Mike Tucker Solos for Win!
Team Perotti Takes Second
Janda and Yates Finish Third
Conditions
Lake level; 616.24 normal 606.00
Water clarity; Heavy stain to Muddy
Water Temp; low to upper 60’s
45 Teams came out for the Season Opener for the Tackle HD, Joe Bass Team Trail, Mark Twain Lake Division, sponsored by 154 Marine. The fishing leading up to tournament day was “Spotty” as one day would be good for some and terrible the next as water generation varied from day to day along with several weather fronts moving through the area.
Putting all the pieces together Sunday and coming out on top today was Mike Tucker. Mike said he was fortunate enough to take a couple days off for extra practice during the week but figured out his plan of attack on Thursday, so he did not practice Friday or Saturday to conserve his fish. Mike started fishing shallow pockets and creeks with grass in the Mid-lake area. His Bait of choice was a Buzz Bait. Mike quickly connected with several small keepers and had a small limit by 9am. After the morning bite slowed Mike moved to steeper banks in spawning pockets and pitched and flipped an un-named creature bait finding the bigger females biting in 4 to 5 feet of water, culling out all but one of his topwater fish. In the end Mike sealed the deal with a 5 fish limit weighing 17.15 pounds. Included in his limit was the Second Big Bass of the tournament weighing 5.75 pounds. Mike wanted to make sure to give a Big shout out to 154 Marine for all the help and support the have given him over the years.
Finishing in the number 2 spot today was the Joe Bass Support Staff team of Dominic and Nick Perotti. The father son team also found a few areas that held quality fish in practice. Their approach was go to one of their chosen spots, which weren’t very large and fish every inch of the bank. Their bait of choice, even in that dirty water, was a Senko style bait on a 3/16oz. Texas rig. Dominic and Nick put 2 quality keepers in the boat from their first spot, and and one from another and lost a good fish at their third spot. With time running down the team returned to their starting spot and Nick made a pitch to a stick up and THUMP it was on! After a nice battle Dominic netted their kicker fish of the day and Nick’s personal Best Bass weighing an impressive 6.59 pounds and the Big Joe Bass of the tournament. Team Perotti came in one fish shy of the tournament limit of 5, but their 4 fish weighed an impressive 15.47 pounds.
Taking third was the team of Chris Janda and Rowdy Yates. Chris and Rowdy Fished the lower end of the lake early and Mid-Lake later in the day catching multiple keepers on creature baits and plastic craws. Chris and Rowdy’s best 5 fish weighed in at 14.66 pounds.
45 teams, 119 fish, 9 limits, total weight 305.55 pounds. All released back to Mark Twain Lake.
Big thanks to Rolling Smoke BBQ for cooking some great food that the teams enjoyed after a long day on the water.
Our next tournament is Sunday May 23rd. Registration and weigh-in at 154 Marine 40175 Rt-154 Perry Mo.
