Wanna hear a broken record (for those old enough to remember records? Here we go…pre-tournament temperatures in the low eighties with sunny skies had bass beginning the transition from an early prespawn mode to a push to the shallows. With the lake 4’ high, shallow cover abundant as the water is up in the bushes. Anybody want to venture the next part of this story? Cold front. 20+ degree drop in temperatures. Lows getting close to freezing. Rain/snow mix. Why can’t this stuff happen during the week?
However, 48 teams brought 33 limits to the scales with a 9.65 pound average per team. What a kickoff to the Stockton Division season as anglers strive daily bragging rights in addition to qualifying points for the Joe Bass Team Trails Championship at Truman Lake in October.
Solving the cold front puzzle better than everyone else was the team of Seth Glynn and Kelly Hughes. Their five fish limit pushed the scale to a tournament-winning weight of 21.37 pounds. Seth shared their Sport Boats USA Key to Success centered on working A-rigs and jerkbaits on a variety of banks. They found their fish scattered between depths of 5’ and 25’. Finding the quality was key as they culled through 7 keepers on the day.
Close behind was Cody Ellison and Dustin Kimrey with a tournament limit of 20.21 pounds. They too concentrated their efforts on the umbrella rig to boat nearly a dozen keepers. Finding their fish deep, they methodically worked brushpiles to amass their second place weight.
Rounding out the top three was the veteran Stockton team of Jim Davidson and Mike Ashbacher. A 16.94 bag is never something to scoff at, but it sure helps when it’s anchored by the big fish of the event. Mike was excited to share his 7.45 pound lunker was one of his best fish ever. A great accomplishment on route to the Ozarks Chevrolet Big Bass award for the day!
Bill Virden and Bill Stokes supplemented their 9th place check with the Sport Boats USA Highest Finishing Skeeter award as they fished from Bills’ 2017 ZX225. They spent the day flipping bushes on a channel banks.
The second event in the Stockton Division will be on May 5th at 6:00 am, Orleans Trail Ramp.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout | |
| 1 | Seth Glynn – Kelly (KJ) Hughes | 5 | 6.56 | 21.37 | 110 | $1,870.00 | |
| 2 | Cody Ellison – Dustin Kimrey | 5 | 5.07 | 20.21 | 109 | $1,220.00 | |
| 3 | Jim Davidson – Mike Ashbacher | 5 | 7.45 | 16.94 | 108 | $1,240.00 | 1BB |
| 4 | Tim Hintenach – Dustin Hinkle | 5 | 4.92 | 14.52 | 107 | $690.00 | |
| 5 | Keith Hurd – Jeff Nelson | 5 | 14.34 | 106 | $450.00 | ||
| 6 | Robert Cowan – Dallas Beasley | 5 | 4.96 | 14.23 | 105 | $300.00 | |
| 7 | Luke Routh – Tyler Weaver | 5 | 4.06 | 14.22 | 104 | $200.00 | |
| 8 | Todd Choate – Kent Whitaker | 5 | 3.98 | 13.82 | 103 | $180.00 | |
| 9 | Bill Virden – Bill Stokes | 5 | 13.31 | 102 | $660.00 | Top Skeeter | |
| 10 | Mark Moody – Tammy Moody | 5 | 2.85 | 12.71 | 101 | ||
| 11 | Justin Angel – *Mike Johnson | 5 | 2.58 | 12.43 | 100 | ||
| 12 | Mark Thompson – Luke Thompson | 5 | 3.5 | 12.27 | 99 | ||
| 13 | Matt Roberts – Dalton Wilson | 5 | 12.26 | 98 | |||
| 14 | Danny Shinneman – Mike Cooley | 5 | 4.02 | 12.23 | 97 | ||
| 15 | *fished aalone – Glenn Harrison | 5 | 2.35 | 11.67 | 96 | ||
| 16 | Steve Teske – Jon Wall | 5 | 2.53 | 11.64 | 95 | ||
| 17 | Dan Cox – Tim Kastning | 5 | 2.78 | 11.28 | 94 | ||
| 18 | Rick Reinkemeyer – Brock Reinkemeyer | 5 | 11.23 | 93 | |||
| 19 | Sam Morton – Dennis Edwards | 5 | 2.77 | 11.2 | 92 | ||
| 20 | John Huffman – Robert Waggoner | 5 | 11.08 | 91 | |||
| 21 | Austin Morris – Paden Bennett | 5 | 2.67 | 10.98 | 90 | ||
| 22 | Scott Clift – Ashley Medley | 5 | 10.48 | 89 | |||
| 23 | *Jeremy Moffatt – Tim Lawyer | 5 | 10.43 | 88 | |||
| 24 | Mike Daley – Kellie Daley | 5 | 10.39 | 87 | |||
| 25 | Zach Baldwin – Robin Baldwin | 5 | 10.27 | 86 | |||
| 26 | Jared Cloyd – Dee Cloyd | 5 | 10.26 | 85 | |||
| 27 | Dustin Keys – Doug Hainley | 5 | 10.16 | 84 | |||
| 28 | Sean Bowling – Brandon Brown | 5 | 10.09 | 83 | |||
| 29 | Donald Clark – Brantley Clark | 5 | 10.02 | 82 | |||
| 30 | Mike Hagensicker – Dillon Brock | 5 | 9.9 | 81 | |||
| 31 | Robert Shackelford – Dusty Richardson | 5 | 9.61 | 80 | |||
| 32 | Rick Bowman – Jeff Moore | 5 | 9.44 | 79 | |||
| 33 | Wes Reger – Kirby Ricketts | 2 | 6.88 | 9.3 | 78 | $190 | 2BB |
| 34 | Greg Seiner – Gene Mayfield | 4 | 8.78 | 77 | |||
| 35 | Brad Jones – *fished aalone | 4 | 8.63 | 76 | |||
| 36 | Jay Carden – Dustin Lowe | 5 | 8.49 | 75 | |||
| 37 | Ron Peek – Grieg Engel | 4 | 7.98 | 74 | |||
| 38 | Russ Hughes – Ronald Parker | 3 | 6.17 | 73 | |||
| 39 | John Aleshire – Travis Aleshire | 2 | 5.33 | 72 | |||
| 40 | Donnie Reynolds – Mark Reynolds | 3 | 4.83 | 71 | |||
| 41 | John Williams – Dewayne Weeks | 2 | 3.75 | 70 | |||
| 42 | Ronald Deckard – Ronald Deckard JR | 1 | 3.14 | 3.14 | 69 | ||
| 43 | Jeff Bear – Quenton Bear | 1 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 68 | ||
| 44 | John Cates – Mike Edwards | 0 | 10 | ||||
| Douglas Sanders – Matt Howerton | 0 | 10 | |||||
| Brad Tyer – Shane Bakken | 0 | 10 | |||||
| Danny Waite – Bryan Leonard | 0 | 10 | |||||
| George Spicer – Jeff Bledsoe | 0 | 10 |
*alternate