34 teams came out for the 3rd of 5 qualifying tournaments in the Joe Bass Team Trail, Mark Twain Division, sponsored by 154 Marine. Dock talk was all about finding Quality over Quantity bites as the lake is fishing well for small keepers and shorts, but the 4 pound plus bite was hard to come by.
Taking the top spot today on the Window World leaderboard was the team of Preston Hartung and Kale Johnson. Preston and Kale started off in the mid-lake area, with buzzbaits on a variety of banks with only a handful of short fish for their efforts. The team made a slight move around 10 o’clock to the mouth of a spawning pocket and connected with their first keeper. the team hopped to the next spawning pocket, and it produced keeper number two. The team fished around the pocket and on the way out, Hooked keeper number 3, a 5.46-pound beast that was the Wilson Truck Sales Big Joe Bass of the tournament. Preston and Kale realized they had a solid pattern, so the team stayed in the area hitting pocket after pocket to amass the winning weight of 16.94 pounds. Preston and Kale fished out of Preston’s 2023 FXR20 Skeeter earning the top finishing Skeeter incentive. Preston and Kale are sponsored by 154 Marine, Ardent, Duckett Fishing and JPH Construction.
Finishing in the Runner-up position today was the team of Doug Buhr and Mike Tucker. At take-off Doug pointed his Skeeter to the east, and ran to the lower end of the lake, the team then focused on spawning pockets with timber and laydowns. Doug and Mike fished spinnerbaits and square-billed crankbaits around the shallow cover, bringing 16.80 pounds of bass to the scales. Doug and Mike are sponsored by 154 Marine and Outlaw Crane Services.
Placing third today with 15.71 pounds was the team of Charlie Kunkle and Keith Williams. Charlie and Keith did things a little differently than the other top finishers, they fished drop-baits, mainly Brushogs and jigs, to pole timber on main-lake flats. Keith said they caught fish from 2 to 10ft, with the better bites coming from deeper water. Included in their bag was the second big bass of the tournament weighing 4.89 pounds. Charlie and Keith are sponsored by 154 Marine.
Taking fourth today was the team of Tom Herndon and Jason VanBeers with 15.64
Fifth place went to Colten and Ron Mellenger weighing 15.44
Sixth place went to Corey Kunkle and Doug Byrd with 15.09
34 teams, 134 fish (100% released), 22 limits, Total weight 369.45
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!
For trail updates, schedule changes and results Like us on Facebook & Instagram.
Our next Mark Twain Division tournament sponsored by 154 Marine will be Sunday June 28th, 6am take-off Robert Allen Ramp.
Come up early and fish the 154 Marine open buddy tournament, Saturday June 27th, 6am take-off call (573)565-2052 for details or to sign-up.
Host Lodging for Joe Bass Team Trail at Mark Twain Lake is Country Inn Resort. Angela Pratt and her team will take great care of you. Call (573)267-3800
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Preston Hartung – Kale Johnson | 5 | 5.46 | 16.94 | 220 | $2,580.00 |
| 2 | Doug Buhr – Mike Tucker | 5 | 4.74 | 16.8 | 219 | $1,100.00 |
| 3 | Charlie Kunkle – Keith Williams | 5 | 4.89 | 15.71 | 218 | $870.00 |
| 4 | Tom Herndon – Jason VanBeers | 5 | 3.92 | 15.64 | 217 | $450.00 |
| 5 | Colton Mellinger – Ron Mellinger | 5 | 4.42 | 15.44 | 216 | $326.00 |
| 6 | Cory Kunkle – *Doug Byrd | 5 | 4.21 | 15.09 | 215 | $208.00 |
| 7 | Don McFetridge – Gary McFetridge | 5 | 3.95 | 14.81 | 214 | |
| 8 | Kenny Wilkinson – Sammy Closser | 5 | 3.75 | 14.27 | 213 | |
| 9 | Steve Weber – Sam Phillips | 5 | 3.88 | 14.06 | 212 | |
| 10 | Keith LaBarge – Roger LaBarge | 5 | 3.48 | 13.82 | 211 | |
| 11 | Dennis McFetridge – Scott McFetridge | 5 | 3.47 | 13.46 | 210 | |
| 12 | Chad Wagner – *Paul Bruemmer | 5 | 4.05 | 13.41 | 209 | |
| 13 | Donnie Palmatory – Logan Hughes | 5 | 3.3 | 13.4 | 208 | |
| 14 | Deno Ek – James Medlock | 5 | 4.03 | 13.13 | 207 | |
| 15 | Phil Rothermich – Carter Lochmann | 5 | 13.1 | 206 | ||
| 16 | Rick Buffington – | 5 | 12.98 | 205 | ||
| 17 | Larry Rothwiel – *Kate Falkargren | 5 | 12.68 | 204 | ||
| 18 | Lonnie Franklin – Kyler Benne | 5 | 12.48 | 203 | ||
| 19 | Brady Graves – Justin Wright | 5 | 3.41 | 12.31 | 202 | |
| 20 | Adam Dawdy – Pace Dawdy | 4 | 4.13 | 12.28 | 201 | |
| 21 | Brad Dooley – Gary Koenig | 5 | 11.91 | 200 | ||
| 22 | Josh Gebhardt – Ross Lord | 5 | 11.56 | 199 | ||
| 23 | Kaiden Davenport – *fished aalone | 5 | 11 | 198 | ||
| 24 | Tyler Hermes – Richard Hermes | 4 | 4.56 | 10.94 | 197 | |
| 25 | Steve Chiaurro – Richard Dannegger | 4 | 10.57 | 196 | ||
| 26 | Matt Bryant – *Andrew Bergfeld | 4 | 9.24 | 195 | ||
| 27 | Phil J Zimmerman – Phil M Zimmerman | 3 | 3.79 | 7.4 | 194 | |
| 28 | Alston Golian – *Brendan Ackerman | 2 | 4.46 | 6.61 | 193 | |
| 29 | Dominic Perotti – Nick Perotti | 2 | 3.64 | 5.35 | 192 | |
| 30 | Barry Goen – Art Brown | 1 | 3.06 | 3.06 | 191 | |
| 31 | Brent Basler – Mike Smith 2 | 0 | 20 | |||
| Kurt Denningmann – Chad Denningmann | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Charles Rankin – Gage Roberts | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Mathew Waller – Connor McBride | 0 | 20 |
*alternate