Host lodging is at Country Inn Resort 22938 Hwy EE (573)267-3800
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | Pnlty | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout | |
| 1 | Mike Tucker – | 5 | 5.75 | 17.15 | 210 | $2,690.00 | 2BB/$keeter | |
| 2 | Dominic Perotti – Nick Perotti | 4 | 6.59 | 15.47 | 209 | $1,440.00 | 1BB | |
| 3 | Chris Janda – J. Rowdy Yates | 5 | 4.31 | 14.66 | 208 | $690.00 | ||
| 4 | Chris Johnson – Josh Calvin | 5 | 4.52 | 14.57 | 207 | $380.00 | ||
| 5 | Dennis McFetridge – Karen McFetridge | 5 | 3.74 | 13.86 | 206 | $330.00 | ||
| 6 | Chris Power – Eric Power | 5 | 3.36 | 13.81 | 205 | $260.00 | ||
| 7 | Bill Kayser – Donnie Seabaugh | 5 | 12.31 | 204 | $220.00 | |||
| 8 | Ron Mellinger – Colton Mellinger | 5 | 2.94 | 12.15 | 203 | $200.00 | ||
| 9 | Gary Koenig – Robin Hessling | 5 | 12.12 | 202 | $160.00 | |||
| 10 | Mack Tucker Jr. – Jay Tucker | 5 | 11.24 | 201 | ||||
| 11 | Jim Coyner – Keith Ostrander | 4 | 3.14 | 9.57 | 200 | |||
| 12 | Preston Hartung – George Harrington | 4 | 9.43 | 199 | ||||
| 13 | Pat Estes – Lonnie Franklin | 4 | 0.5 | 8.62 | 198 | |||
| 14 | Doug Buhr – Wade Rulo | 3 | 4.74 | 8.54 | 197 | |||
| 15 | Jim Lomax – Wayne Werle | 4 | 8.49 | 196 | ||||
| 16 | Bryan Hulsey – Jason Huskey | 4 | 8.48 | 195 | ||||
| 17 | Mike Wotawa – Kent Coffin | 3 | 3.7 | 7.99 | 194 | |||
| 18 | Keith Hendrix – Greg Zumwalt | 3 | 3.33 | 7.95 | 193 | |||
| 19 | Todd Hessling – Mike Pettitt | 3 | 7.61 | 192 | ||||
| 20 | Gary Gedville – John Gedville | 3 | 6.91 | 191 | ||||
| 21 | Josh Gebhardt – Ross Lord | 2 | 3.6 | 6.68 | 190 | |||
| 22 | Joe Tucker – Travis Wilson | 3 | 6.55 | 189 | ||||
| 23 | Cory Kunkle – Brad Morley | 2 | 6.23 | 188 | ||||
| 24 | Gary Martens – Bryan Loseman | 3 | 6.16 | 187 | ||||
| 25 | Larry Rothwiel – Phil Williams | 3 | 6.05 | 186 | ||||
| 26 | David Kampschroeder – Dustin Kampschroeder | 2 | 5.66 | 185 | ||||
| 27 | Chad Denningmann – Kurt Denningmann | 2 | 5.28 | 184 | ||||
| 28 | Rick Larson – Dave Morrow | 2 | 4.66 | 183 | ||||
| 29 | Charlie Kunkle – Keith Williams | 2 | 4.44 | 182 | ||||
| 30 | Mick Buchanan – Gary Grzybinski | 2 | 4.36 | 181 | ||||
| 31 | Chris Randell – Tim Randell | 2 | 4.35 | 180 | ||||
| 32 | Terry Jones – Brad Dooley | 2 | 4.28 | 179 | ||||
| 33 | Donnie Palmatory – *Logan Hughes | 1 | 2.98 | 2.98 | 178 | |||
| 34 | Dave Strutman – Denny Lambert | 1 | 2.93 | 2.93 | 177 | |||
| 35 | Phil J Zimmerman – Phil M Zimmerman | 1 | 2.64 | 2.64 | 176 | |||
| 36 | Don McFetridge – Gary McFetridge | 1 | 2.55 | 2.55 | 175 | |||
| 37 | Jim Sexton – Gunner Sexton | 1 | 2.51 | 2.51 | 174 | |||
| 38 | Brady Graves – Darryll Waller | 1 | 2.35 | 2.35 | 173 | |||
| 39 | Alan Hoyt – Gage Hoyt | 1 | 2.02 | 2.02 | 172 | |||
| 40 | Tom Darnell – Rick McGuire | 1 | 1.94 | 1.94 | 171 | |||
| 41 | Rick Beard – Rian White | 0 | 10 | |||||
| Mike Hamilton Jr – *fished aalone | 0 | 10 | ||||||
| Tom Herndon – Jason VanBeers | 0 | 10 | ||||||
| Steve Weber – Sam Phillips | 0 | 10 | ||||||
| Ken Whitfield – *Mark Casper | 0 | 10 |
*alternate