Change. Webster’s Dictionary defines change as “to make a difference in the state or condition of a thing”. To the May Truman Lake angler, change involves the annual migration from spawning areas to summer locales, seasonal weather transitions, all in addition to daily changes in temperature, wind, and cloud conditions. However, the 55 teams assembled for the third event of the Truman Division were forced to deal with the typical changes coupled with severe storms on both Saturday and Sunday. The storms dealt the field a mixed bag of strong winds, hail, torrential rains, and an awesome display of lightning followed by a noon-time break in the clouds and the cessation of any breeze. In spite of the variables presented, the lake didn’t disappoint as 52 of the 55 teams brought a limit to the scales as they competed for the win and qualifying points for the Joe Bass Team Trails Championship at Table Rock Lake in October. The strength of Joe Bass anglers is becoming recognized nationally as the Trail is proud to send an angler to the BASSMASTER Classic for the second year in a row, with Ryan Butler winning the 2018 honors on the heels of Scott Clift’s visit in 2017.
Taking their first Joe Bass win, Tim Hintenach and Dustin Hinkle topped the field with an 18.75 pound bag. Tim shared their Sport Boats USA Keys to Success centered on working jigs and brush hogs both shallow and deep. Their locales included a variety of banks in the Grand River arm of the lake.
The always competitive team of Charley and Chris Thomas finished a close second with a solid 18.17 stringer. Adjusting to the constant changing conditions, Charley and Chris stuck to brush hogs as their go-to lure. The pair reported dragging a variety of bank types with the bite presenting in the 6-10’ range.
Rounding out the top three, Bryce Rieder and Mike Edrington wrestled 17.97 pounds to the weigh-in scales. Bryce and Mike left before details could be obtained on their successful strategy.
Eric and Ben Zuk took the Ozark Chevrolet Big Bass award with a 6.06 lunker. The kicker boosted them to a fourth place finish. Team Zuk shared the big fish succumbed to a shakey head presentation on a mainlake point in the lower lake.
Wayne Garrison and Robbie Plowman took home the SportBoats USA Top Skeeter Owner Bonus. Their 15.52 pound bag, which placed them in 14th place, as taken from Wayne’s Skeeter bass boat.
The next Truman Division event will launch from Shawnee Bend June 24th at 6:00am.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout | |
| 1 | Tim Hintenach – Dustin Hinkle | 5 | 5.25 | 18.75 | 110 | $1,630.00 | |
| 2 | Charley Thomas – Chris Thomas | 5 | 4.28 | 18.17 | 109 | $1,060.00 | 2BB |
| 3 | Bryce Rieder – Mike Edrington | 5 | 4.44 | 17.97 | 108 | $870.00 | |
| 4 | Eric Zuk – Ben Zuk | 5 | 6.06 | 17.91 | 107 | $1,000.00 | 1BB |
| 5 | Todd Miller – Cameron Miller | 5 | 4.17 | 17.33 | 106 | $500.00 | |
| 6 | Bob Jany – *Randy Potts | 5 | 4.97 | 16.93 | 105 | $300.00 | |
| 7 | Robert Hime – Paul Huse | 5 | 4.06 | 16.76 | 104 | $200.00 | |
