Pro-Angler and TV's "The Bachelor" settles down at Lake Amistad near Del Rio

February 21, 2007
By Bill Sontag
Feature Writer

Give a man a fish, and he has food for the day. Teach him to fish and you can get rid of him for the entire weekend.

-- Zenna Schaffer

Byron Velvick and Michael Bonnee are not among the legions of fishermen and –women passively considering whether to fish, visit or reside at Lake Amistad. They’re already here, eager to get on with it.

And not just for a weekend or two, but to provide year ‘round hospitality to scores of anglers seeking the full-bore, high energy passion of tournament fishing, and with their families counting on the relaxation and tranquility of lake vistas far from traffic jams and the corporate rat race. To those ends, Velvick bought the struggling Amistad Lodge from Antonio Rodriguez in January, and has renamed the landmark hostelry Amistad Lake Resort.

“Resort” talk has been both cheap and frequent since the 1960s when Amistad Dam was built and waters of the Rio Grande, Pecos River, and Devils River flooded canyons, creek bottoms, springs and flats to create a 90-mile-long lake on southwest Texas desert. But the new owners of Lake Amistad Resort are capitalizing on Velvick’s reputation among top tourney finishers, his media savvy, and the lake’s global reputation for producing abundant, monster bass to realize their aspirations.

Velvick and Bonnee are midstream in developing the former Amistad Lodge into a resort that will provide both comfort and focus for travelers, tourists, tournament participants and their families. The task of reshaping both the image and the infrastructure for Amistad Lake Resort is underway, and Velvick’s commitment is personal, with no hand-wringing.

“I bought a house here, sight unseen, on the Internet while I was traveling from Alabama to New York,” Velvick said Monday (Feb. 5). His reaction to the urgings of a local real estate investor were hardly knee-jerk impetuosity. Velvick knows Amistad well, and has had his eye on its stony shores since his first visit in 2006. For now, he’s settled in temporary housing, but has already purchased lots on which to build a permanent home in Rancho Agua Vista.

While allegiance to a resort idea is strong, the game plan sounds deceptively simple. “He doesn’t fish, and I know nothing about hotels, so it all just came together,” Velvick quipped, referring to Bonnee’s experience in the hotel management and hospitality industry, including the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company.

Velvick, 42, is remembered among swooning young women as The Bachelor who asked former Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleader Mary Delgado to marry him on ABC’s romantic series in 2004. But he’s known among millions of fishermen as a tournament analyst, host of his own television broadcasts, and two-time U.S. Open Champion (1990, 1996), with more than $800,000 in winnings.

Upcoming nuptials will spice the partnership of talents homesteading on the lake. Velvick, 42, will soon be joined by his fiancée Mary, a Florida real estate agent already working toward her license to operate in Texas with Nena Bradley at Amistad Realty. “She wants to specialize in properties around the lake,” said Velvick.

He’s gratified about present trends and optimistic about the future, recalling, “About 15 other guys [tournament fishermen] and I have bought property here, and these are men that have traveled and fished all over the world.” One of those was Ish Monroe, winner of the CITGO Bassmaster Elite tournament on Lake Amistad in March, 2006. “Ish is building a 4,200-square-foot home here,” Velvick said. The tournament was Monroe’s first major event win.

Velvick’s decision to buy the lodge was based on encouraging indications derived from room occupancy records. Moreover, he and Bonnee concluded that Velvick’s media play could push the renovated property to higher levels of marketability. With the lake’s newfound reputation, Velvick smells the aroma of success on Lake Amistad breezes. “The demographics of this lake have changed, and the lake is now a national target of fishermen,” Velvick explained.

Velvick’s and Bonnee’s development plans are already underway with thorough upgrades in each of the resort’s 40 rooms, including standard, deluxe and kitchenette accommodations. Also ongoing is remodeling of the former lodge’s restaurant and bar, slated to open in March.

Caruso’s Lakeview Dining is already open for early breakfasts for hungry, hurry-up fishermen. Later in this month, and later in the day, the restaurant will serve a menu of Italian cuisine, including chicken parmesan, baked pasta alforno, shrimp fettucine, among other items still in the planning stages. Brothers Diego, Joseph and Pete Bullara recently moved to Del Rio, and are comprehensively and enthusiastically remodeling and re-shaping the eatery’s image, along with development of bar service in the Way Point Cantina.

Velvick and Bonnee already have ambitious expansion plans, trending their business toward true resort status. In partnership with locally-owned Burk Properties, eight “casitas” – described by Velvick as bungalows with boat storage units – will be built adjacent to the property. One is already “pre-sold,” according to Bonnee. The retreat homes will range from 1,600 to 1,800 square feet, in a price range under $200,000.

The planned eight units are only a start of the casita investment, “But we’re letting the market dictate what we do next,” said Bonnee. With improvements underway and careful staging of near-future developments, Bonnee and Velvick anticipate recuperating their investments within five years.

Marketing their venture is both constant and creative. When the pair arrived they offered a package valued at $700 to the highest bidder at a charity auction held by the Laughlin Air Force Base Officers Spouses Club. The offering included a day fishing on Lake Amistad with Velvick, a night’s lodging at Amistad Lake Resort, and another day on the lake with professional fisherman and BASS champion Stan Gerzsenyi. Competition for the winning bid became stiff, so Velvick decided to accept two top bids, and repeat the package for both winners.

Velvick will be marketing Amistad Lake Resort every time he’s competing on the water this year. “My boat wrap [decoration surrounding all sides of the watercraft] will be all about AmistadLakeResort.com, our Web site,” said Velvick. “That boat’s going from here all the way to New York, and out to California, and be seen on lakes all over the country,” Velvick said. At home, he wants the resort to become a target of after-tournament relaxation and hosted awards ceremonies.

“The big tournaments are important, but it’s the clubs that need attention, too,” said Velvick. Competitive events notwithstanding, Velvick has advice for all Amistad fishermen. He recommends fishing Amistad waters Monday through Thursday: “There’re no tournaments on top of you and it’s plenty comfortable.”

“In addition to that, please practice catch-and-release fishing to protect the largemouth bass resource. Keep stripers and white bass for the filet knife and the dinner plate. They’re delicious and you can catch a bunch of ‘em easily.”

Will he reveal favorite places to fish the sprawling reservoir? “The best thing about this lake is that there are no good spots. It’s all good spots,” Velvick enthused.

For more information, see the resort’s Web site, www.amistadlakeresort.com, or phone 830-775-8591.