Joe Bass Teams gathered at Mill Creek to contest the second derby of the 2026 Joe Bass Team Trail Table Rock Summer division sponsored by Blackbeard Marine. However, the skill of the Joe Bass anglers shown through as every boat weighed fish with 19 limits brought to the scales. With the bass in a post spawn funk, quality was hard to come by as only two fish breached the four-pound mark, making it a challenge to get one’s name atop the Window World leaderboard.
Joe Bass staffers Zach Cooley and Kent Whitaker came out on top on a challenging day. They posted a 14.57 limit to take top honors. They shared their Blackbeard Marine key for success was junk fishing as the worked Carolina rigs, baby brush hogs, a tube and Neko rig to catch their fish. Although they boated 8 keepers for the day, Zach noted the last two hours were best for them with a couple of key bites in the last 30 minutes. They added to their first-place winnings by taking Top Skeeter honors as they fished from their 2022 FXR20 Skeeter.
Caleb Eaton went solo for the day while taking the second-place position. He noted he went through 3 limits of fish to come to a final tally of 13.78 pounds. His bag was anchored by the second big bass of the day, a chunky 4.54 pound largemouth. Caleb caught his fish on jigs and spinnerbaits on an all-day bite.
Jace McMasters and Dylan Jones followed up a great finish in the first division tournament by taking third place. Their best five bass locked in at 13.57 pounds. They worked swimbaits in 15-20’ of water to catch 15 keepers with the bulk of them being later in the day.
Terry Hutchinson and Jason Cooley leveraged a 5.00 kicker to take the Wilson Logistics big bass of the event. The brute gave them a 12.87-pound limit, just short of the check line. Terry noted they worked spoons around deeper docks with the big fishing landing in the LiveWell around 11:30.
Special thanks to Taylor Grubaugh Chevrolet, Buick & GMC for sponsoring the newly rewrapped release boat!
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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The next event of the 2026 Table Rock Division will launch from Mill Creek Saturday 6/6 with a 6:00 am takeoff.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Zachary Cooley – Kent Whitaker | 5 | 3.4 | 14.57 | 220 | $1,730.00 |
| 2 | Caleb Eaton – *fished aalone | 5 | 4.54 | 13.78 | 219 | $990.00 |
| 3 | Jace McMasters – Dylan Jones | 5 | 13.57 | 218 | $670.00 | |
| 4 | Josh Shirley – Don Sanders | 5 | 3.21 | 13.18 | 217 | $208.00 |
| 5 | Eric White – Gavin White | 5 | 13.18 | 216 | ||
| 6 | Terry Hutchison – Jason Coley | 5 | 5 | 12.87 | 215 | $140.00 |
| 7 | Josh Wray – Kavan Maybee | 5 | 3.23 | 12.33 | 214 | |
| 8 | Brian Shelton – Chad Clark | 5 | 3.58 | 12.31 | 213 | |
| 9 | Michael Frye – *fished aalone | 5 | 2.71 | 11.85 | 212 | |
| 10 | John Wagner – Kyle Wagner | 5 | 11.32 | 211 | ||
| 11 | Mike Guidorzi – Doug Guidorzi | 5 | 11.26 | 210 | ||
| 12 | Shane Allen Boyd – Shannon Keeler | 5 | 11.05 | 209 | ||
| 13 | Darrell Barlow – Ethan Barlow | 5 | 3.13 | 10.89 | 208 | |
| 14 | Terry Letterman – Doug Smart | 5 | 10.63 | 207 | ||
| 15 | James Welch – Caleb Welch | 5 | 10.53 | 206 | ||
| 16 | Tom Statler – *Richard Utesler | 5 | 10.41 | 205 | ||
| 17 | Mark Thompson – *Rusty Darnell | 5 | 10.22 | 204 | ||
| 18 | John Williams – Jim Williams | 5 | 2.82 | 10.14 | 203 | |
| 19 | Sam Grace – Joesef Rogers | 5 | 9.69 | 202 | ||
| 20 | Ralph Laster – Mike Fielder | 3 | 3.85 | 7.53 | 201 | |
| 21 | Michael Cross – Copeland Cross | 3 | 6.1 | 200 | ||
| 22 | *Adam Edwards – Mike Edwards | 3 | 5.68 | 199 | ||
| 23 | Ed Gilbert – Dean Vault | 3 | 5.32 | 198 |
*alternate