8/15/26 Self-chartered Boat Freshwater Fishing Trip
One of three fishermen had a good day on Lake Austin. Jim McGee caught five bass, all in the same area, ranging from 13 3/4 – 21″, all on an unidentified whacky-rigged worm (his son snagged a Abu Garcia baitcaster reel and casting rod on the bottom of the Guadalupe River, complete with that worm, and gave it to Jim).
Randy Rowley had three strong hits on drop shot Roboworms and bass ran off with two of his worms. Burl Fulenwider had a strong hit on a whacky-rigged Senko worm.
The grass was the thickest that Randy has seen it and was unfishable with crankbaits, spinnerbaits, spoons, and anything else with an exposed hook. The bass also had no interest in his weighted hook swimbait or crawdad jig.
They couldn’t buy a topwater bite on Whopper Ploppers, dog walkers, and frogs.
7/25/26 Self-chartered Kayak, Pond Boat Freshwater Fishing Trip
Four fishermen had a good time at the Deloach Ranch’s lake near Taylor, catching 20 bass. Ron Prince led the way with 14 bass, caught on Beavertail and Senko-pegged soft plastics. Randy Rowley caught five bass on a Yo-Zuri 3DB lipless crankbait in ghost prism shad color. Abby Niersmann caught a 14″ bass on a Strike King Red Eyed Shad lipless crankbait in perch color. Monalisa Almanza had a bass on her River2Sea Whopper Plopper but it got off the hook on the way back to the pond boat.
Randy had one miss his frog and another one miss his Whopper Plopper clone. He kept four of his bass and Abby kept her bass.
Michael Wasson, an FCS Facebook page member, also fished the lake and caught four bass (he wasn’t there to fish with us).
7/10/26 Self-chartered Kayak, Pond Boat, and Bank Freshwater Fishing Trip
A record nine participants and a record-tying six fishermen, at Mark DeLoach’s lake near Taylor, had a good day catching 17 fish. Randy Rowley ended up with eight bass, six on a Yo-Zuri 3DB lipless crankbait in prism ghost shad color, one on a Evergreen Showerblows 105 dog walker in bone color, and one on a Rapala Clap Tail 110 in black back shad color. Burl Fulenwider and Cannon Fulenwider caught six bass and one perch. Three of the bass were caught on Whopper Ploppers, two on chartreuse swimbaits, and one on a lipless crankbait. Monalisa Almanza and Gabe Painter caught a bass each on lipless crankbaits in perch color. Chris Rowley practiced casting from the bank.
Burl and Cannon lost two at the boat. Randy had two miss his Clap Trap and two miss his frog. They kept 12 bass and the perch.
6/27/26 Self-chartered Kayak and Pond Boat Freshwater Fishing Trip
A record six fishermen, at the DeLoach Ranch’s lake near Taylor, mostly had a slow day catching 11 bass, although Al Atkins had his best day to date, catching five bass on a frog. Jim McGee and Randy Rowley caught two bass each. Jim caught his on a Roadrunner and Randy caught one on a Rapala Claptail 110 (a Whopper Plopper clone) in black back shad color and one on a Yo-Zuri 3DB lipless crankbait in prism ghost shad color. Binh Chu and Hunter Rowley caught one each. Binh caught his on a swim shad and Hunter caught his on a 6th Sense Quake lipless crankbait in 4K shad color. Ryan Rowley practiced casting. Randy also lost a bass at his pond boat and Hunter lost one due to a poorly tied knot by a certain granddad.
The 11 bass caught were a drop in the bucket compared to the 60 fish that they caught two weeks ago. It was just 4° hotter. The wind was about the same strength and from the same direction. The cloud cover was about the same. The moon phase was about the same. All that Randy can figure is the poorer showing was due to lingering effects of the tropical storm that went through the area around a week ago, or they could be entering into the dog days of summer early.
