29 teams showed up for the 154 Marine sponsored Mark Twain division kick-off event for Joe Bass Team Trail. Conditions were favorable, with warming stable water conditions and a near full moon, teams were hoping to put the puzzle together and bring a quality 5 fish limit to the scales and finish at the top of the Window World Leaderboard.
Fishing solo today and taking the top spot today was Brady Graves. Brady fished a variety of crankbaits along rock transition banks near channel swings in several mid-lake creeks. Brady stated that he fished with pace, covering water, until he got bit then would slow down and make repeated casts in the area. Brady also said that boat position was key if the boat drifted out to far it would change his casting angle, and the fish would ignore his presentation. Brady topped the field with a 5 fish limit weighing 20.66 pounds. Included in his bag was the 2nd Big Bass of the tournament weighing 5.53 pounds. Brady is sponsored by Grill ADZ, Midwest Water Operations, and MJS Flip Flop Resale.
Taking the runner-up position was the father and son team of Dennis and Scott McFetridge. Dennis and Scott started their day off slow only having 3 bites by 11:00. Around 1:00 the team made an adjustment to areas with slightly more stained water, and they noticed that the water had warmed to the upper 50’s in their area and the afternoon bite was on. Dennis and Scott slow-rolled spinnerbaits and chatterbaits to catch a 5 fish limit weighing 19.01 pounds. Dennis and Scott are sponsored by Bass Team Tackle, Sports Paint, Tri-State Trolling Motor, and Obsession Baits.
Finishing Third today was another father son team Chad and Kurt Denningman. Like the winner, Chad and Kurt fished rock transitions on channel swings from the mouths of major creeks to about 1/2 way back. The team’s bait of choice was a white spinnerbait slow-rolled with most bites coming after the bait deflected off something. The team’s best 5 pushed the scales down to 18.88 pounds Chad and Kurt are sponsored by Kmann Baits.
Well, if you’re only going to bring one fish to the scales make it a good one. That’s what the team of Gary Martens and Bryan Loseman did, catching the Impel Union, Big Joe Bass, of the tournament weighing 5.68 pounds. The team said the big fish was fooled by a jig on a steep transition bank.
Our next 154 Marine sponsored Joe Bass tournament at Mark Twain Lake will be Sunday May 4th, 6am take-off Robert Allen Ramp.
Host lodging for Joe Bass Team Trail at Mark Twain Lake is Country Inn Resort , (573) 267-3800
Teams, don’t forget to 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 really nice pro-pack. Drawings done monthly throughout the tournament season.
If you want immediate notification of results and schedule changes Join and LIKE the Joe Bass Team Trail Facebook page.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Brady Graves – *fished aalone | 5 | 5.53 | 20.66 | 220 | $1,810.00 |
| 2 | Dennis McFetridge – Scott McFetridge | 5 | 4.75 | 19.01 | 219 | $1,100.00 |
| 3 | Chad Denningmann – Kurt Denningmann | 5 | 4.74 | 18.88 | 218 | $650.00 |
| 4 | David Kampschroeder – *fished aalone | 5 | 5.19 | 18.19 | 217 | $500.00 |
| 5 | Charlie Kunkle – Keith Williams | 5 | 3.94 | 16.66 | 216 | $454.00 |
| 6 | Brad Dooley – | 5 | 4.12 | 15.81 | 215 | |
| 7 | Cory Kunkle – | 4 | 4.16 | 15.65 | 214 | |
| 8 | Deno Ek – James Medlock | 5 | 14.57 | 213 | ||
| 9 | Bill Cantwell – | 5 | 12.92 | 212 | ||
| 10 | Mike Hamilton Jr – | 4 | 4.02 | 11.66 | 211 | |
| 11 | Steve Weber – Sam Phillips | 5 | 3.17 | 11.56 | 210 | |
| 12 | Steve Chiaurro – Richard Dannegger | 3 | 3.15 | 11.16 | 209 | |
| 13 | Keith Hendrix – Rusty Rothweiler | 2 | 5.48 | 9.57 | 208 | |
| 14 | Dominic Perotti – Nick Perotti | 3 | 4.8 | 9.23 | 207 | |
| 15 | Lonnie Franklin – Kyler Benne | 2 | 4.43 | 8.86 | 206 | |
| 16 | *Adam Cook – Cody Yates | 3 | 8.34 | 205 | ||
| 17 | Jeff Mooneyham – | 3 | 7.1 | 204 | ||
| 18 | Gary Martens – Bryan Loseman | 1 | 5.68 | 5.68 | 203 | $180.00 |
| 19 | Scott Jackson – Todd Martens | 2 | 5.24 | 202 | ||
| 20 | Darrin Marcure – | 2 | 4.8 | 201 | ||
| 21 | Alan Hoyt – *Gage Hoyt | 2 | 4.39 | 200 | ||
| 22 | Wade Rulo – Doug Buhr | 1 | 2.98 | 2.98 | 199 | |
| 23 | Don McFetridge – Gary McFetridge | 1 | 2.37 | 2.37 | 198 | |
| 24 | Kaiden Davenport – Zane Torreyson | 0 | 20 | |||
| Joel Eversmeyer – | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Preston Hartung – George Harrington | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Matt McCullough – *Patrick Sparks | 0 | 20 | ||||
| *fished aalone – Steve Smith | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Mathew Waller – Connor McBride | 0 | 20 |
*alternate