISH CAUGHT – 103

NUMBER OF LIMITS – 13

TOTAL WEIGHT – 294.78lbs

RELEASE PERCENTAGE – 97.1% (3 DEAD)

AVERAGE WEIGHT PER FISH – 2.86LBS

AVERAGE WEIGHT PER ANGLER – 7.96LBS

AVERAGE FISH PER ANGLER – 2.78