September 2024 Roosevelt Lake
The club would like to share a shout out to David Breakfield that he helped tremendously by shuttling fish to the lake from the weigh in area.
The Roosevelt Lake tournament was a challenging but rewarding day for the participating anglers, with a variety of techniques and strategies producing solid results across the board. Topwater baits like buzzbaits and frogs proved effective early in the morning, but as the day wore on, most teams found success by transitioning to deeper water and using finesse techniques like drop shots and Texas rigs.
Alan Wacker and Bryan Colby took first place with a total bag of 15.87 lbs, anchored by a 4.03 lb smallmouth. Their winning strategy involved a mix of topwater baits, crankbaits, and dropshots, catching most of their fish in shallow water. Bryan’s quick adaptation after returning from elk camp, along with Alan’s consistent fishing, earned them the top spot.
In second place, Gary Senft and Bob Jolly landed a total of 14.21 lbs, including a 3.72 lb big fish. Their approach focused on fishing a variety of depths, from shallow trees to 30 feet of water, using custom worms, Ricos, and dropshots. They managed to catch 20 fish, despite losing a few key fish that could have boosted their bag.
Nick Teschler, fishing solo for much of the day, secured third place with 12.85 lbs. After starting with a buzzbait in shallow water, he switched to fishing deeper boulders with a dropshot, which allowed him to cull his entire livewell in just an hour. His late adjustment to deeper fish proved critical in securing his place.
Overall, the tournament highlighted the anglers’ ability to adapt to the conditions, with many switching from shallow to deep water as the bite changed. Whether fishing topwater or focusing on deep structures, the participants demonstrated skill and versatility, making it a successful event.
Summary of Baits and Techniques Used by Participants
The Roosevelt Lake tournament featured a wide variety of baits and techniques, reflecting the adaptability of the anglers to the changing conditions throughout the day. Here’s a breakdown of the most effective baits and methods used by the top-performing teams:
1. Topwater Baits:
• Buzzbaits were widely used, especially early in the morning. Alan Wacker caught fish using a black buzzbait, and Nick Teschler had early success with a buzzbait in shallow water. Laron Porter also started with a buzzbait, landing three fish quickly.
• Frogs were another key topwater bait, with Bryan Colby landing the team’s first keeper on a frog.
2. Crankbaits:
• Shallow-running crankbaits were effective for Bryan Colby, who landed a solid fish using a fire tiger crankbait while targeting shallow waters near cover.
3. Dropshot:
• Dropshots were a critical technique for many teams as the day wore on. Alan Wacker caught the tournament’s biggest fish, a 4.03 lb smallmouth, in shallow water using a dropshot.
• Nick Teschler and Eric Hand also relied on dropshots, particularly in deeper water (45-55 feet), which allowed them to cull their entire livewell later in the day.
• Gary Senft and Bob Jolly used dropshots with a Berkley Power Worm and Gary’s custom Morning Dawn and Purple worms, fishing both shallow and deep (up to 30 feet).
4. Texas Rigs:
• Gary Senft and Bob Jolly found success with Texas-rigged worms, particularly in shallow trees and off rocky areas.
5. Jigs:
• Bryan Colby used a J-rig to catch their final keeper fish, while Ed Mason utilized a jig with a craw trailer in stickups and brush to add to his total.
6. Swim Jigs:
• Bryan Colby switched to a swim jig later in the day, which helped the team catch additional fish after the shallow bite slowed.
7. Chatterbaits and Senkos:
• Joe Edgett used chatterbaits, white buzzbaits, and Senkos to target fish in stick-ups and brushy areas, focusing on shallow water instead of deeper structures.
Overall, the participants showed versatility in their approaches, with topwater baits working well in the morning and finesse techniques like dropshots and Texas rigs becoming more important as the day progressed. Adaptation to both shallow and deep water was key to success for many anglers.
Team Reports
1st Place
Alan Wacker and Bryan Colby
Big Fish: 4.03#
Total Bag: 15.87#
Alan Wacker
First I want to thank the weigh-in crew for the hard work they do. A special shout-out to Dave Brakfield for running the fish back to the water.
