Toledo Bend Elite Series…..*****NOW VERY PIC HEAVY*******SORRY ABOUT THE SIDEWAYS PICS. I EDITED THEM ON PHOTOBUCKET BUT STILL SIDEWAYS

Should be good. My brother just got back last night from 4 days down at the Bend, breaking in his new Puma FTD. Spent some time with the Lowrance guys, gaining insight on the HDS12. He caught some nice chunks and some still had tails that were a little “raw”………96 Eyra/12 Mercury 175 Pro XS with 2015 single axle trailer2017 Victory Gunner

Thanks for the update Jim! Good job.

Wow! Shaw, and Brandon P. Im jealous! Id love to be in a boat w/ Shaw. I loved marshaling last year. I wish they were close enough this year for me to do it again but, maybe next year.13 PIV w/ 200 MercIG: WarriorRiverCustomRods

Oh my goodness what a difference one day and a different angler makes. Brandon Palaniuk had a lot of ground to make up to make the top 50 cut. He said he had a 2 pound penalty for bringing in 6 fish yesterday. Sounds familiar for some reason. He figured he needed 20-21 pounds to make the cut. We ran to his first area and Kenyon Hill was already there. He asked Kenyon if he was going to fish the whole cut and Kenyon said that he was, so Brandon told him that he was not going to come in on him. We made a short run to another pocket where Brandon proceeded to flip the shoreline grass. He could not find a fish on any wood cover. He still flipped to laydowns and cypress trees but had no results. The grass was good to him though. Within a 10 minute period he had flipped up 3 solid keepers including 2 over 3 pounds. He finished his limit in that first small pocket by 8:00. We made a move to another area where he continued flipping the grass mats. He caught a couple that helped him by ounces but he was needing pounds. Finally, he got the break he had been looking for when an 8 pounder ate his lure. It was exciting and nerve wracking because it got all tangled up in the grass and he had to go in after her. I got some good pictures and since we were sending them to BASS, they were on the live blog. Ill post more after its all over, like I said yesterday. From there we went farther south, nearly to the Toledo Bend dam. There he had some bed fish that he had seen in practice and on the first day. Quite a few of them were gone, either caught by others or finished spawning and moved. We saw some cruising and he actually caught one that he saw cruising that helped him by a pound. When he saw her, he picked up a spinning rod rigged with a drop shot and flipped it over and she ate it right away. He spent some time on a couple he could see but he wasnt sure if they would help or not. It didnt matter because he could not get them to bite anyway. Time was getting short by this time so we began moving back north to get a little closer to the launch. He caught a few more small fish flipping grass and off of beds that he saw. He finally got one last 4 pounder that helped him cull a 3. He still didnt think he had enough to make the cut. He was figuring the big fish was 6 and he had about 18 pounds. I kept telling him that fish was closer to 8 and he had 20 pounds. He didnt believe it until he weighed in. I believe she was 8-2 and he had 21-8. He jumped from 99th all the way up to 29th. What a great kid. With all the success he has already had on the tour, he was still shaking when he caught that big fish and didnt think he had enough to make the cut. He kept insisting that these guys are just too good and he would not be able to make up 50 places to get in the money. Brandon generally travels with and stays with Chris Zaldain. Two weeks ago Chris sent me a message