Jon Harshbarger Wins Tough Rayburn Tournament

Jon Harshbarger weighed in 4 fish weighing 10.55 pounds to win a tough Sam Rayburn tournament. The lake level was very good for this time of year and the surface temperatures were in the mid 80’s. The weather was nice with partly cloudy skies with winds at 10-15 mph, which helped keep things bearable with air temperatures topping out in the mid 90’s. 

Unfortunately, the 20 anglers fishing this event found the fish scattered and not feeding at all. Maybe the problem was the full moon phase giving the fish the ability to feed more actively at night, or possibly the lower water temperatures for this time of year, or possibly the hydrilla not being at it’s maximum growth. We’ll never know, but that’s what makes bass fishing so interesting – it is a constant challenge to try and figure out those little green fish. 

Elvin Smith captured 2^nd place with four fish weighing 10.37 pounds, which included Sunday’s big bass weighing 5.73 pounds. Quite an accomplishment considering he had to fish over all the snoring going on the back of the boat Sunday morning. 3^rd place went to Randy Kvapil with 4 fish at 8.20 pounds and 4^th place went to Chuck Middleton with 4 fish weighing 7.98 pounds. Wally Hughey wasn’t far back in 5^th place with 7.40 pounds including Saturday’s big bass weighing 3.65 pounds.  

Robert Hargrove’s 6^th place finish kept him on top of the angler of the year race with 485 points. Robert leads Coy Frazier and Rand Kvapil who are tied for 2^nd place with 475 points. Close behind and also tied are Paul Zukosky and Bill Kessler with 471 points. Next is Wally Hughey with 470 points, then myself with 455 points and Craig Dowis with 451 points. It’s pretty clear by now that it is going to be a tight race right up to the last tournament for next year’s Top Six team.  

Our next event will be a night tournament at Lake Palestine on Saturday August 17^th. Lodging is available at the Lake Palestine Motor Inn – 903-876-4711.

Tommy Yates