My partner for this tournament was Bryan Colby. He is a great fisherman and a fun guy to fish with. I hope to fish again with him someday. Bryan couldn’t pre-fish because he was elk hunting. I didn’t fish Monday because of the weather. On Tuesday I went out and caught a few fish on buzz bait; one was over five pounds. I got off the water and called it a day and made a plan for Wednesday.
Tournament day turned out to be one of those classic junk fishing tournaments for both of us. Bryan caught our first fish on a frog. It was over three pounds, a good start. We caught a few smaller ones and left for the salt flats.
Next keeper was on a black buzz bait, it was close to three pounds. We moved to the first cove past Connors Ledge, Bryan caught a solid three on a fire tiger crank bait. We moved back to Connors Ledge and fished a ditch that was loaded with fish. The 4.2 pound smallmouth came out of two feet of water on drop shot. Bryan caught the last keeper on J-rig.
That was our day basically, done by 10am. Caught lots of fish afterwards but never got anything bigger.
Bryan Colby
Great day meeting and fishing with Alan. Came to the tournament from elk camp and grateful Alan was willing to quit fishing early so I could race back to elk camp for the evening hunt. Which paid off cause I found elk that evening and killed my elk the following day because of it.
Alan started out throwing a buzzbait so I picked up a frog and put our first fish in the boat. While Alan would run his buzzbait catching fish, I ran a shallow running crankbait and caught a good kicker shallow. Once Alan started fishing a dropshot (still shallow), which he caught our biggest fish and a smallie at that, I picked up a swim jig and started catching plenty of fish. Think we caught around 25 to 28 fish on the day. When the day was done I asked how he liked fishing with me, and he said it was like fishing with his grandkids, still not sure how I feel about that.
2nd Place
Gary Senft and Bob Jolly
Big Fish: 3.72#
Total Bag: 14.21#
Gary Senft
Bob and I got to pre-fish together Tuesday. We decided to fish the main lake because it had a lot of fish shallow and deep. We fished trees 2 to 10 ft with Texas rigs with some new worms I made in the last two weeks. There are like morning dawn but alot of flake.
We also fished in 30 ft of water and caught some there. We lost a few good fish which could have helped us, but that’s fishing.
Looks like everyone was on the same fish. The team did a great job with weighing the fish.
Bob Jolly
Congrats to Alan Whacker and Bryan Colby for that nice smallmouth and the win.
Gary and I and Gary’s Ford Dealership sponsor pre-fished on Tuesday. The three of us caught 57 bass and one 30 pound catfish which Gary managed, with some help, to lug into the boat. Our best five caught on Tuesday weighed close to 15 pounds. I think the low-pressure system really helped our bite on Tuesday, plus there were three of us fishing.
On Wednesday the fishing was tougher, but we still managed to catch 20 for the day. Gary caught our first keeper, a three plus, on a Rico. The remainder of our catches came on the Rico, a Dropshot and Texas rigged worms. We fished with a Berkley 4” Power Worm and Gary’s new 5150 4 ½” and 10” worms in the Morning Dawn and Purple colors. I’m sure Gary will have them for sale soon. We caught our bass in the shallow trees, off the rocks and as deep as 30 feet. We fished in the main lake and the Windy Hill area.
I lost a big one when my line broke because I forgot to loosen the drag before I cast my dropshot. A rookie mistake but I redeemed myself by catching another nice one with only thirty minutes remaining in the tournament.
It was super weather and a fun two days of fishing with Gary who guided us to the right spots at the right times. Thanks to the weigh-in team for another great job!
Bob Jolly
Congratulations to Alan Whacker and Bryan Colby for that nice smallmouth and the win.
Gary and I and Gary’s Ford Dealership sponsor pre-fished on Tuesday. The three of us caught 57 bass and one 30 pound catfish which Gary managed, with some help, to lug into the boat. Our best five caught on Tuesday weighed close to 15 pounds. I think the low-pressure system really helped our bite on Tuesday, plus there were three of us fishing.
On Wednesday the fishing was tougher, but we still managed to catch 20 for the day. Gary caught our first keeper, a three plus, on a Rico. The remainder of our catches came on the Rico, a Dropshot and Texas rigged worms. We fished with a Berkley 4” Power Worm and Gary’s new 5150 4 ½” and 10” worms in the Morning Dawn and Purple colors. I’m sure Gary will have them for sale soon. We caught our bass in the shallow trees, off the rocks and as deep as 30 feet. We fished in the main lake and the Windy Hill area.
