Division Finale has plenty of drama!
The teams were greeted with cloudy skies, high humidity, and rain forecasted for later in the day for the Mark Twain Lake division finale, sponsored by 154 Marine. Anticipations were high for the teams in contention for the division points championship, as 5 teams were within 12 points of the lead. More on that later in the report.
Taking the top spot today was the team of Deno Ek and James Medlock. Deno and James fished a typical summer pattern rotating through six or seven main-lake spots, hoping to run into active groups of fish in the mid-lake area. The team reported that the majority of their bites came relatively shallow, 5 to 10 feet deep, but did have one of their quality fish come from a depth of 15 feet late in the day. Deno and James reported fishing jigs and texas rigged soft plastics to accumulate the 14.96 pounds of bass to take the W. Deno also was the highest finishing Skeeter owner fishing out of his 2009 ZX225. Deno wanted to dedicate the team victory to his father in-law Bill Scheiner, who is battling some difficult health issues.
Taking the runner-up position today was the Joe Bass staff team of Steve Weber and Sam Phillips. Like the winners, Steve and Sam started their day fishing main-lake spots in the mid-lake area. However, the team only had 1 keeper fish at 8:30, so the team made a move to the lower end of Mark Twain lake, where Sam through a green pumpkin K stick (senko style bait) to a brushpile and coaxed the Impel Union Big Joe Bass into biting. The one-eyed beast weighed 5.46 pounds. In the end the team fell 1 fish shy of a limit but managed to bring 13.97 pounds of fish and a second-place finish.
Finishing in Third place today was the Window World sponsored team of Tyler and Richard Hermes. The father son duo reported getting on an early morning crankbait and jig bite fishing main-lake stuff in the 8-to-10-foot depth range. Later in the day, the team reported “Junk fishing anything that looked good” catching fish on topwater and creature baits. The teams 13.70-pound limit was just enough to hold off the 4th place team by .01 pounds.
For the second time in the 13-year history of the Joe Bass Mark Twain Division the division points championship ended in a tie. Points totals are determined by each team’s best 4 tournaments within the division. Chad and Kurt Denningman tied Charlie Kunkle and Keith Williams with 864 points. The tie was broken by largest fish weighed throughout year. Chad and Kurt’s biggest was 4.74 pounds Charlie and Keith’s was 5.16 pounds. Charlie and Keith will be Boat #1 for the 2026 Mark Twain division and receive Paid Entry to the Joe Bass team invitational held at Truman Lake Oct 17-19 Bucksaw Resort.
I want to thank all those who supported Joe Bass Team Trail at Mark Twain Lake this year, including Charlie, Sonnie and Cory at 154 Marine, and Angie and staff at Country Inn Resort. and of course, all the anglers who fished the division this year.
Regattas are being submitted for the 2026 season.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Deno Ek – James Medlock | 5 | 3.88 | 14.96 | 220 | $1,820.00 |
| 2 | Steve Weber – Sam Phillips | 4 | 5.46 | 13.97 | 219 | $820.00 |
| 3 | Tyler Hermes – Richard Hermes | 5 | 13.7 | 218 | $390.00 | |
| 4 | Charlie Kunkle – Keith Williams | 5 | 13.69 | 217 | $200.00 | |
| 5 | Chad Denningmann – Kurt Denningmann | 5 | 3.9 | 12.55 | 216 | |
| 6 | Don McFetridge – Gary McFetridge | 5 | 3.68 | 11.66 | 215 | |
| 7 | Donnie Palmatory – Logan Hughes | 4 | 10.88 | 214 | ||
| 8 | Alan Hoyt – John Summers | 4 | 3.32 | 10.45 | 213 | |
| 9 | Scott Jackson – Todd Martens | 3 | 4.44 | 8.98 | 212 | |
| 10 | Phil J Zimmerman – Phil M Zimmerman | 4 | 2.9 | 8.61 | 211 | |
| 11 | Wilgus Tom – Holme Joshua | 3 | 7.43 | 210 | ||
| 12 | Steve Chiaurro – Richard Dannegger | 4 | 7.3 | 209 | ||
| 13 | Wade Rulo – *Justin Wright | 3 | 6.32 | 208 | ||
| 14 | Mathew Waller – Connor McBride | 2 | 3.63 | 5.65 | 207 | |
| 15 | Matt McCullough – Scott Arensmann | 1 | 4.68 | 4.68 | 206 | $80.00 |
| 16 | Dennis McFetridge – Scott McFetridge | 1 | 4.17 | 4.17 | 205 | |
| 17 | Rankin Charles – Hocker Tanner | 0 | 20 | |||
| Mark Conrad – Warren Conrad | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Lonnie Franklin – Kyler Benne | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Denis Repa – *Peter Repa | 0 | 20 |
*alternate