Sean Hoernke fishing on Lake Norman during a recent PAA event - Photo by Alan Clemons

PAA pros Terry Butcher, Jason Christie, Sean Hoernke and Matt Reed have teamed up for a special instructional course on the lake. All compete on the PAA Tournament Series, Bassmaster Elite Series and FLW Tour, with years of experience to bank on.

“It’s basically a one-on-one coaching week with four touring professionals,” Hoernke said. “I have been doing this by myself for a while and it has been very rewarding to watch your clients make their first check or win their first event. Most of the time we are always so involved in making ourselves better and it’s really fun to take the experience we have and give it to others in the sport.”

The dates are Oct. 5-8 and the event will be to the first four individuals or two-person groups that register. The anglers will rotate each day with the four pros and spend the day fishing on Grand Lake. Only you or your group will be in the boat with the pro for the day.

The course is designed for all levels of anglers and tournament anglers looking for one-on-one instruction to help make them better and more successful anglers. From beginners to advanced tournament fishermen, each day the anglers will learn how to locate and catch fish on a large body of water along with different techniques and tricks used on the professional tours.

Students seeking improvement or knowledge on specific techniques also can work to develop those, as well. The course is centered around utilizing years of tournament fishing knowledge and delivering it to the student to make them better anglers.

For more information or to register, visit mattreedbasspro.com

Pro Chad Morgenthaler of Illinois held his fifth annual Chad Morgenthaler bass tournament this past weekend on Rend Lake. The tournament is put on each year to benefit the Special Olympics of Illinois. This year he also partnered with the Law Enforcement Torch Run and the event had a record turnout.

Ninety-one teams competed in the bass fishing tournament and the weights were pretty good. Bryan and Tony Mitchell won the event with five bass weighing 18.32 pounds, including the tournament's big bass of 5.27 pounds.

The teams had the option to compete in a Beat the Pro contest against Morgenthaler and Guido Hibdon. The tournament raised more than $32,000 for the Special Olympics Illinois, bringing their five-year total to $133,000.

The rest of the top 10 money winners in this year's event as well as the full standings and more about the event can be found at the Special Olympics Illinois website.

 

Some of the nation’s top bass pros will compete Sept. 9-11, based at West Tawakoni City Park, for more than $250,000 and a first place prize package worth $45,000. Daily launches and the first two days’ weigh-ins will be at the park at 3 p.m. The final weigh-in will be at Bass Pro Shops in Garland at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Among the pros scheduled to compete are Zell Rowland, Harold Allen, Justin Rackley and Kelly Jordon of Texas, Edwin Evers and Bradley Hallman of Oklahoma, Pete Ponds and Paul Elias of Mississippi, John Crews and JT Palmore of Virginia, Jason Quinn of South Carolina and many more.

Located northeast of Dallas, the sprawling 37,900-acre Sabine River impoundment may be more well-known for its superb catfishing. But bass fishermen find enough action with largemouth to stay busy. The lake record is 13.33 pounds, and earlier this year a 10.22-pounder was caught during a spring tournament.

“For bass, it’s a shallow-style lake and I think we’re going to see a lot of guys fishing docks, stumps, laydowns, riprap and cover anywhere along the bank,” said Texas A&M pro Justin Rackley, who guides on Lake Fork east of Tawakoni.

“Because of that, it could fish small with everyone looking at a lot of the same things,” he said. “There’s some stain to it, too, which I like. We’ll see a lot of jigs, big worms, crankbaits and spinnerbaits … good power-fishing techniques, and I like that better than anything.”

Numerous coves dotted with docks, shallow backwaters with woody cover and several creeks will provide the PAA Tournament Series field with ample targets. Offshore opportunities will be available, too, although the majority of bass anglers will stay relatively shallow.

“It’s going to be a good tournament and will fish shallow,” said Yamaha pro Zell Rowland of Austin. “It has deeper water, but is mainly a shallow fishery. There are some quality bass in it, a lot of timber and maybe a little vegetation. I haven’t been there in a few years but I really believe we’ll see some good bags.”

Rackley agreed, noting the population of striped bass and catfish offshore that seem to keep largemouth in the shallow areas of the lake.

“It has some depth in the middle, but with all the stripers out there … when the bass spawn they don’t have a lot of cover out there so they stay closer to the bank,” he said. “I believe we’ll see a lot of guys fishing from 1-5 feet.”

Rowland added that getting upriver could be a key if an angler wanted to try that challenge.

“One of the big secrets there is to get upriver, but I don’t know how many or if any of these guys will bring a jet boat,” he said. “I don’t have one, so it won’t be me.”