6/21/26 Chartered Catfish Fishing Trip
Nine fishermen had a good time with guide Seth Hobbs on Lake Buchanan. Hybrid/striped bass fishing had been slow, so Seth targeted catfish with cut shad. The group caught 40 catfish from a hump roughly a mile from the dock. The boat next to them caught two – three hybrids/stripers, the best that Kevin McConnell would tell from a distance. Hunter, another guide, was not even fishing because it had been so slow.
6/13/26 Self-chartered Kayak and Pond Boat Freshwater Fishing Trip
Three fishermen had another great day at the DeLoach Ranch’s lake near Taylor. They caught 60 fish and kept 43.
Jim McGee led the way with a personal best 34 fish (26 crappie and eight bass). It was also the second most number of fish caught on an FCS self-chartered trip. The crappie and most of the bass were caught on a Beetle Spin. He kept 24 crappie.
Raul Pena caught 12 bass, with 10 keepers, on a bone colored Whopper Plopper.
Randy Rowley caught 10 fish (nine bass and a crappie) – four bass on a 6th Sense Divine swim bait in baby bluegill color on a weighted hook, three bass on a bone colored Whopper Plopper, two bass on a Yo-Zuri 3DB lipless crankbait in prism ghost shad color, and the crappie on a Beetle Spin. He had a bass hit his dog walker four times in quick succession and not get hooked. He only had one frog hit. He kept six bass and the crappie.
It was the maiden voyage of Bluey III, Chris and Randy’s new-to-them pond boat. Randy had a lot of trouble with their Motorguide R3 30 lb. thrust two-blade trolling motor in the grass, which covers most of the lake, so he paddled most of the time.
Al Atkins caught four bass (two on a Berkley Choppo in HD (High Definition) Bluegill color, one on a Lunkerhunt Prop Frog in green tea color, and one on a 6th Sense Devine swimbait in baby bluegill color on a weighted hook. He kept all four bass.
It started calm but became windy. It was partly cloudy.
6/7/26 Self-chartered Kayak Freshwater Fishing Trip
Three fishermen had a good time at the Deloach Ranch near Taylor, although it wasn’t as productive as the day before. They caught 18 bass and kept 11.
Raul Pena led the way with 11 bass (seven keepers). All but one of his bass were caught on a bone colored Whopper Plopper 90. He caught the remaining bass on a Lunkerhunt Prop Frog in tea green color.
Randy Rowley caught five bass – three on a bone colored Whopper Plopper 90 and two on a Yo-Zuri 3DB Pencil Popper (dog walker) in prism ghost shad color. He had one get off a Yo-Zuri 3DB lipless crankbait right at his kayak and lost one on his Whopper Plopper on the way back to his kayak. He had two hit and miss his Whopper Plopper, one hit and miss his dog walker, and three miss his Prop Frog. There was no interest in his swim bait. He kept two bass.
Amit Gupta caught two bass on a Berkley Choppo in HD (High Definition) Bluegill color. He kept both bass.
It was much windier than it was the day before. They gave up around 9:30 AM.
6/6/26 Self-chartered Kayak Freshwater Fishing Trip
Four fishermen had a good time at the DeLoach Ranch lake near Taylor, after heavy rain the night before. They caught 27 bass and took home 12.
Raul Pena and Eli Pena caught 16 bass between them on a bone colored Whopper Plopper 90, a popper, and a jointed swim bait.
Randy Rowley caught eight bass – three on a Whopper Plopper 110 in munky butt color, two on a weighted hook 6th Sense Divine swimbait (one in baby bluegill color and one in pro shad color), two on a Yo-Zuri 3DB lipless crankbait in prism ghost shad color, and one on a Yo-Zuri 3DB Pencil Popper dog walker in prism ghost shad color. He had one run off with his swimbait due to a poorly tied knot. He had three hit his dog walker and not get hooked, one hit a popper twice and not get hooked, and three hit his frog and not get hooked.
Al Atkins caught two bass – one on a Lunkerhunt Prop Frog in green tea color and one on a Chasing Stripers dog walker in shad color.
