ATHENS, Ala. – Cody Pitt of Elmer, LA set the bar high on day 1 of the Top 150 Solo on Toledo Bend this weekend. Launching from Cypress Bend Park near Many, his day 1 limit tipped the scales at 26.68 lbs., anchored with a beautiful Toledo Bend bass weighing 7.86 lbs. This was the 2nd event for the ABA Top 150 Solo Trail for the Southwest Region. Day one was a touch breezy, which can turn Toledo Bend into a very rough lake in a hurry, but the weather was beautiful. Sunny, warm, and not as humid as it was Thursday during practice. Saturday was even better but with less breeze. The spawn has passed, and the fish are beginning to stage in the summer depths but have not transitioned to them fully. The shad spawn is also starting to show itself in areas which will trigger a feeding frenzy and fishing will pick up, but many of the anglers had difficulty finding the big bite. Some, however, did not. Cody had a stellar day one, following it up with a 2nd bag of fish weighing 21.94 lbs. This giving him a 2-day total of 48.62 lbs. to take the title, a check for $4000.00, and a check for big bass worth $1000.00.
“I didn’t get very many bites so this will be easy for me to explain. Yesterday I started out in 8 to 12 feet with some offshore stuff. I caught a few fish but didn’t really get any size. I caught them at first on a crankbait and a football jig. All of my good bites came between 10:30 and 2:00. I stayed with the football jig but put down the crankbait and mixed in a 10.5 inch ol’ Monster. I moved out a little deeper to the 15-to-22-foot depth during that time. I had more bites on Friday than I did Saturday. I think 10 or 12 first day and maybe 8 or 9 today. I moved around a lot and didn’t fish in the same areas today. The areas I went to yesterday only gave me one fish today, so I had to go to some places that I didn’t fish the day before. I’m just glad they were there. The summer pattern isn’t in full swing yet. Sometimes those areas can be stacked with fish but this weekend was a grind ”
In second place was Cole Moore of Many, LA, put up an outstanding weight to start the tournament with a 5 fish limit of 22.88 lbs. He followed it up with a 5 fish limit of 23.80 lbs. with a solid performance on the week. Cole had great bags on both days but was not able to best the 7.86 big bass by Pitt from day one. Moore’s 2-day total was less than 2 lbs. behind Cody, of 23.80 lbs. on day two as he wasn’t able to get the big bites, he had on day one. Robert finished the weekend with a total weight of 43.94 lbs. earning $1950.00.
“I had a fun two days and caught a lot of fish. The past couple times I fished I hadn’t caught them very well. It did feel good to fish on the home pond and catch as many as I did this weekend. I started out in the mornings so with a crank bait and a jig. That was the 1-2 punch all day long. I started a little bit shallower in the mornings and I would catch a couple of good ones, then throughout the day at work my way through individual schools and just keep catching them. I mixed it up with a few brush piles in between a rotation throwing football jig in there and hope to get one straggler. The lake is fishing really good right now for me. I caught fish from 12 foot of water all the way to 25 foot of water.” I asked Cole what he considered to be shallow. “I’m talking like 12 to 15feet.” That’s not shallow to most anglers. “They pull up in the mornings and feed a little bit shallower than that but for the most part they stage in this area, then back off. I kept it between those two patterns both days and had a blast.“
Finishing in 3rd place was Lane Masters of Fisher, LA. Lane was happy to be back on the water with ABA. He had not been able to fish in quite some time due to work obligations but this weekend everything fell in place, and he was able to get back on the water. You could call Lane Mr. consistent as both of his limits were ounces apart from each other. Day one yielded a weight of 18.10 lbs. and on day 2 Lane came in with 18.36 lbs. for a total weight of 36.46. Lane took home a check for $1400.00
“I found a little shallow spot yesterday morning during practice and stayed there all day but never got the big bite. Today I ran up the lake and found a similar pattern hoping for some larger fish but it was the same thing as yesterday. Each day I probably caught 30 fish. I caught a lot of 3 lb. fish, just couldn’t upgrade with a big bite. All my fish were caught on the same baits as Cody, a jig and a big worm. I had my limit by 9:00 both days so I was just hunting the lunker the rest of the time but couldn’t get one to bite. Sometimes that’s just the way it goes this time of year. I appreciate you guys for having this event.”
Finishing in 4th place was Zack Fogle of Longview, TX. His 5 fish limits of 19.17 lbs. and 13.86 lbs. gave him a total of 33.03. His efforts earned him a check for $1000.00. Finishing in 5th place is Steve Graf of Natchitoches, LA with five fish limits on both days of 14.87 lbs. and 15.94 lbs. His two-day total was 30.81.
This should have been the third and final event of the season, however, one still remains. Storms passing through the area earlier in the year caused the event at Sam Rayburn to be rescheduled. The last Top 150 Solo for 2024 will be fished on June 14th and 15th launching from Cassels Boykin Park. This event is open to anyone who would like to fish, and looking forward, there are no other tournaments that conflict this date. It should be a good event. At the end of the season, we will crown the Angler of the Year in this division and the top 15 anglers by points will receive an invitation to fish the 2024 Top 150 Solo Championship.
For more information on upcoming tournaments call Chris Wayand, tournament manager, at 256-230-5627 or ABA at 256-232-0406. Online, see www.americanbassanglers.com
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