Webster’s Dictionary definition of ADJUSTMENT: “adaptation to a particular condition”. It has been impossible to be a successful angler in the Joe Bass Team Trails Truman Division during the 2019 season without the ability to adjust, as conditions have ranged from snow and high, dirty, cold water in March with bites nearly impossible to come by, to spring like conditions in April with high weights and numerous limits brought to the scales, and lake levels 20+ feet high during the May event. The June tournament made no attempt to break the streak of changing conditions, as the lake experienced record flood levels in the weeks prior to the event, forcing the launch to relocate to the high water ramp at Berry Bend, the only facility operational due to the water levels. 48 teams launched in rainy conditions, wary of floaters, loss of long-time navigation markers, and the simple ability to find fishable water. Yet, the afternoon weigh-in proved the mettle of the Truman Lake crew as 31 limits were weighed, with nearly 200 presented, securing valuable qualifying points for the Joe Bass Team Trails Championship at Truman Lake in October.
Veterans of the Truman bass wars, Charley and Chris Thomas made it two in a row as they solved the high water puzzle. Their stout five bass limit pushed the scales to 20.92 pounds The pair shared their Sport Boats USA Key to Success involved pitching jigs and spinnerbaits on steeper slopes where they could get to the bank. 6’-8’ was the optimal depth on their areas, and they noted current appeared to play a pivotal role in the aggressiveness of the bite, with the duo catching 13 keepers to reach their final weight.
Another veteran team secured second place. Jerry McCutchen and Kevin Smith wrestled 17.29 pounds to the boat using jigs and brush hogs. Kevin explained they also focused on the 6-8 foot range and believed current bettered their bite. He lamented they lost a big fish that would have helped their weight, but doubted it would have been enough to catch Charley and Chris. However, their 19 keepers for the day reflects a stellar day on the water.
Rounding out the top three was Joe Bass staffers Sean Bowling and Brandon Brown. Sticking with the current related theme, they worked magnum shaky heads in 2’ of water to boat 16.97 pounds of bass. Sean noted the bite disappeared when the Corps shut off the discharge. Brandon added their key spot was limited to a 17 yard stretch of otherwise similar bank, suggesting they had found a school huddled up on a key piece of bank for whatever reason.
Michael and Jacob Simons continued the veteran Truman theme as they bolstered their 5th place finish with the Ozarks Chevrolet Big Bass of the event, a thick 5.47 pound toad which fell to a brush hog in 14’ of water. As with Sean and Brandon, they noted all of their fish came from the same 50 yard stretch of bank.
Taking the Sport Boats USA Highest Finishing Skeeter award was John Krewson and Tony Powers. They put 13.76 pounds of into John’s Sport Boats USA their Skeeter.
The fifth event in the Truman Division will be on July 21st with the takeoff time slated for 6:00 am at Shawnee Bend Ramp, assuming the lake returns to an accommodating level. Keep an eye on the website for further information.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | Pnlty | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout | |
