Cove Bass Club fishes Belton, Stillhouse lakes
By JACK JOHNSON
Special to the Leader-Press
BELTON - The Copperas Cove Bass Club held their quarterly two-day bass tournament last weekend. The club fished Lake Belton on day one of the tournament and followed up with the second day on Stillhouse Hollow Lake. Due to the extreme temperature we have been experiencing here in Central Texas, the club elected to shorten the hours of the tournament to 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day due to the forecasted weather for both days being well into the 100 degree range. The heat also played a significant role in the tournaments lower weights caught.
14 Club members braved the heat and came out to try their luck on both lakes.
The day one Belton results are as follows:
First place went to Randy Fesler of Lampasas, weighing in only two fish for a total weight of seven pounds even. Randy caught his fish using a Pop-R fishing the upper end of Belton near the Hwy 36 bridge.
Second place went to Ron Hitz of Killeen, weighing in only one fish for a total weigh of 3 lbs. 6 oz. Ron caught his fish using a small white strom swing jig fishing in 30 feet of water in the mid lake area.
Third place went to yours truly, Jack Johnson, weighing in only one fish for a total weigh of 2 lbs. 14 oz. I caught my fish using a Yum Craw in watermelon candy with the pinchers dipped in scent. My fish was caught in about five feet of water off a steep sloping point in the upper lake area.
Big Bass for the day went to Randy Fesler. His big fish weighed in at 4 lbs. 2 oz and was caught on a Pop-R in frog color. He caught the fish near the rocky shore less than three feet of water near a drop off in the upper part of the lake.
The day two Stillhouse results are as follows.
First place went to Randy Fesler of Lampasas, weighing in a five-fish limit for a total weight of 10 lbs 14 oz. Randy caught his fish using a seven-inch Fireworm in motor oil color pitching to visible structure in several locations throughout the lake.
Second place went to yours truly, weighing in only two fish for a total weigh of 5 lbs 2 oz. I caught my fish in the river using a Yum Craw in watermelon red with the pinchers spiked with scent. Both were caught in 3-6 foot of water bordering a steep drop off.
Third place went to Ron Hitz of Killeen, weighing in 2 fish for a total weigh of 3 lbs 2 oz. Ron used his trusty white strom swimbait to capture third place. Ron was fishing in 35 feet of water in the mid part of the lake.
Big Bass for the day went to Randy Fesler. His big bass for the day weighed in at 4 lbs. even and was caught on a seven-inch Fireworm in motor oil color in the upper part of the lake.
The overall tournament winners for the two day tournament are as follows.
First place went to Randy Fesler, weighing in a total of seven fish for a total weight of 17 lbs 14 oz.
Second place went to yours truly, weighing in a total of three fish for a total weigh of 8 lbs even.
Third place went to Ron Hitz, weighing in a total of three fish for a total weigh of 6 lbs 8 oz.
Big Bass for the tournament went to Randy Fesler. His big fish weighed in at 4 lbs 2 oz and was caught on Belton Lake.
Overall the club weighed in only eight fish on Belton and 15 fish on Stillhouse for a total weight of 49 pounds and a few ounces. A lot of fish were not caught as was expected to the extreme temperatures that have settled into our area over the past few weeks.
Next month the Copperas Cove Bass Club is off to Lake Waco to try their luck in producing bigger stringers and better fish. If you are interested in joining a bass club, the Copperas Cove Bass Club meets the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at Lil’ Tex Restaurant in downtown Copperas Cove at 7 p.m. each night. Come join in the fun!!