Sunday, July 20, 1997

Rumors and gossip.

By Jerry O'Bryant / Abilene Reporter-News

Bass anglers kibitz and gossip more than most folks, and many in the Abilene area have been working overtime of late.

The upcoming Travis Texas Open Team Tournament, slated for Aug. 2-3 on Lake Amistad near Del Rio, will give away at least six boats during the 2-day contest. But because of recent rumors concerning the financial health of Viper Boats, one of the companies donating boats to the Travis tournament - tales of "no boats at the tournament" have been rampant in Abilene during the past couple of weeks.

"Absolutely untrue," said an official at the Travis Boating Center in Abilene this week.

"I don't know how those types of stories get started," the Travis employee said, "but we already have the prize boats for the tournament on-hand and rigged, and Charles Luna, the president of Viper Boats will be at Del Rio to help give them away."

The boats to be given away or won at the popular tournament include a Viper Cobra, fully rigged, as grand prize; a fully rigged Cajun 185 which will be won in a drawing; a fully rigged SeaArk Z180 McBass Boat for the 6th place finishers; a fully rigged Sprint 267 Pro Boat for the 66th place team; a Viper 190 bass boat with trailer and electronics for the 166th place team and a Viper 180 bass boat with trailer and electronics for the 266th place finishers.

The first-place boat will have a Johnson 200 horsepower engine; the draw boat will be powered by a 150 horsepower Johnson outboard, the 6th place rig will have a 90 horsepower Johnson and the 66th place prize boat will carry a 60 horsepower Johnson engine.

Earlier I said that "at least" six boats will be given away, and there is a reason for that. At last year's Travis Open, where three boats were to be given away, Charles Luna decided at the awards ceremony to donate yet another Viper bass boat to the tourney - so there were actually four boats on the total prize list.

Maybe Mr. Luna will be feeling generous again this year.

With so many boats on the prize list it is easy to overlook the cash prizes at this tournament, but there will be some money involved. Based on 400 team entries, the cash prizes will range from $3,000 for second place to $150 for 30th place.

Also based on 400 team entries, there will be a $4,000 big-bass prize given away each day of the contest - and if any team is lucky enough to weigh in a 2-day stringer at exactly 16.66 pounds, they will win a 286 Sprint bass boat with a 150 horsepower Johnson engine.

If all that is not enough, there will be a free barbecue meal for contestantsafter Saturday's weigh-in and over $25,000 in door prizes will be given away during final weigh-in on Sunday.

Entry fee for the tournament became $150 per team after July 19. For more information contact the nearest Travis Boating Center or telephone Ron Hilliard at (915) 367-1638.

Hung up

"You're hung up," Rick Densman said from the rear of the boat.

"Uh-ugh," was the strained reply from David Chrz in the front.

Chrz's rod tip kept getting lower and lower and there were intermittent "zissing" sounds from his protesting reel.

"Told you," the laconic Densman offered again as Chrz strained and tugged on his fishing rod. "You're hung on the bottom."

"Uh-ugh," insisted the tight-lipped Chrz as his rod tip began to dip and throb and his reel gave up more line.

Densman and Chrz were fishing Lake Ivie during the July 4th weekend, with plastic worms Carolina-rigged in 25 feet of water, when this conversation occured.

Finally the cause of the problem erupted on the lake's surface - all 11.22 pounds of enraged largemouth - and all talk ceased until Chrz could get the fish cranked to the side of the boat and Densman got a lip-lock on the big female and hauled her on board.

Chrz and Densman weren't the only "catchers" at Lake Ive recently.

Lynn Owens, at Big O's Tackle Shop in Valera, says the current full-moon cycle has put Ivie bass on the prowl and some very good catches have been taken from 31-foot depths.

One of Owen's regular customers had a 10-pounder Saturday and another angler had two good days last week with 12 keepers (18-inch minimum) on Friday that included a 9-pounder and two 8s.

Owens said that some of his customers have switched to night-time fishing at Ivie and are enjoying successful fishing in the cool of the night.

4-H fund raiser

Bob Robinson of Clyde says the annual fund raiser for the area 4-H Shooting Sports Program will be held again at the Callahan County Shooting Range, located between Clyde and Baird on FM 18 near County Road 353 on Aug. 9-10.

Robinson said the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's 5-Stand Sporting Clay Spread will on hand, along with a Crazy Quail shooting stand, and that the public will be offered 10 shots for $1 in the friendly competitions.

Robinson describes Crazy Quail as a kind of 'call and quiver' situation where the electronic target tosser is hidden from the gunner, and is liable to throw the targets in any direction - including very near the gunner.

"The hidden throwing machine is constantly spinning, and when the shooter calls for a target, he has absolutely no idea which way the machine will be pointing. It's a lot of fun - and can be a little bit humbling," Robinson said.

For more information on the 4-H Fun Shoot on Aug. 9-10 telephone Bob Robinson, around 8 p.m., at (915) 893-5625.

Blue quail sighting

One of the best sights seen in a long time was the covey of 3-inch tall blue quail darting through thick ground cover in Coke County last week.

It's been a year or two since a good number of baby blues have been seen in the area and these little birds, sporting the beginnings of dusky blue and brown flying feathers, seemed to be in excellent health.

We couldn't be sure of the number of young birds in the covey, due to heavy grass and weeds, but at least seven or eight young blues were seen developing that high-speed gallop this particular species so much admires.

Hunter safety course

A Hunter Safety Education Course, certified by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, has been scheduled for Aug. 1-3 at Texas State Technical College in Breckenridge.

The complete course is open to youngsters and adults and will cover a wide range of instruction, including firearms, bowhunting, safety, wildlife identification, conservation, first aid and survival.

Certified course instructors will be Billy Holt, Gary Doyle and John Cook. The course fee is $10 per student and Quail Unlimited will pay the $10 fee for students 17 years and younger.

For more information on this Aug. 1-3 hunter education course telephone the TSTC in Breckenridge at (254) 559-6556 or Billy Holt at (254) 559-8010.

Archery tourney

The Texas State Championship Archery Tournament will be hosted by the Irving Bowhunters Association in Dallas on Aug. 30-31.

The tournament is open to all ages. For more information contact Vel Hunter at 1-800-974-2697.

Fire ant tip

A tip to those of you who are finding fire ants in your, yards, air conditioners, electrical systems, and other places too numerous to mention.

Howard Waddell of Abilene is a longtime angler and outdoorsman - and while Howard can catch enough bass or catfish to make some folks think he's spinning a tale - we've never known Howard to mislead.

Corn meal is the answer, according to Waddell.

Plain and untreated corn meal scattered around the ants' nesting site will expand after being eaten by the ants and will cause the little critters to swell up and die.

Howard says corn meal will not kill regular red ants because their bodies are large enough to handle the expanding meal - but those smaller fire ants are goners after eating a meal of meal.

Haven't tried it yet, but if Howard says it works we'll bet it's true.