asking if I knew of any houses for rent or places they could stay because their plans had fallen through. I sent him a lot of information and he said he would forward it to Brandon. Well…..Chris found a place to stay. Even with all the money Brandon has won, he is staying at a friends house on Sam Rayburn. So he is driving nearly an hour, launching on the Texas side of the lake and coming to the launch by boat. I guess sleeping in the back of the truck does get old. Shaw Grigsby was the first man below the cut. Too bad for Shaw because he really is a great guy. Tomorrow I go out with Brandon Lester. Hes in 18th place so I may get to see some more action. Hopefully anyway. To be continued. 1 , Jacob Powroznik , 5, 24-14, 5, 23- 6, 10, 48- 4, || 2 , Dean Rojas , 5, 19-14, 5, 24-15, 10, 44-13, || 3 , Chad Morgenthaler , 5, 18-15, 5, 24-13, 10, 43-12, || 4 , Jared Lintner , 5, 25- 7, 5, 16-13, 10, 42- 4, || 5 , Skeet Reese , 5, 17- 7, 5, 23-14, 10, 41- 5, || 6 , Randall Tharp , 5, 16- 5, 5, 24-13, 10, 41- 2, || 7 , Todd Faircloth , 5, 21-14, 5, 18-13, 10, 40-11, || 8 , Mark Davis , 5, 17-14, 5, 22- 9, 10, 40- 7, || 9 , Rick Clunn , 5, 22- 2, 5, 18- 5, 10, 40- 7, || 10 , Chris Zaldain , 5, 22- 6, 5, 15-15, 10, 38- 5, || 11 , Randy Howell , 5, 22- 4, 5, 14-15, 10, 37- 3, || 12 , Casey Ashley , 5, 15- 6, 5, 21-11, 10, 37- 1, || 13 , Cliff Pirch , 5, 20-13, 5, 15-14, 10, 36-11, || 14 , Cliff Crochet , 5, 21-10, 5, 13-15, 10, 35- 9, || 15 , Bobby Lane , 5, 21- 5, 5, 13-13, 10, 35- 2, || 16 , Hank Cherry , 5, 15- 7, 5, 19- 8, 10, 34-15, || 17 , Mike Kernan , 5, 22- 1, 5, 12-13, 10, 34-14, || 18 , Brandon Lester , 5, 14- 7, 5, 20- 5, 10, 34-12, || 19 , Kelley Jaye , 5, 18- 0, 5, 16- 5, 10, 34- 5, || 20 , Brett Hite , 5, 17- 9, 5, 16- 9, 10, 34- 2, || 21 , Chad Pipkens , 5, 20- 8, 5, 13- 9, 10, 34- 1, || 22 , Jonathon VanDam , 5, 14- 7, 5, 19-10, 10, 34- 1, || 23 , Russ Lane , 5, 19- 4, 5, 14- 5, 10, 33- 9, || 24 , Alton Jones , 5, 19- 3, 5, 14- 6, 10, 33- 9, || 25 , Josh Bertrand , 5, 18- 0, 5, 15- 8, 10, 33- 8, || 26 , Brent Chapman , 5, 16- 6, 5, 16-12, 10, 33- 2, || 27 , J Todd Tucker , 5, 25- 0, 4, 7-11, 9, 32-11, || 28 , James Niggemeyer , 5, 20- 5, 5, 11- 2, 10, 31- 7, || 29 , Brandon Palaniuk , 5, 9-13, 5, 21- 8, 10, 31- 5, || 30 , Kevin VanDam , 5, 17- 5, 5, 13-13, 10, 31- 2, || 31 , Mike McClelland , 5, 16- 1, 5, 14-14, 10, 30-15, || 32 , Nate Wellman , 5, 15-12, 5, 15- 3, 10, 30-15, || 33 , Gerald Swindle , 5, 12- 6, 5, 18- 8, 10, 30-14, || 34 , Matthew Herren , 5, 17- 3, 5, 13- 9, 10, 30-12, || 35 , Keith Combs , 5, 13- 4, 5, 17- 7, 10, 30-11, || 36 , Kotaro Kiriyama , 5, 13- 7, 5, 17- 0, 10, 30- 7, || 37 , Morizo Shimizu , 5, 16-12, 5, 13-11, 10, 30- 7, || 38 , Marty Robinson , 5, 13-12, 5, 16-10, 10, 30- 6, || 39 , David Mullins , 5, 14- 9, 5, 15-13, 10, 30- 6, || 40 , Stephen Browning , 5, 16-14, 5, 13- 7, 10, 30- 5, || 41 , Greg Vinson , 5, 18- 1, 5, 12- 3, 10, 30- 4, || 42 , Greg Hackney , 5, 17- 5, 5, 12-15, 10, 30- 4, || 43 , Keith Poche , 5, 18-14, 5, 11- 4, 10, 30- 2, || 44 , Stephen Kennedy , 5, 16-14, 5, 13- 2, 10, 30- 0, || 45 , Glenn Browne , 5, 16- 0, 5, 13-15, 10, 29-15, || 46 , Scott Rook , 5, 15- 9, 5, 14- 5, 10, 29-14, || 47 , Terry Scroggins , 5, 12-13, 5, 16-14, 10, 29-11, || 48 , Chris Lane , 5, 13-14, 5, 15-10, 10, 29- 8, || 49 , Brian Snowden , 5, 15- 1, 5, 14- 2, 10, 29- 3, || 50 , Kelly Jordon , 5, 15- 6, 5, 13- 8, 10, 28-14, ||Jim EbarbMany, LA (Toledo Bend Lake)2004 Cougar/ 225 OptimaxHumminbird Helix 12 Chirp SI on BalzOut Mount at bowLowrance HDS 7 at bowHumminbird Helix 12 Mega SI on Ram Mount at ConsoleLowrance HDS 8 in dash at console