I lost a big one when my line broke because I forgot to loosen the drag before I cast my dropshot. A rookie mistake but I redeemed myself by catching another nice one with only thirty minutes remaining in the tournament.
It was super weather and a fun two days of fishing with Gary who guided us to the right spots at the right times. Thanks to the weigh-in team for another great job!
3rd Place
Nick Teschler and Spencer Hand
Total Bag: 12.85#
Nick Teschler
I started the day fishing solo as my co angler got stuck in Texas. Since I was solo I decided to get up in the trees and go after some super shallow fish. The first 45 min to an hour was good on a buzzbait but I couldn’t find much size doing that. I kept the topwater in my hand for probably 2-3 hours then started bouncing from point to point and steeper walls.
About 10am Spencer jumped in my boat because Eric got sick so I had a partner the last few hours of the day. It was slow for a while and then I started looking for deeper fish as the shallow bite wasn’t happening. I found a pile of boulders in 45-55 ft and culled the entire livewell in 1 hour or so. Drop shot came through when it got tough. Fished clean for the most part and had a fun day.
Congratulations to everyone that figured them out.
Eric Hand
It’s not often that I get to fish with two great Anglers in the club during a single tournament. I fished with Eric Heivly until 8:30. We had a small limit using Buzz Baits in the stick ups. He was feeling very sick so I transferred to Nick Teschler.
We used morning Dawn drop shot the rest of the day, as did Nick, mostly around Windy Hill. We wound up with 12.85 pounds.
Prayers go out to Eric for a quick recovery.
4th Place (Tie)
Roger Root and Rusty Murdock
Total Bag: 12.82#
This team did not have their photos taken and did not submit a report
5th Place (Tie)
Ed Mason and Joe Edgett
Total Bag: 12.82#
No Photo available
Joe Edgett
Congratulations to Alan Wacker and Bryan Colby on your first place finish and big fish. Thanks to the staff and weigh-in crew for another well run tournament.
Thanks Ed(Ricky) Mason, I had a good time being your co-angler. You really know Roosevelt Lake. Thanks for showing me places on the lake I had no knowledge about.
Ricky and I both prefished the lake separately on different days and came to the same game day strategy. We fished stickups and brush midway to the back of every cove we went to. We did not fish any points or deep water. My baits were chatterbait, buzzbait(white) and senko. Ricky’s baits were buzzbait(white) and a jig with craw.
That’s about it in a nutshell. Also, sorry about our dead fish (2.9# smallmouth). We really worked on her in the livewell to keep her going but she died about 30 minutes before weigh-in.
6th Place
Laron Porter and Rick Knight
Total Bag: 12.77#
No Photo available
Laron Porter
I’m not sure if it was the full moon that had the big large mouth not feeding or the fact that I just couldn’t figure Roosevelt out! I didn’t have a lot of time to pre-fish, but the bigger fish I found were deep! I think I caught almost all my keepers on a drop shot in around 45 feet. Definitely not my style but I couldn’t figure out the shallow bite other than a very short lived buzz bate bite in the morning.
I had the privilege of fishing with Rick Knight. He is a very good fisherman and great for conservation. We had a great time together. We caught 3 fish really quick on buzz baits and I thought things were going to be great. Then we ran bank for a couple hours with very few bites. After that we jumped around from the Tonto to the Salt stopping mostly on main lake points fishing deep. Congratulations to those who figured it out!
7th Place
Troy Lindhorst and Shawn Bryce
Total Bag: 12.52#
This team did not submit a report to the club.
2nd Big Fish
Floyd Vaughn and Doug Moore
2nd Big Fish: 4.00#
Doug Moore
I fished with Floyd for the third time now, so we're used to each other's "quirks". Pre-fishing Tuesday, we didn't find much size in the main lake so went to the trees and found some better fish in the afternoon.
So on Wednesday, we went upriver and spent the day flipping trees. Fewer fish, but bigger than the day before. Floyd's 4 pounder came on a Texas rigged Yamamoto Cowboy about 8am. The fish kept getting smaller the rest of the day but still biting cowboys and Senkos.
Congratulations to Alan and Bryan on their 0.03 lb bigger fish and that nice bag!
