Elite Series on Toledo Bend—PICS NOW ADDED

It was quite an exciting week of fishing on the old pond. KVD went wire to wire with it and almost made the century club. I was a marshal again and had a really good time watching these guys catch some good ones from my home lake. On day 1, I went out with a rookie, Shane Lineberger, from North Carolina. He was a great guy but before takeoff he was talking to me and admitted that he has been embarrassed by his performance so far this season. He has not made a 50 cut so far and he is used to doing very well in his area of the country and in the Northern Opens. I made a few encouraging comments but I know it didnt mean anything coming from me. Alton Jones was parked next to us and he made a few comments that really made Shane feel better and relax a little. Alton told him there was no reason to feel embarrassed. He told him he has already proved he belongs there by qualifying. Also, that there really is a huge learning curve when you step up to this level and those guys are all very good. Alton said he had never fished tidal water until he went pro and again there is so much to learn. He also said that it took him 5 years to make his first Classic. Shane was making a run down to an area towards the southern end of the lake (Six Mile) but on the way he saw a bunch of birds on the bank just north of Indian Mounds. He immediately knew that it was a sign of a shad spawn and stopped. He quickly put 2 fish in the boat on a white chatterbait. We continued to hop from shoreline grass to shoreline grass but it did not pay off any more. He even had a 6 pounder chasing a big gizzard shad 6 feet from the boat that would not hit his jerkbait or chatterbait. Right after seeing that fish, he flipped a jig to the base of a cypress tree and leaned back on one. It was putting up a good fight and we thought he had a big one. It was a big one, but the wrong species. An ol choupique gave him fits. He told me to take his fish off for him but I used the marshal rules in my favor and told him we are not allowed to touch their fish. He then continued south and went into Housen where he stayed with the chatterbait and flipping a D-Bomb to the hay grass. No luck except for one small 14 incher. It wasnt looking very good for him. We moved even farther south into Six Mile and fished into a pocket. Casey Scanlon came in and fished the other side. We saw him pick up 3 fish. Shane asked him what the secret was and Casey said a big jig. Shane didnt put on a jig but picked up another punch rig with a punch skirt on it. We left that pocket and fished another one close. No luck. Casey left that first pocket so we went back in. He fished the same side he had just fished and picked up a 5 and a 7 pounder. Hard to say whether the skirt made the difference or if they just decided to eat that time. Naturally he was pretty jacked up by then. He had one last spot he wanted to run through before time to go. We had seen Gary Klein punching the hay grass and he stayed for quite a while which had Shane worried that Gary was cleaning up every fish in there. Gary finally left and we had 15 minutes left to run a chatterbait between two hay grass beds. He picked up a 2 pounder that culled his 14 incher. The day ended with a little over 18 pounds and he was thrilled. Day 2 I went out with Matt Herren. I had been out with Matt a few years ago and he remembered the day we had back then. Matt went north and stayed in one creek arm all day (San Patricio). Within 5 minutes he had a 3 pounder on a spinnerbait. Before I had even sent the picture to bassmaster for the blog, he had flipped up a 4 pounder from a cypress tree. It looked like it was going to be on like a chicken bone but it got tough from there. He caught a couple more small keepers flipping and by mid-day made the call to go to a brush pile on a point at the mouth of San Patricio. That brush pile must have been loaded. He caught 15-20 fish off that one pile. He had one over 4 pounds and lost another at least that size. Everything he was catching was 2 1/2-3 pounds. He finished his limit and culled several times but was only culling ounces. He finished the day with 17 pounds. ****Just a note to anyone considering being a marshal one day....these guys do not slow down. There was a pretty good chop on the water on day 2 and Brett Pruett hit a wave wrong. I dont know if it was a boat wake or just a rogue wave. His marshal was thrown against the gunnel and broke his wrist and 3 ribs. It happened at the mouth of Housen so he was taken to shore at Fin & Feather and transported to the hospital in Jasper, TX. Im not getting any younger myself and its tough on me to take those kinds of rides but I saw some guys in their 60s and 70s out there. I overheard a couple say that they were on the waiting list for day 3 and hoped they did not get picked. Just something to think about if you are considering being a marshal on a lake that is known for getting rough when the wind blows. Day 3 was spent with Steve Kennedy. We all know Steve doesnt have all the new equipment that the average Elite angler has. I know it was brought up on a post over on bbc asking if he had ran a BassCat on Bull Shoals earlier this year. Steve has a older Stratos and the first thing I noticed was the BassCat steering wheel. He said Kevin Short gave him that because his steering wheel was coming apart. He did say he loved it. We were in the second flight so by the time we made the run almost to the dam (south side of Texas Island) the shad spawn activity was pretty much over. He started with a topwater and a swim jig in the scattered hay grass with no luck. We moved to some bluff walls with fallen trees (on the Texas side near the dam) where he threw a swimbait. (SURPRISE!!!) It wasnt long before he pulled a 3 pounder out of one of the tree tops. He told me he had raised a bunch of big ones in practice but they would not eat it. Nothing changed. He had a few follow the swimbait but would not eat. He kept up with a white swim jig in and around the grass and picked up a small keeper. He then sat down and put together a jig for a spot by a seawall where he said a whole wolfpack of fish came out during practice. On his first pitch he caught a 4 pounder. We went back to an area with fallen trees and he picked up another small keeper. He tried lots of other spots and it just wasnt happening for him. At the end of the day, with 15 minutes left, he went back to the sea wall. On the first pitch he hooked into a 5 pounder that jumped off. That hurt his feelings big time. He fished the docks in the small pocket and with 1 minute left he caught a small spotted bass to fill his limit. He finished the day with a little over 11 pounds but he knew he wasnt likely to make the top 12 without 25 pounds or better. As usual, I have pics but they will have to wait. My grandmother is in the hospital and we have been told that there is nothing more that can be done. She is due to be discharged home sometime this week but Mom has been with her for the past 9 days and needs a break, so Im going to stay with her until they discharge her. Last edited by toledobasser on May 24th, 2016, 6:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.Jim EbarbMany, LA (Toledo Bend Lake)2004 Cougar/ 225 OptimaxHumminbird Helix 12 Chirp SI on BalzOut Mount at bowLowrance HDS 7 at bowHumminbird Helix 12 Mega SI on Ram Mount at ConsoleLowrance HDS 8 in dash at console