| 1 | Charley Thomas – Chris Thomas | 5 | 4.89 | 20.92 | 110 | $1,830.00 | ||
| 2 | Jerry McCutchen – Kevin Smith | 5 | 4.18 | 17.29 | 109 | $1,200.00 | ||
| 3 | Sean Bowling – Brandon Brown | 5 | 4.18 | 16.97 | 108 | $800.00 | ||
| 4 | Stephen Smith – Garren Hunt | 5 | 4.45 | 16.42 | 107 | $730.00 | ||
| 5 | Michael Simons – Jacob Simons | 5 | 5.47 | 16.4 | 106 | $800.00 | 1BB | |
| 6 | David McCormick – *fished aalone | 5 | 4.96 | 16.32 | 105 | $300.00 | ||
| 7 | Jared Knuth – *Jeff Smith | 5 | 3.98 | 16.18 | 104 | $250.00 | ||
| 8 | Gary Arterberry – Gus Adkinson | 5 | 3.89 | 15.08 | 103 | $200.00 | ||
| 9 | Greg Askew – Terry Case | 5 | 3.95 | 15.04 | 102 | $160.00 | ||
| 10 | Bryce Rieder – Mike Edrington | 5 | 3.42 | 14.67 | 101 | |||
| 11 | Robert Hime – Paul Huse | 5 | 5.26 | 14.09 | 100 | $150.00 | 2BB | |
| 12 | Kevin Love – | 5 | 3.66 | 14.06 | 99 | |||
| 13 | *Mike Rowland – JR Shinn | 5 | 3.3 | 13.97 | 98 | |||
| 14 | John Krewson – Tony Powers | 5 | 2.98 | 13.76 | 97 | $500.00 | Top Skeeter | |
| 15 | Matt Gunter – *Kelly Nunn | 5 | 3.18 | 13.28 | 96 | |||
| 16 | Corey Besgrove – Eddie Brown | 5 | 2.89 | 13.07 | 95 | |||
| 17 | Bob Jany – Dennis Schilb | 5 | 0.5 | 3.04 | 12.68 | 94 | ||
| 18 | Donnie Reynolds – Mark Reynolds | 5 | 4 | 12.4 | 93 | |||
| 19 | Mark Thompson – Mark Thompson II | 5 | 12.15 | 92 | ||||
| 20 | Brett Fickle – Joseph Hull | 5 | 0.5 | 2.83 | 12.05 | 91 | ||
| 21 | Eric Zuk – Ben Zuk | 5 | 2.93 | 12.02 | 90 | |||
| 22 | Ron Peek – Pat Deaton | 5 | 2.68 | 11.81 | 89 | |||
| 23 | Timmy Newberry – Rusty Darnell | 5 | 3.48 | 11.75 | 88 | |||
| 24 | Mike Thomas – Jeff Lane | 4 | 0.5 | 5.21 | 11.62 | 87 | ||
| 25 | Larry Wright – Doug Wallace | 5 | 2.7 | 11.6 | 86 | |||
| 26 | James McCutchen – *Billy Greenwell | 5 | 2.52 | 10.9 | 85 | |||
| 27 | Don Heiser – Jim Sells | 5 | 3.43 | 10.38 | 84 | |||
| 28 | Rich Campbell – Marvin Decker | 4 | 3.49 | 10.34 | 83 | |||
| 29 | Keith Livingston – Steve Livingston | 4 | 3.35 | 10.2 | 82 | |||
| 30 | Chet Douthit – *Dick Turner | 5 | 2.84 | 9.5 | 81 | |||
| 31 | Kevin Duer – Dustin Young | 5 | 2.53 | 9.38 | 80 | |||
| 32 | Troy Hendrick – Chad Hendrick | 4 | 3.48 | 8.85 | 79 | |||
| 33 | Tom McGovern – Chris McGovern | 4 | 4.77 | 8.81 | 78 | |||
| 34 | John Campbell – Chuck Roberts | 4 | 2.42 | 7.27 | 77 | |||
| 35 | Lennie Becker – Elmer Becker II | 5 | 1.94 | 7.12 | 76 | |||
| 36 | Tony Habiger – John Shields | 3 | 3.35 | 7.1 | 75 | |||
| 37 | Ozzie Wallace – Brian Vanderzeil | 3 | 3.11 | 6.74 | 74 | |||
| 38 | Bryan Baker – Darren Baker | 5 | 2 | 6.1 | 73 | |||
| 39 | James Macleod – Danny Johnston | 3 | 2.3 | 6.06 | 72 | |||
| 40 | *Mike Cooley – Kirby Ricketts | 5 | 5.71 | 71 | ||||
| 41 | Randy Oliphant – Scott Oliphant | 3 | 2.76 | 5.47 | 70 | |||
| 42 | Jack Young – Bill McAvoy | 2 | 2.7 | 4.2 | 69 | |||
| 43 | Karl Schmidt – *Ysabel Arias | 1 | 3.38 | 3.38 | 68 | |||
| 44 | Wayne Garrison – *Doug Zink | 2 | 3.04 | 67 | ||||
| 45 | Chris Bridges – Steve Prince | 0 | 10 | |||||
| Rocky Carden – Shawn McHaffie | 0 | 10 | ||||||
| Junior Fiedler – Chris Fiedler | 0 | 10 | ||||||
| John Williams – *fished aalone | 0 | 10 |
*alternate