Promises of 65 degrees and sunny apparently were intended for this weekend’s tarpon tournament in Costa Rica, as the 24 teams that gathered at Buck Creek Marina were greeted with 30 degree temperatures at takeoff, 25mph winds, and overcast conditions. Still, it was an improvement over the frigid temps on Friday and prompted a good bite as 21 limits were brought to the scales. With 14 bags over the 14 pound mark, it was a tough day on points as it took an above average bag to glean a top 5 spot and qualifying points for the Joe Bass Invitational to be held Stockton Lake next fall.
Team Blevins was back to full strength with Eric returning from a bout with the flu. He and Dustin mixed A-rigs with a crankbait to boat 10-12 keepers and a best five weight of 20.13. Their Mid America RV Key to Success involved covering water in the midlake area, with a focus on sections with the wind directly on it.
Ron Floss and Mike Smith had an incredible day, landing over two dozen keepers on an all-day bite. They threw crankbaits and spinnerbaits on a variety of banks, both steep and shallow to amass a total of 17.94 pounds. Wind was also critical to them, as they noted chasing the wind throughout the areas they fished.
David Rogers teamed with John Campbell to round out the top three. Their 17.35 pound bag was anchored with the second big bass of the day, a 5.15 pound kicker. They threw A-rigs in 9-10’ of water along steeper banks where chunk-rock transitioned to gravel and mud.
Justin Brand fished along to sack the Ozark Chevrolet Big Bass, a 6.25 pound lunker that pushed his overall weight to 17.19 pounds and a fourth place finish.
Kelly Jones and Roger Satterfield took Top Skeeter honors with a limit pushing the scales to 15.40 pounds. They slipped away before interviews, but it was reported they did their damage with a jig in the Lead Hill section of the lake while fishing from Kelly’s 2019 FX21 Skeeter.
The forth event of the Bull Shoals Division will take place January 22th with a 7:00am takeoff from beautiful Buck Creek Marina.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Dustin Blevins – Eric Blevins | 5 | 5.01 | 20.13 | 220 | $1,420.00 |
| 2 | Ron Foss – Mike Smith | 5 | 4.5 | 17.94 | 219 | $880.00 |
| 3 | *John Campbell – David Rogers | 5 | 5.15 | 17.35 | 218 | $680.00 |
| 4 | Justin Brand – *fished aalone | 5 | 6.25 | 17.19 | 217 | $340.00 |
| 5 | Matt Garrett – Kaleb Rook | 5 | 4.34 | 16.45 | 216 | |
| 6 | Tom Mason – Chris Reese | 5 | 4.32 | 16.25 | 215 | |
| 7 | Erik Stewart – Jackson Roberts | 5 | 4.36 | 16 | 214 | |
| 8 | Kelly Jones – Roger Satterfield | 5 | 4.12 | 15.4 | 213 | $250.00 |
| 9 | Robert Shockley – *David Sheridan | 5 | 4.44 | 15 | 212 | |
| 10 | Richie Huebner – Brandon Lowry | 5 | 4.62 | 14.93 | 211 | |
| 11 | Drew Sagely – Travis Harriman | 5 | 3.8 | 14.9 | 210 | |
| 12 | Drew Tabor – Brock Tabor | 5 | 14.74 | 209 | ||
| 13 | Gary Daniel – Jay Oliver | 5 | 14.66 | 208 | ||
| 14 | Landon Snelson – *Ricky Jones | 5 | 3.86 | 14.21 | 207 | |
| 15 | Darrin King – Mark Mahaffey | 5 | 3.29 | 13.76 | 206 | |
| 16 | Mark Sloan – Parker Adair | 5 | 3.36 | 13.65 | 205 | |
| 17 | Mark Thompson – Mark Thompson II | 5 | 3.85 | 13.13 | 204 | |
| 18 | *fished aalone – Austin Frahm | 5 | 3.84 | 13.13 | 203 | |
| 19 | Heath Kelly – Lucas Hudson | 5 | 4.04 | 12.82 | 202 | |
| 20 | Eric Toliver – Zach Lawrence | 5 | 3.97 | 12.5 | 201 | |
| 21 | Jason Knoll – *Darren Lofts | 5 | 2.66 | 10.71 | 200 | |
| 22 | Caleb Poenitske – David Pitts | 2 | 4.43 | 199 | ||
| 23 | Jacob Delong – Jimmy Avant | 0 | 20 | |||
| 23 | Aaron Hodge – James Bailey | 0 | 20 |
*alternate