A round of storm storms, wind, clearing skies, a rising lake and the beginning of the annual spring migration to the shallows made for a full hand of variables for the 63 teams that gathered at Orleans Trail Marina for the 2023 Joe Bass Stockton Division kick off. With conditions changing daily, anglers that may have been on fish discovered they had moved while others that struggled in practice ran into fish in spots that were devoid of bass only days prior. However, given the quality of fisherman in the division, it was no surprise that it took a strong limit to seal the win and valuable qualifying points for the Joe Bass Invitational to be held Stockton Lake next fall.
Luke Routh and Tyler Weaver bested the field as they dropped a 17.03 stringer on the scales. Included in their bag was the NAPA Big Bass of the event, a stout 6.47 pound kicker. Luke noted their Albers Marine, Inc Keys to Success included an A-rig and a Motion Fishing PBJ football jig fished on main lake locales. Luke shared they had a stellar day as they worked through 4-5 limits to get to their winning weight.
Josh Busby and Rick Johnston paired up to take second place honors for the day. Josh explained they fished jigs, cranks, and an A-Rig, with wind directly on their target being key. They also had an incredible day, stating they boated around 20 keepers throughout the event as they worked up to their 16.55 pound final weight.
Jim Davidson and Mike Ashbacher rounded out the top three. The duo’s 15.31 pound bag fell to A-rigs on steeper banks. They echoed that it was critical the banks had wind directly on them. Similar to the other leaders, Jim and Mike had to work through a bunch of fish to reach their final weight as they caught 11 keepers on an all day bite.
Gerald McDaniel and Jeff Pascoe added to their 12th place earnings by taking Top Skeeter honors for the event. They put 12.91 pounds in their 2018 ZX250 Skeeter.
Special thanks to Taylor Grubaugh Chevrolet, Buick & GMC in West Plains for sponsoring the live release boat.
The second event of the Stockton Division will be May 7 with a 6:00 takeoff from Orleans Trail. Plan ahead as ramps may be busy and it’s to our benefit to take off on time.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Luke Routh – Tyler Weaver | 5 | 6.47 | 17.03 | 220 | $3,880.00 |
| 2 | Josh Busby – Rick Johnston | 5 | 4.57 | 16.55 | 219 | $1,500.00 |
| 3 | Jim Davidson – Mike Ashbacher | 5 | 5.13 | 15.31 | 218 | $1,000.00 |
| 4 | Brandon Rummel – Ron Rummel | 5 | 4.44 | 14.99 | 217 | $600.00 |
| 5 | Chris Thomas – Charley Thomas | 5 | 4 | 14.97 | 216 | $450.00 |
| 6 | Kenneth White – Chris White | 5 | 5.02 | 14.75 | 215 | $400.00 |
| 7 | Brent Greek – Andy Greek | 5 | 14.58 | 214 | $350.00 | |
| 8 | Wes Darnell – Scott Berry | 5 | 4.29 | 14.43 | 213 | $300.00 |
| 9 | Mark Moody – Kyle Kiister | 5 | 4.1 | 14.29 | 212 | $250.00 |
| 10 | Chris Macy – Tim Lawyer | 5 | 13.31 | 211 | $200.00 | |
| 11 | Eric Craft – Ryan Stuart | 5 | 3.56 | 13.28 | 210 | $200.00 |
| 12 | Gerald McDaniel – Jeff Pascoe | 5 | 12.91 | 209 | $438.00 | |
