Embry and McTaggert Top Field on Tough Bite!
Bueltmann and Verhoef near miss in second!
Team D’Aquila Take Third
37 Teams gathered at PB 2 for the fourth Bassing Bob, Lake of the Ozarks, division tournament. With water temperatures in the 36 to 41-degree range, very drastic up and down weather patterns, all the Pre-tournament talk was all about the tough bite. However, it wasn’t as tough for some as it was others, here’s how the top teams finished.
Taking the top spot today was the team of Chris Embry and Casey McTaggert. The EMB2 Construction and Dupo Marine sponsored team admittedly had been struggling with finding fish for the past few weeks and were not confident with what they had from pre-fishing Saturday. So, Chris pointed his Bass Cat toward the Toll Bridge area of the lake and the team put their heads down and fished the A-rig all day long. The team found success on transition banks with brush in the first third of the western facing creeks, where the water was just a little warmer than other banks. Chris and Casey had 12 keepers on an all-day bite with their best 5 weighing 21.33 pounds! Included in their bag was the second big bass of the tournament weighing 6.67pounds. The Bassing Bob key to Success was knowing the depth and placement of the brush they were fishing because if the A-rig came into contact with the brush they wouldn’t get bit, but you had to fish very close to it because the fish were not in a chasing mood!
Finishing second was the HOT, HOT, HOT, team of Rob Bueltmann and Ben Verhoef. The Phoenix Boats, Fitz Fishing, and Bassing Bob sponsored team fished from the toll bridge down to the Gravois arm, also focusing on the banks that received more sunshine. The team had a dozen keepers that were fooled by an un-named jerk-bait and the A-rig. The team stated that bites came in spurts, where you caught one you would catch several. At the end of the day Rob and Ben fell just shy of the top spot their best 5 fish weighed 21.06 pounds.
Taking the third spot today was the father son team of Denny and Chris D’Aquila. As much as this team would have liked to have fished a spinnerbait Sunday conditions dictated a slower approach a much S-L-O-W-E-R approach. The team fished shad colored jerk-baits just as slow as you could stand it and then slow it down more. Chris and Denny caught several keepers in 12 to 15 feet of water, their best five weighing 17.92 Pounds.
Coming in fifth place today was the team of Eric Dearduff and Robert Harry. Their 4 fish 14.95-pound bag was anchored by the Ozark Chevrolet Big Joe Bass weighing 7.70 pounds! Robert said the Tank Bass fell for an A-rig around noon.
Catching 4 fish for 9.88 pounds was the team of Randy Schanuel and Greg West. That 9.88 was good enough for 15th place and the Highest Finishing Skeeter fishing out of Randy’s 2016 FX21.
The next Lake of the Ozarks tournament will be March 11, 2018 PB 2, 7am Take off
Host Lodging for Joe Bass at Lake of the Ozarks is Robin’s Resort 573-348-2275
Photos
Final Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | Wgt | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout | |
| 1 | Chris Embry – Casey McTaggart | 5 | 21.3 | 6.67 | 21.33 | 110 | $1,400.00 | 2BB |
| 2 | Robert Bueltmann – Ben Verhoef | 5 | 21.1 | 5.24 | 21.06 | 109 | $900.00 | |
| 3 | Chris D’Aquila – Denny D’Aquila | 5 | 17.9 | 4.86 | 17.92 | 108 | $380.00 | |
| 4 | Scott Danek – Scott Danek Jr | 5 | 17.2 | 3.92 | 17.24 | 107 | $450.00 | |
| 5 | Eric Dearduff – Robert Harry | 4 | 15 | 7.7 | 14.95 | 106 | $570.00 | 1BB |
| 6 | Chad Denningmann – Kurt Denningmann | 5 | 14.6 | 4.16 | 14.6 | 105 | $200.00 | |
| 7 | Brad Jelinek – John Slavens | 5 | 14.5 | 4.73 | 14.46 | 104 | $152.00 | |
| 8 | Rick Fishback – Terry Blankenship | 5 | 13.4 | 4.77 | 13.38 | 103 | ||
| 9 | Randy Krull – *Jim Young | 5 | 12.9 | 4.42 | 12.94 | 102 | ||
| 10 | Ron Belew – Derek Dace | 5 | 12 | 11.96 | 101 | |||
| 11 | Joe Wieberg – Walon Kleffner | 5 | 11.5 | 3.55 | 11.5 | 100 | ||
| 12 | Jay Hulsey – *Rick Nolkemper | 5 | 10.8 | 3.13 | 10.78 | 99 | ||
| 13 | Mark Dunbar – Pete Peterson | 4 | 10.8 | 3.72 | 10.77 | 98 | ||
| 14 | Mike Rogers – Donnie Crist | 4 | 10.5 | 10.51 | 97 | |||
| 15 | Randy Schanuel – *Greg West | 4 | 9.88 | 9.88 | 96 | |||
| 16 | Justin Hosler – Kyle McAdams | 3 | 9.23 | 4.02 | 9.23 | 95 | ||
| 17 | Greg Miller – Mike Rowland | 3 | 7.96 | 7.96 | 94 | |||
| 18 | Tim Jones – Jerry Jones | 2 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 93 | |||
| 19 | Rusty Darnell – John Campbell | 2 | 6.54 | 6.54 | 92 | |||
| 20 | Mark Tucker – Don Beckley | 1 | 4.59 | 4.59 | 4.59 | 91 | ||
| 21 | Bob Bueltmann – Bob Renken | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Steven Davidson – Louis Davidson | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | *Jon Hill – Brandon Flood | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Corey Fritz – Tim Gallatin | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | John Johnson – | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Thomas Kite – Dale Gregston | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | *Ryan Jordan – Gary Shartzer | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Tom McKinnon – Roger Krull Jr | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Kyle Meyer – *Cody Jones | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | David Mulkey – Sean Mukley | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Andy Newcomb – *Tanner Harry | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Donnie Palmatory – Kenny Grothoff | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Bobby Roberts – Cody Carl | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Mark Simmons – Terry Lawhon | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | John Stewart – Corey Stewart | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Gary Tune – Walter Snelson | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
| 21 | Kent Wheelock – Sheldon Waters | 0 | 0 | 10 |
*alternate