With a major winter storm barreling through the Ozarks, dock talk centered on the chance of a strong bite despite sporadic results in the days leading up to the first January 2025 Mid America RV Bull Shoals Division derby. 26 teams met at Buck Creek Marina with the hopes of a bringing in a big stringer before the rough weather set in later in the day. Predictions on what it would take to find one’s name atop the Window World Leaderboard varied, while others were focused on securing as many qualifying points as possible for the Joe Bass Invitational to be held next fall.
Wyatt Marler teamed with Bailey Bewley to follow up on a good event from the prior weekend. Scoping brushpiles with an A-rig was the reported trick that led to a 19.41 pound winning weight. Wyatt added that the Mid America RV Key to Success was working through a couple of dozen keepers to get to their winning weight.
Cody Ellison and Landon Edwards narrowly missed the win as their best five bass locked in at 19.04 pounds. They mixed an A-rig with a minnow bait while fishing brushpiles and shad balls.
Buck Comstock and Greg Blair rounded out the top three. After some diversionary tactics being offered, they fessed up to scoping their fish with a Damiki rig. They noted an all day bite that put 30 keepers in the boat, but they had to work through a couple of slow periods before hitting another flurry. Their final weight pushed the scales to 18.92 pounds.
Eric Tolliver and Zach Lawerence added to their fourth place finish by boating the Impel Union big bass of the event. The 5.76 largemouth anchored their 18.76 pound bag.
Cody Miller fished alone in his 2019 ZX250 Skeeter, taking the Skeeter Boats check for the second event in a row. Cody put 15.87 pounds of bass in the Skeeter’s livewell.
Anglers, perk your ears up for a bit of advice! There is an increasing number of fish being brought to the scales that should have been fizzed earlier in the day. It’s not the staff’s responsibility to dedicate an already limit number of resources to take care of fish that should have been cared for as soon as they were caught. Let’s take care of our fish so we can concentrate on getting them weighed and returned to the lake in perfect condition as soon as possible.
On a somber note, the Joe Bass community extends the deepest of sympathies to Eric and Dustin Blevins upon the passing of Eric’s dad Bill Blevins. There aren’t words to adequately express our condolences, but rest assured you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.
The next event of the Bull Shoals Division will take place on Saturday January 18 with a 7:00am takeoff from Buck Creek Marina.
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Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Wyatt Marler – *Bailey Bewley | 5 | 19.41 | 220 | $1,650.00 | |
| 2 | Landon Edwards – Cody Ellison | 5 | 4.56 | 19.04 | 219 | $1,050.00 |
| 3 | Buck Comstock – Greg Blair | 5 | 4.43 | 18.92 | 218 | $600.00 |
| 4 | Eric Toliver – Zach Lawrence | 5 | 5.76 | 18.76 | 217 | $456.00 |
| 5 | Travis Harriman – Brett Rider | 5 | 3.9 | 18.23 | 216 | $180.00 |
| 6 | Paul Brunson – Gary Rowland | 5 | 4.01 | 17.91 | 215 | |
| 7 | Jacob Christeson – | 5 | 16.99 | 214 | ||
| 8 | John Campbell – Brock Rogers | 5 | 16.74 | 213 | ||
| 9 | Kevin Hyde – John D Hill | 5 | 4.23 | 16.06 | 212 | |
| 10 | Tyler Duggins – Chance Davis | 5 | 15.95 | 211 | ||
| 11 | Cody Miller – | 5 | 15.87 | 210 | $250.00 | |
| 12 | Bryan Barnard – Logan Schuh | 5 | 15.76 | 209 | ||
| 13 | Roger Harp – Lucas Madison | 5 | 14.53 | 208 | ||
| 14 | Tom Mason – Chris Reese | 5 | 3.63 | 12.97 | 207 | |
| 15 | Christopher McCellan – Andrew Messina | 5 | 12.57 | 206 | ||
| 16 | Mark Thompson – Mark Thompson II | 5 | 3.5 | 11.87 | 205 | |
| 17 | Joe Ingram – Jacob Wisecup | 5 | 11.63 | 204 | ||
| 18 | Roy Bryant – Lee Bryant | 5 | 10.52 | 203 | ||
| 19 | Mike Guidorzi – Doug Guidorzi | 4 | 9.51 | 202 | ||
| 20 | *fished aalone – Dustin Rogers | 0 | 20 | |||
| Dustin Blevins – Eric Blevins | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Laryme Campbell – David Rogers | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Ron Cox – Marty Whisnant | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Richie Huebner – *fished aalone | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Drew Sagely – Will Lancett | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Landon Snelson – Rick Snelson | 0 | 20 |
*alternate