Smashfest Alert!
35 teams showed up at Robert E Allen ramp for the second of 5 Joe Bass Team Trail tournaments sponsored by 154 Marine. The teams were met with cooler than normal temperatures, moderate to heavily stained water in the low 60’s and the lake level had dropped almost 4 feet over the past week. All conditions pointing to a tough bite. However, looks and conditions are deceiving, normally not in a good way, but today, Mark Twain Lake really showed out with 17 limits, 6 limits over 19 pounds! Average fish weighed in at 3.23 pounds!
Taking the top spot today was the team of Steve Weber and Sam Phillips. Steve and Sam started their day fishing main-lake pockets with pea gravel and 2 casts in caught a 6.77 pounder on a Chatterbait. the team filled out their limit with the Chatterbait, then moved into longer creeks pitching Senko style baits to visible cover (stumps and laydowns) in the back half of the creeks after the sun got higher. The team was rewarded for their efforts by dropping 22.22 pounds of Mark Twain Lake bass on the scales. Steve also took the Highest finishing Skeeter boat incentive fishing out of his Yamaha re-powered 2011 ZX225.
Finishing in the runner-up position was the team of Jon Brewer and Daniel Turner. Jon and Daniel fished moving baits in and around rock to gravel transition banks and spawning flats in the mid-lake area. The team also pitched drop baits to laydowns and other visible cover, catching fish in 1 to 10 feet of water on an all-day bite. Jon and Daniel’s 5 fish limit pushed the scales down to 21.29 pounds.
Finishing in third today was the team of Wade Rulo and Doug Buhr. Wade and Doug also fished the mid-lake area targeting transition banks and spawning pockets, using squarebilled crankbaits. Doug reported that deflection and pause were key to trigger a reaction bite. Wade and Doug weighed in 20.42 pounds for third place.
Catching the Impel Union Big Bass today was the father son team of Jake and Richard Morrison. Around mid-morning the team was fishing laydowns near a spawning flat when Jake flipped a jig alongside a laydown and thump, it was on, and Jake now has a new Personal Best to his credit a lovely Mark Twain Lake giant weighing 7.55 pounds. The team’s total weight of 19.97 pounds was good enough for 5th place overall.
35 teams, 118 total fish weighed, 17 limits, 100% live release. Great job taking care of your catch!
Our next Joe Bass tournament at Mark Twain will be Sunday, June 1st, 6am take-off Robert E. Allen ramp.
Host lodging for Joe Bass Team Trail at Mark Twain Lake is Country Inn Resort , (573) 267-3800
Clear Cast marine electronics repair is now supporting Joe Bass Team Trail. Their support is a valauble addition to our sponsoring local businesses. Their support pays for all of the Tournament of Champions and Staff Shootout opportunities at the Invitational. Lets make them feel welcome. SUPPORT their efforts! Be sure and visit their website for details for your repair and setup needs!
Peyton Stumpf of Trippple P Custom’s will award a replica fishmount valued at $500 to the winner of the big bass award at this fall’s Truman Invitational. Please check out Trippple P Customs for custom painted swimbaits, crankbaits and more!
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.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Steve Weber – Sam Phillips | 5 | 6.77 | 22.22 | 220 | $2,340.00 |
| 2 | Jon Brewer – Daniel Turner | 5 | 5.73 | 21.29 | 219 | $1,070.00 |
| 3 | Wade Rulo – Doug Buhr | 5 | 5.24 | 20.42 | 218 | $720.00 |
| 4 | Dennis McFetridge – Scott McFetridge | 5 | 5.35 | 20.03 | 217 | $420.00 |
| 5 | Jake Morrison – Richard Morrison | 5 | 7.55 | 19.97 | 216 | $510.00 |
| 6 | Keith Hendrix – Rusty Rothweiler | 5 | 6.93 | 19.64 | 215 | $350.00 |
| 7 | David Kampschroeder – *Jason Huskey | 5 | 17.72 | 214 | $180.00 | |
| 8 | Deno Ek – James Medlock | 5 | 4.32 | 17.59 | 213 | |
| 9 | Scott Jackson – Todd Martens | 5 | 4.44 | 16.38 | 212 | |
| 10 | Wade Walling – Matt Weigel | 5 | 15.33 | 211 | ||
| 11 | Chad Denningmann – Kurt Denningmann | 5 | 14.59 | 210 | ||
| 12 | Charlie Kunkle – Keith Williams | 5 | 14.08 | 209 | ||
| 13 | Brad Dooley – *Gary Koenig | 5 | 14.07 | 208 | ||
| 14 | Steve Chiaurro – *fished aalone | 5 | 14.05 | 207 | ||
| 15 | Phil J Zimmerman – Phil M Zimmerman | 5 | 13.86 | 206 | ||
| 16 | Brady Graves – *fished aalone | 5 | 13.6 | 205 | ||
| 17 | Josh Gebhardt – Ross Lord | 5 | 3.9 | 13.11 | 204 | |
| 18 | Matt McCullough – Scott Arensmann | 4 | 4.53 | 11.62 | 203 | |
| 19 | Mark Conrad – Warren Conrad | 4 | 10.91 | 202 | ||
| 20 | Kenneth Young – *fished aalone | 3 | 4.41 | 9.32 | 201 | |
| 21 | Preston Hartung – George Harrington | 3 | 9.04 | 200 | ||
| 22 | Tyler Hermes – Richard Hermes | 3 | 8.84 | 199 | ||
| 23 | Lonnie Franklin – Kyler Benne | 3 | 4.36 | 8.17 | 198 | |
| 24 | Darrin Marcure – Dane Wagner | 3 | 6.96 | 197 | ||
| 25 | Kaiden Davenport – *Klayton Marty | 2 | 5.64 | 196 | ||
| 26 | Joel Eversmeyer – Tim Nester | 2 | 5.61 | 195 | ||
| 27 | Mike Smith 2 – Brent Basler | 2 | 4.92 | 194 | ||
| 28 | Dominic Perotti – Nick Perotti | 1 | 4.02 | 4.02 | 193 | |
| 29 | Don McFetridge – Gary McFetridge | 1 | 3.01 | 3.01 | 192 | |
| 30 | Gary Martens – Bryan Loseman | 1 | 2.82 | 2.82 | 191 | |
| 31 | Mathew Waller – Connor McBride | 1 | 2.31 | 2.31 | 190 | |
| 32 | Keith Davis – Todd Sunfield | 0 | 20 | |||
| Barry Goen – Art Brown | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Alan Hoyt – John Summers | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Larry Rothwiel – Steve Smith | 0 | 20 |
*alternate