Spring has sprung! With it came the “April showers” that brought Mark Twain Lake up over 6 feet in the weeks leading up to the 1st Joe Bass Team Trail Tournament sponsored by 154 Marine. If you are familiar with Mark Twain Lake, you know what that means, MUDDY WATER! Making much of the lake almost unfishable and the few areas that would be considered stained, were crowded for the 32 teams that came out trying to put the puzzle together to end up on top.
Figuring it out the best today was the team of Dave Strutman and Rick McGuire. Dave and Rick fished the lower end of the lake, throwing 3/8oz and 1/2oz spinnerbaits and chatterbaits around flooded grass, bushes and laydowns in 2-to-6-foot depths. Dave and Rick dropped 18.51 pounds of healthy Mark Twain bass on the scales to take the top spot. The team’s 154 Marine keys to success was having confidence in their area and sticking with the game plan, even when the area got crowded with other anglers. Dave and Rick are sponsored by Bass Cat, Mercury Marine, Dupo Marine and Tour Tungsten.
Taking the runner up position was the team of Keith Hendrix and Rusty Rothweiler. This salty team started in a small area that got too crowded with anglers for the teams liking, so they made a move to an area with fewer boats around and went to work. By 8:30 they had 3 keepers in the boat and began re-working the “best stuff” within the area. Later in the day the team hit a stretch that provided their 3 biggest fish in a short 30-minute window. Keith and Rusty did all their damage on a Mark Twain Lake Lure Company, 44 Magnum spinnerbait. (Available at www.marktwainlakelures.com) Keith and Rusty brought 5 bass to the scales weighing 17.70 pounds. Keith also was the highest finishing Skeeter owner fishing out of his 2021 ZXR20.
Third place today went to the Father/Son team of David and Dustin Kampschroeder. David and Dustin went about things a little differently than most of the field, they fished in the mid-lake area that was a little dirtier than the lower end of the lake and they mixed in a Buzzbait to complement the spinnerbait bite. David said flooded grass and bushes were keys to getting bit, with most bites coming just inside the pockets off the main lake. Included in their 17.50-pound limit was the second big bass of the day weighing 5.32 pounds. David and Dustin are sponsored by Eberlin Boats, Lowrance, Minkota, Quality Painting Inc. Ranger and Vexus Boats.
Taking the Wilson Truck Sales Big Bass honors today was the team of Alston Golian and Brendan Ackerman. The 5.94-pound tank was fooled by a spinnerbait on the spawning side of a pocket near a laydown with grass mixed in.
The next Joe Bass Mark Twain tournament, sponsored by 154 Marine will be held on Sunday May 3rd. 6am take-off Robert Allen Ramp.
Host lodging for Joe Bass Team Trail at Mark Twain is Country Inn Resort, give Angela Pratt a call at (573)267-3800.
Bring your empty packages of Rapala, Crush City, Storm, VMC and Suffix with your name and phone number to your next Joe Bass Tournament for a chance at a tackle pack. Drawings are done monthly throughout the tournament season.
Clear Cast marine electronics repair is continuing to support Joe Bass Team Trail. Their support of the Tournament of Champions and Staff Shootout opportunities at the Invitational is paramount to it’s success. SUPPORT their efforts! Be sure and visit their website for details for your repair and setup needs!
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Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Dave Strutman – Rick McGuire | 5 | 4.66 | 18.51 | 220 | $2,090.00 |
| 2 | Keith Hendrix – Rusty Rothweiler | 5 | 4.96 | 17.7 | 219 | $1,320.00 |
| 3 | David Kampschroeder – Dustin Kampschroeder | 5 | 5.32 | 17.5 | 218 | $740.00 |
| 4 | Brady Graves – Justin Wright | 5 | 5.01 | 15.67 | 217 | $350.00 |
| 5 | Wade Walling – *Jay Garrison | 5 | 3.18 | 14.9 | 216 | $300.00 |
| 6 | Brent Basler – Mike Smith 2 | 5 | 14.32 | 215 | $182.00 | |
| 7 | Don McFetridge – Gary McFetridge | 5 | 13.63 | 214 | ||
| 8 | Doug Drysdale – Kason Drysdale | 5 | 13.43 | 213 | ||
| 9 | Dominic Perotti – *Mike Wotawa | 5 | 13.33 | 212 | ||
| 10 | Steve Chiaurro – Richard Dannegger | 5 | 13.27 | 211 | ||
| 11 | Charlie Kunkle – Keith Williams | 4 | 4.78 | 13.22 | 210 | |
| 12 | Doug Buhr – Mike Tucker | 5 | 11.4 | 209 | ||
| 13 | Jon Brewer – Daniel Turner | 4 | 3.47 | 10.63 | 208 | |
| 14 | Alston Golian – *Brendan Ackerman | 2 | 5.94 | 8.06 | 207 | $200.00 |
| 15 | Preston Hartung – Keith Johnson | 2 | 7.54 | 206 | ||
| 16 | Larry Rothwiel – Steve Smith | 3 | 7.24 | 205 | ||
| 17 | Bill Cantwell – Brad Beach | 3 | 7.04 | 204 | ||
| 18 | Kaiden Davenport – Klayton Marty | 2 | 6.38 | 203 | ||
| 19 | Mathew Waller – Connor McBride | 2 | 6.33 | 202 | ||
| 20 | Deno Ek – James Medlock | 2 | 4.13 | 6.11 | 201 | |
| 21 | Matt Bryant – Scott Walker | 1 | 4.94 | 4.94 | 200 | |
| 22 | Kurt Denningmann – *Adam Denningman | 2 | 4.18 | 199 | ||
| 22 | Steve Weber – Sam Phillips | 2 | 4.18 | 199 | ||
| 24 | Lonnie Franklin – Kyler Benne | 1 | 2.55 | 2.55 | 197 | |
| 25 | *Issac Bohm – Logan Hughes | 1 | 2.45 | 2.45 | 196 | |
| 26 | Phil J Zimmerman – Phil M Zimmerman | 1 | 2.19 | 2.19 | 195 | |
| 27 | Kenny Wilkinson – Sammy Closser | 1 | 2.18 | 2.18 | 194 | |
| 28 | Cory Kunkle – | 0 | 20 | |||
| Keith LaBarge – Roger LaBarge | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Dennis McFetridge – Scott McFetridge | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Wayne Werle – Jim Lomax | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Nick Werle – *David Tiernan | 0 | 20 |
*alternate