They didn’t have much wind. It was overcast early, but that changed to partly cloudy.
5/31/26 Chartered Hybrid/Striped Bass Fishing Trip
Nine fishermen mostly practiced releasing their baits and reeling them back up with Seth Hobbs on Lake Buchanan. Only three fish were caught – an undersized hybrid bass caught by Daniel Hebert, a keeper white bass caught by Don Hebert, and a keeper blue catfish caught by Patrick Kelley.
There was a full moon the night before the trip, so the bass were probably feeding all night, there was an east wind on the morning of the trip – Wind from the East, Fish bite the least, is the old saying, and the lake is only .6′ low, the first time that it’s been full since 7/16/25. A full lake means that the bass are harder to find.
Seth ran the fishermen all over the lake and found fish at several spots, but they mostly weren’t interested in the live shad and cut bait that the fishermen were offering.
5/28/26 – 5/31/26 Self-chartered Kayak Bay Fishing Trip
Five FCS members attended the inaugural coastal kayak fishing trip in Port O’Connor. The trip started with a lunch meet up with a Cuero member and his wife (Roy and Karen Zengerle). After lunch they continued on to POC where they were joined by the other members.
On Friday morning they fished Barroom Bay and some of the surrounding marshes. They located an area with many redfish, but they were not very cooperative. One large red was hooked but broke the line. A redfish was also caught with a flyrod. They caught some small reds and trout as well as a keeper trout. Afterwards fishing was limited by the wind.
On Saturday they went to Indianola and fished Powderhorn Lake. Two keeper trout were caught but eaten on the stringer by a shark. One rod was broken by a stingray.
On Sunday they returned to Barroom Bay and the marshes. Redfish were still there. A 22″ redfish was caught on a topwater. There were also a few alligators present. More undersized reds and trout were caught.
They had good weather, good fellowship, and caught a few fish. They all hope to do it again.
5/25/26 Self-chartered Kayak Freshwater Fishing Trip
Three FCS members had a record-setting day at the DeLoach Ranch lake near Taylor. They caught 73 fish!
Larry Stafford led the way with 39 bass, caught on a spinnerbait and a swimbait, the most fish that he’s ever caught! It was also the most fish ever caught on an FCS self-chartered freshwater fishing trip! He also caught the biggest bass – a 17 incher!
Randy Rowley caught 24 bass (his previous record was 15), the second most fish caught on an FCS self-chartered freshwater fishing trip. He caught ten bass on a Yo-Zuri 3DB lipless crankbait in prism ghost shad color, eight on a Yo-Zuri 3DB Pencil Popper (dog walker) in prism ghost shad color, four on Devine swimbaits on weighted hooks, and two on a Yellow Magic Popper in perch color. He lost three bass at his kayak, had three hit his dog water and not get hooked, one hit his Whopper Plopper and not get hooked, three take his frog under water and not get hooked, and three that got off of his swimbait because he didn’t set the hook hard enough. He could have ended up with 37 bass. His drop shot worm didn’t gather any attention. He kept 11 bass. Almost as good is Randy’s back handled the trip without any new aches and pains.
Regan Hogan caught ten fish – seven bass, two crappie, and a perch, all on a Roster Tail inline spinner. It was Regan’s best fishing trip to date. Regan scratched catching a crappie off of his bucket list!
Most of the bass were between 12 – 14″.
The lake once again has a ton of grass in it. Where there’s grass, there’s bass! Surprisingly, they were devoid of wind for most of the morning.
5/23/26 Self-chartered Bank Freshwater Fishing Trip
Two FCS members and four grandkids had a good time at a Santa Rita Ranch North pond in Liberty Hill. They caught four fish.
Gabe Painter caught his first bass on a Whopper Plopper. Gabe had a bass hit his Whopper Plopper earlier and not get hooked. Randy Rowley was bummed that he was robbed of the catch so he was thrilled that God gave him another shot.
Ella Painter caught her first perch on a live worm.
