I was going to say steel but concrete works too....
Ken you may remember a guide out that was working Welsh and Monti, I think he drowned on Welsh in the late 80's?
What happened to Gerald Roebuck?

Gerald died of a brain aneurysm back in 1996. Gerald was a great fisherman and a good friend. I first met Gerald in 1989 and hired him as a guide. Later we became good friends and I was fortunate enough to spend alot of time with him the two years prior to his death. I consider him to be my bass fishing mentor and was very lucky that he invested time in me. We fished on his off days for $5 a fish and he always took my money.The education on bass fishing I received from him however was priceless. He was a hammer on Monti and Fork.

Bill Ocker ( real name Ockerhausen ) used to guide on Welsh. Could that be the one you're thinking of ?

I knew bill, I think his name was Jerome? He ran the store that was on lake Welsh before his death.

He's s live and well to my knowledge, me and Maxwell called him about 8 mons ago.
He's a hammer on all of the tri lakes area and welsh.. He holds the record on Welsh with a 15. sump'n

Mike,

I think you are thinking of Jerome Mateus. He owned Lake Welsh Grocery next to the ramp. He fell out of his boat fishing alone one evening and drowned. Sad but he died doing what he loved.

Does this name get put into the mix? Sammy Donaldson. I think he worked at the plant and fished Monticello a lot. He wrote the lake report for Honey Hole for a while. I never met him but assumed he was a guide since he wrote for HH. I asked Connie Schultz at Kountry Kornet about it and she said " no he won't guide". I took it to mean he didn't want any attention.

I do remember Billy. I had a baby #@it yellow Cotton Cordell boat with a 65Hp Evinrude at the time. I would park it on the bank and leave it so I wouldn't have to launch in the mess. Was so ugly no one ever messed with it! I had several pictures at Kountry Korner. Was last there in 91 or so and they would not let me have my pictures LOL.

I remember that like it was yesterday.
During that time there was a non official competition (proclaimed by south Texas fishermen) between Monticello, and a few other lakes up in north Texas, and with the south Texas lakes of Braunig and Calaveras (both powerplant lakes) that were stocked also around the same time frame.
Being not far from Medina Lake where the old record was caught, just the dream of breaking the long standing record and keeping it in south Texas was what drove me to fish many days on Calaveras.
I caught my share of huge bass, but never came close to the record, and when I read, and saw the picture it was a dream that was shattered.
Then after that, it was like rain as the big bass where coming in from Monticello and the surrounding lakes as well.
Unfortunately, or I should say sadly, TPWD decided to make both south Texas lakes into a test tube and experiment with other species, and within a few years they both became redfish lakes and poor bass fishing lakes to this day, while Monticello continues on as a decent bass fishery.
Yep, fond memories of what it was back then and a lot of good times.

Yeller, no way it's uglier than my yeller Toon boat.. Come to think of it, I may have a picture of your old boat in the back ground of some pictures.. LMAO..
If any of you guys have some pictures of that era in bass history, please scan them, and up load some to this post . I know Addington has some... I'll look for mine, Pickle, we need to share some Maker's Mark soon my friend..

I fished with Tommy Martin at a us open in 1985 great guy and fisherman

One of the most down to earth people you will ever meet, he and Harold Allen both. Love to hear Tommy's stories about TB in the old days. Great man and fisherman.

I was born and raised in Pittsburg and remember very well and blame that catch on why I own thousands of dollars in tackle other misc items. Thanks to Mr. Kimble I got the fever to chase a dream and never will regret it.

Since we are reliving old Monticello days I find it interesting that no one has said anything about the old goat in the shack a the entry. A lot of people had a lot of bad stuff to say about the guy but I spent years talking with him when he would talk and got to really like the guy. He sure had a reputation for being a crusty old man but he did keep things in order there at the lake.