| 13 | Roy Butler – Troy Everly | 5 | 12.9 | 208 | ||
| 14 | Scott Tassi – Glenn Harrison | 5 | 12.49 | 207 | ||
| 15 | Matt Garrett – Will Isaac | 5 | 3.45 | 12.21 | 206 | |
| 16 | Matthew Roberts – Brian Pahl | 5 | 12.08 | 205 | ||
| 17 | Wes Rogers – *Henry Maguffee | 5 | 12.07 | 204 | ||
| 18 | JR Williams – Lee Jordan | 5 | 3.76 | 11.95 | 203 | |
| 19 | Robert Cowan – Dallas Beasley | 5 | 11.91 | 202 | ||
| 20 | Justin Angel – Scott Angel | 5 | 11.78 | 201 | ||
| 21 | AJ Wenzel – Patrick Dickerson | 5 | 11.62 | 200 | ||
| 22 | Chad Allison – *Josh Allison | 5 | 11.43 | 199 | ||
| 23 | Seth Glynn – Kelly (KJ) Hughes | 5 | 11.39 | 198 | ||
| 24 | Jason Rehg – Rustin Ryan | 4 | 5.63 | 11.37 | 197 | $250.00 |
| 25 | Terry Kennedy – Anthony Decker | 5 | 11.33 | 196 | ||
| 26 | Austin OHara – Wyatt Lewellen | 5 | 11.12 | 195 | ||
| 27 | Sam Morton – Dennis Edwards | 5 | 11.11 | 194 | ||
| 28 | Alan McMillan – Scott Kennedy | 5 | 11.02 | 193 | ||
| 29 | Tyler Eagan – James Eagan | 5 | 11.01 | 192 | ||
| 30 | Brad Tyer – Shane Bakken | 5 | 10.95 | 191 | ||
| 31 | Ronny DeNayer – Trey Gustin | 5 | 10.81 | 190 | ||
| 31 | Keith Hurd – Jeff Nelson | 5 | 10.81 | 190 | ||
| 33 | Shawn Watson – Kaul Kleeman | 5 | 10.79 | 188 | ||
| 34 | Dalton Saxon – Sean Breshears | 5 | 10.74 | 187 | ||
| 35 | Edward Nelson – Malachi Nelson | 5 | 10.66 | 186 | ||
| 36 | Justin Faucett – Eric Stephenson | 5 | 10.13 | 185 | ||
| 37 | Scott Clift – Ashley Medley | 5 | 10.01 | 184 | ||
| 38 | Kris Bollinger – Keven Bollinger | 5 | 9.97 | 183 | ||
| 39 | Travis Poretta – Robert Daniels | 5 | 9.84 | 182 | ||
| 40 | Greg Seiner – *Les Jarmin | 5 | 9.72 | 181 | ||
| 41 | Jeff Gilbert – Mat Morey | 3 | 3.99 | 8.92 | 180 | |
| 42 | Ron Hills – Ray Holt | 4 | 8.26 | 179 | ||
| 43 | Nick Haas – Bruce Francisco | 2 | 5.57 | 7.53 | 178 | |
| 44 | Rick Bowman – Jeff Moore | 4 | 7.4 | 177 | ||
| 45 | Sam Grace – Blake Macamber | 3 | 5.85 | 176 | ||
| 46 | Mark Thompson – *Tim Newberry | 2 | 5.68 | 175 | ||
| 47 | Steve Teske – Bruce Yarnell | 3 | 5.34 | 174 | ||
| 48 | Jeff Bear – Quenton Bear | 2 | 4.01 | 173 | ||
| 49 | Nathan Harbison – Brad Parker | 2 | 3.35 | 172 | ||
| 50 | Greg Bohnsack – Chris Wells | 1 | 3.16 | 3.16 | 171 | |
| 51 | Garen Hunt – Troy Hunt | 1 | 2.55 | 2.55 | 170 | |
| 52 | Tony Habiger – | 1 | 2.31 | 2.31 | 169 | |
| 53 | John Bishop – Wes Winchell | 0 | 20 | |||
| Justin Bogner – Kenny Bogner | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Justin Borum – Jake McKinnis | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Justin Brand – Pamela Brand | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Mike Butcher – Justin Amershek | 0 | 20 | ||||
| John Cates – *Fished Alone | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Scotty Cavanaugh – Adam Schwinn | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Dan Cox – Tim Kastning | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Leonard DeClue – Kelton Morris | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Chace Mason – Mike Mason | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Jamie Newton – | 0 | 20 |
*alternate