Chris Rowley caught two perch on live worms.
Randy practiced casting and had no hits on a Whopper Plopper or a dog walker.
4/25/26 Self-chartered Boat Freshwater Fishing Trip
Three FCS members had a very slow morning on Lake Travis on an overcast morning. They were skunked.
Randy Rowley hooked an around 15″ bass on a Strike King 6XD crankbait but lost it flipping it into his boat. Burl Fulenwider hooked either a large perch or a turtle, as it was round, on a silver spoon, but it got off the hook around 10′ from Randy’s boat. Jim McGee practiced casting. They mainly fished the Hurst Creek Arm and Hatter’s Cove.
They had no success with Whopper Ploppers, a dog walker, a popper, spinnerbaits, swimbaits (including a Magdraft), grubs, a chatterbait, and a drop shot worm.
4/23/26 Self-chartered Boat Freshwater Fishing Trip
Two FCS members and one youth practiced casting on Lake Stillhouse Hollow on an overcast morning. The three were skunked.
Randy Rowley had a bass hit and miss his lipless crankbait. Randy also had a couple of hits on a swimbait, as did Cannon Fulenwider. Burl Fulenwider practiced casting. They focused on the east side of the lake.
They had no success with Whopper Ploppers, dog walkers, a popper, a Baby Torpedo, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, a chatterbait, a grub, and a worm.
4/18/26 Self-chartered Boat Freshwater Fishing Trip
Three FCS members had a slow morning on Lake Travis on an overcast and rainy morning. They caught five fish.
Randy Rowley caught a 15 1/4 inch bass and a dink on a Strike King 6XD crankbait.
Burl Fulenwider caught a 16″ catfish and a large perch on a silver spoon.
Jim McGee caught a 13″ bass on a bass colored lipless crankbait. They mainly fished the Captain Pete’s cove and the Rough Hollow cove.
They had no success with Whopper Ploppers, dog walkers, a popping rig with a PET spoon, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, a chatterbait, and a tandem Roadrunner rig.
4/3/26 Self-chartered Kayak Freshwater Fishing Trip
Four fishermen had a very slow morning on the DeLoach Ranch’s lake near Taylor – none of them even hooked a fish. The water was very muddy from Thursday’s heavy rain and the lake’s level was up.
Randy Rowley had a bass miss his dog walker and Chris Rowley had a bass hit her frog but not get hooked.
This is the first time that everyone was skunked.
3/28/26 Self-chartered Boat Freshwater Fishing Trip
Three fishermen had a slow morning on Lake Bastrop. They caught six bass. The bass began schooling at 7:22 AM, but didn’t school for long and didn’t stay up top for long.
Jim McGee led the way with three bass – one on a Heddon Super Spook dog walker, one on a River2Sea Whopper Plopper, and one on a Luhr Jensen PET spoon. He also hooked two more on his Whopper Plopper that got off the hooks.
Burl Fulenwider caught two bass, both on a Heddon Super Spook dog walker. He caught the longest fish – a 16 incher. He also lost a fish that got off his dog walker’s hooks.
Randy Rowley caught a bass on a Yo-Zuri 3DB Pencil Popper dog walker. He also lost a fish that got off of his Whopper Plopper’s hooks.
The bass weren’t interested in crankbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and soft jerkbaits.
The power plant wasn’t running so there was no hot water discharge, which probably was responsible for the limited schooling.
3/2/26 Self-chartered Bank Freshwater Fishing Trip
Three fishermen had a fun evening at two Santa Rita Ranch North ponds in Liberty Hill. They caught four bass.
Jim McGee led the way with three bass, two on a white River-2-Sea Whopper Plopper and one on a white spinnerbait. He had two misses on his Whopper Plopper.
Randy Rowley caught one on a sliver Whopper Plopper. He had three misses on his dog walker.
Ryan Rowley practiced casting, but was late to the party, as it was a work day for him.
