Today’s Throwback Thursday historical photo takes us to Texas, Sam Rayburn Reservoir in particular, and features Bassmaster professional David Wharton. The picture accompanied a pair of articles in a 1988 write-up by outdoor writers Bob Hood and Bob Gwizdz each naming their ten favorite bass lakes in the state.
As you might expect, Toledo Bend, Sam Rayburn, Lake Fork, and Lake Whitney each appeared on the two writers’ lists. That left quite a few differences of opinion on the remaining six lakes.
Bob Hood’s remaining list included Lake O’ The Pines, Squaw Creek, Possum Kingdom, Millers Creek, Lake Palestine and Lake Falcon.
Bob Gwizdz’s remaining lakes included Lake Fairfield, Caddo Lake, The Brazos River, Lake Bridgeport, Lake Belton and Eagle Mountain Lake.
Of course, both Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend had national attention as regular stops on the Bassmaster tour, as well as other national trails. Bob Hood had Toledo Bend Ranked number one, stating,”This is the only lake that carries the credentials to be classified as my No. 1 lake – great year-round bass fishing with many varied types of structure and habitat, lots of access points, scores of wildlife and beautiful scenery.”
Of Sam Rayburn, Bob Gwizdz’s No. 1 pick, he summarized, “A good friend to anglers, the bass on Big Sam are easy to find, the lake is easy to negotiate, and the surrounding national forest land is easy to look at. And there’s so much of it – 114,000 acres – you’re not stumbling over each other to get at the fish.”
As for David Wharton, he had secured his first Bassmaster victory at the 1987 Texas Invitational on Sam Rayburn, but over the years, amassed 8 other top 10 finishes in Bassmaster competition on the lake. He only had two top 10 finishes at Toledo Bend, but one of those was another victory some 15 years later in the Bassmaster Tour event #4, the other top 10 there being in the 1981 Texas Invitational/West event. In total he had 4 wins on tour and made 11 Classic appearances stretching from 1979 through 2002.
David passed away in 2012 at the age of 59.