| 8 | Billy Doak – *Logan Burditt | 5 | 4.02 | 16.61 | 103 | $160.00 | |
| 9 | Billy Greenwell – James McCutchen | 5 | 3.65 | 16.54 | 102 | $150.00 | |
| 10 | Jerry McCutchen – Kevin Smith | 5 | 4.8 | 15.85 | 101 | $140.00 | |
| 11 | Tony Powers – John Brewer | 5 | 4.2 | 15.85 | 100 | $130.00 | |
| 12 | Lyle Armstrong – Mitchell Armstrong | 5 | 4.29 | 15.65 | 99 | ||
| 13 | Joseph Hull – Brett Fickle | 5 | 3.84 | 15.52 | 98 | ||
| 14 | Wayne Garrison – Robbie Plowman | 5 | 3.63 | 15.52 | 97 | $500.00 | Top Skeeter |
| 15 | Blake Felix – Keith Nickell | 5 | 3.52 | 15.35 | 96 | ||
| 16 | John Bennett – Darrell Reach | 5 | 3.94 | 15.31 | 95 | ||
| 17 | David McCormick – Gary Shartzer | 5 | 4.81 | 15.28 | 94 | ||
| 18 | Scott Hankinson – Brandon Rowland | 5 | 4.6 | 15.1 | 93 | ||
| 19 | Kevin Johnston – Roger Waters | 5 | 4.05 | 15.04 | 92 | ||
| 20 | Michael Simons – Jacob Simons | 5 | 3.58 | 15.03 | 91 | ||
| 21 | Ron Peek – Grieg Engel | 5 | 5.09 | 14.98 | 90 | ||
| 22 | Kevin Carl – Desmon Carl | 5 | 3.27 | 14.98 | 89 | ||
| 23 | Danny Carter – Chris Carter | 5 | 3.82 | 14.45 | 88 | ||
| 24 | Ed Matthews – Bill Hall | 5 | 3.67 | 14.45 | 87 | ||
| 25 | James Macleod – Danny Johnston | 5 | 3.58 | 14.35 | 86 | ||
| 26 | *Nate Atchley – Brock Reinkemeyer | 5 | 14.34 | 85 | |||
| 27 | Doug Wallace – Ozzie Wallace | 5 | 4.03 | 13.4 | 84 | ||
| 28 | Stephen Smith – Garen Hunt | 5 | 4.43 | 13.25 | 83 | ||
| 29 | Ricky Clemen – Stacy Howell | 5 | 4.42 | 13.12 | 82 | ||
| 30 | Brad Jelinek – John Slavens | 5 | 13.11 | 81 | |||
| 31 | Tom McGovern – Rick Saunders | 5 | 3.99 | 13.06 | 80 | ||
| 32 | Chris Flood – Brandon Flood | 5 | 4.77 | 12.93 | 79 | ||
| 33 | Matt Gunter – Bobby Williams | 5 | 12.89 | 78 | |||
| 34 | Jonathan Evans – *Ray Johnson | 5 | 3.2 | 12.85 | 77 | ||
| 35 | Justin Miller – Mathew Miller | 5 | 12.59 | 76 | |||
| 36 | Mark Thompson – Mark Thompson II | 5 | 12.52 | 75 | |||
| 37 | Timmy Newberry – Rusty Darnell | 5 | 12.48 | 74 | |||
| 38 | Jonathan Pimentel – Christopher Cross | 5 | 3.65 | 12.35 | 73 | ||
| 39 | Bryan Baker – Darren Baker | 5 | 4.34 | 12.33 | 72 | ||
| 40 | Greg Miller – Mike Rowland | 5 | 3.25 | 12.32 | 71 | ||
| 41 | Bill Dennis – Steve Olive | 5 | 3.14 | 12.23 | 70 | ||
| 42 | John Krewson – Charles Sersch | 5 | 2.68 | 12.23 | 69 | ||
| 43 | Kevin Love – | 5 | 2.9 | 12.18 | 68 | ||
| 44 | Sean Bowling – Brandon Brown | 5 | 12.08 | 67 | |||
| 45 | Phillip Schwartz – Colby Schwartz | 5 | 11.09 | 66 | |||
| 46 | Donnie Reynolds – Mark Reynolds | 5 | 10.93 | 65 | |||
| 47 | Randy Oliphant – Scott Oliphant | 5 | 2.91 | 10.48 | 64 | ||
| 48 | Don Heiser – Jim Sells | 5 | 10.21 | 63 | |||
| 49 | Chris Bridges – *fished aalone | 5 | 10.17 | 62 | |||
| 50 | Greg Askew – Terry Case | 5 | 9.86 | 61 | |||
| 51 | Jack Young – Bill McAvoy | 5 | 9 | 60 | |||
| 52 | Lennie Becker – Elmer Becker | 5 | 7.95 | 59 | |||
| 53 | Glen McCrary – Sondra McCrary | 3 | 6.63 | 58 | |||
| 54 | Jim Waggoner – | 2 | 3.45 | 57 | |||
| 55 | Junior Fiedler – Cody Fielder | 0 | 10 |
*alternate