Randy and Jim changed their plans to fish Lady Bird Lake from the Rowley’s kayaks, as strong winds were forecast.
2/28/26 Self-chartered Boat Freshwater Fishing Trip
Three fishermen had a slow morning on the Lampasas River below Lake Stillhouse Hollow.
Burl Fulenwider caught three white bass while trolling with a Rapala Jointed Shad Rap crankbait.
Cannon Fulenwider caught a perch on a crappie jig.
Randy Rowley practiced casting and jigging.
They saw a lot of fish and bait balls on Randy’s fish finders but they weren’t hungry. A guy at the ramp gave them eleven white bass.
2/16/26 Self-chartered Kayak and Bank Freshwater Fishing Trip
Seven fishermen had a slow but purdy morning on Devine Lake. The lake is shallow (5.6′ was the deepest that Randy Rowley found) and very grassy. Crankbaits were a no go.
Jim McGee and Randy managed two bass (a bass each), both on top waters. Randy had another one on that got off and had one come mostly out of the water in an attempt to smash his dog walker, but missed it. Jim had another hit too.
Chris Rowley and four of the Rowley’s grandkids fished from the bank using live worms. They had no hits.
The lake had probably 500 ducks on it – mostly divers.
The maiden voyages of the Rowley’s new-to-them kayaks (Little Cam and Bluey II) were a success. They both were much stabler than their old kayaks.
1/8/26 – 1/11/26 Bay Fishing Trip
Eight FCS members ventured to Port O’Connor for four days of fishing and fellowship. They were quite successful at both of those. They had both good weather and windy weather.
Thursday afternoon was windy, so they went to Saluria Bayou. Randy Rowley hooked and fought probably a black drum/big ugly for around two minutes until it broke or cut his 30 lb. monofilament leader, possibly on an oyster shell (his knot hadn’t failed).
Friday morning the winds were light, and they were able to fish the jetties as well as a wreck in Matagorda bay. They caught a large number of bull redfish up to 39 inches, multiple keeper trout, etc. Even some small red snapper were caught off of the wreck. Lunch was at Marty’s, which is always good.
Saturday morning they awoke to 30+ mph winds which kept them at the dock. Since they could not fish, the group minus Randy, who went on a solo self-guided coastal duck hunt at the Guadalupe Delta Wildlife Management Area, went to Indianola and ate at the marina, which was quite tasty. They fished in the afternoon after the winds settled a little. Daryl’s boat came through again with a black drum, several slot redfish, and other miscellaneous fish. The day ended with dinner at the Redfish Lodge.
Sunday morning was a bit breezy and cool, but all boats went out. Kevin McConnell took his boat to Barroom Bay to wade fish. There they got a three man limit of nine slot reds plus a number of smaller reds. The other two boats fished the ICW near Clark’s and the Caracol community, primarily using live shrimp. A number of small fish of various species were caught. Daryl Shipper’s boat came through with a 33 pound black drum, 19.5” trout, a few slot reds, and a mix of sheepshead and other fish.
On the way back to Austin they stopped in Seadrift and had lunch at La Terraza.
Fish of note included:
Burl Fulenwider – 42″ bull redfish, 33 lb. black drum/big ugly, 20 lb. black drum/big ugly, and 19 1/2″ speckled trout
Wayne Weilnau – five bull redfish ranging from 29 – 39″
Russ Gibbs – 39″ bull redfish
Jim McGee – 37 1/2″ and 34 1/2″ bull redfish and 19 1/2″ redfish
Randy Rowley – 33″ bull redfish
Mike Pozhenko – seven slot redfish
Kevin McConnell – five slot redfish
Daryl Shipper – black drum/big ugly and two slot redfish
For 54 pictures from the event, see the Waterfowl Hunts Photo Gallery (this was originally a blast and cast, so that’s where Randy put the pictures). For additional details, see the posts in the Fellowship of Christian Sportsmen Facebook group.
Thanks to Daryl, Kevin, and Wayne for sharing their boats and to Wayne for sharing his house.