| Couples Association of Sport Tournaments(C.A.S.T.) Joe & Susie Moss Win 2008 CAST Classic !!! |  |
| by John K. Watts |
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The 2008 CAST Classic Championship visited Lake Amistad and Del Rio for the first time ever in CAST’s 25 year history. Many CAST couples were experiencing the clear deep blue water, beautiful foliage, and abundant wildlife of Amistad National Park for their first time. Most had never seen water so clear they could actually see the fish they were trying to catch down to 30, even 40 feet, deep during the day. Depth finders that had never displayed readings deeper than 50 feet suddenly seemed to be malfunctioning with triple digit signals showing depths at 165 feet deep and occassionally depths over 200 feet! Lake Amistad is truly a jewel in the Texas and Mexico desert. Joe & Susie fished hard plastic jerkbaits far up the Rio Grande River over 27 miles from the reservior dam. Like many CAST couples they found fishing early in the week to be "easy". Many couples reported catching fish as large as 9 pounds and five fish limits up to 20 pounds were common during practice. With calm waters and soft breezes during the week leading up to Saturday and Sunday’s tournament, everyone seemed to be enjoying the wonder of this special place. As many of us have heard in the past; "if you don’t like the weather in Texas just wait a day". Saturday morning began with "Normal" Amistad weather, wind blowing 10 to 15 mph out of the southeast, waves from 2 to 3 feet on the main lake, making the ride up river "bumpy" to say the least. Everyone has run water of this type at one time or another, but on Lake Amistad couples had to endure the ride to their fishing spot much longer then they were accustomed to on their home lake. Joe & Susie Moss are strong anglers having nine CAST Classic Tournaments under their belt of experience. They made the long run from Diablo East to their fishing area at mile marker 27 on the Rio Grande enabling them to bring in a respectable five fish limit on day one weighing 14.42 pounds. Not much weight compared to the 25 and 30 pound bags everyone read and dreamed about in the months leading up to the CAST Classic. Thanks to a Hurricane named Lowell and his over abundant rain in Mexico, Lake Amistad was filling up beyond levels not seen in over 20 years. The rapidly rising water changed expectations and reality. Joe & Susie’s weight was not so far out of first place after all; Jim & Jessica Behnken’s day one leading weight of 15.90, was not insurmountable! Sunday, day two, of the tournament brought even more drastic changes in the weather for CAST couples to experience on Amistad’s huge waters. Winds had increased to 15 to 25 mph coming from the east-southeast pushing water into waves from 5 to 7 feet high. Couples reported seeing their friends boats climb huge waves then disappear from sight only to reappear climbing up another wave almost in a vertical position. One CAST couple suffered through the scenario we all fear; their boat swamped and outboard engine died in the rough water. Bobby & Tammy Hodges were picked up by the National Park Service far from the ramp forcing them to tie their boat up and abandon it. They seemed in good spirits and displayed remarkable sportsmanship attending the final weigh-in at Diablo East Marina. Returning to their boat on Monday morning Bobby jumped in and wouldn’t you know, the engine "fired" right up! It would seem their ability to handle Lake Amistad surpassed the willingness of their boat to continue running the "big" water. We are thankful Bobby & Tammy made it in safe and were not the worse for wear. Joe & Susie ran the Lake Amistad gauntlet on day two returning back to marker 27 and the fish that would ultimately clinch the 2008 CAST Classic Championship for them. Not only did they pick up another five fish limit they caught what would turn out to be the "Big Bass" of the tournament, an awesome 6.87 pound lunker that fell off in the net just as Susie scooped it into the water! Winning any championship is not an easy task. The 2008 CAST Classic was not any different. Joe & Susie put in the time, effort, and dedication necessary to win a championship! Joe & Susie Moss are much like all of us. They have endured trials and tribulation making their lives special. Those people who know Joe & Susie know their love of bass fishing, dedication to family, each other, and how they are always willing to help others. They will be great ambassadors of CAST as the 2008 CAST Classic Champions. Congratulations to Joe & Susie Moss on their awesome victory! We look forward to seeing both of you in 2009. John & Grace Watts C.A.S.T.
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