25 teams came out to solve the tough bite on a stingy Mark Twain Lake. Morning dock talk was about how the fast rise in the lake (over 6 feet in a week) and very little discharge, due to the Mississippi river being at flood stage, had the bass scattered and not being very cooperative.
Taking the Window World Leader Board top spot today was the team of Don and Gary McFetridge. Don and Gary started their day fishing shallow buckbrush and grassy flats in the mid-lake area. The team fished a variety of baits, including Brushogs, Senkos, and a swimjig. The early cloud cover and breeze helped the early bite until the sun came out and the shallow bite fizzled. The team made an adjustment and moved to the 107 bridge and Bee creek area and started fishing deep structure (16 to 20ft) with soft plastics, where Gary caught keepers on back to back casts on a big worm. Don and Gary dropped 17.72 pounds of Mark Twain Lake bass on the scales for the W. Gary stated that it was nice to know they could still win a July tournament WITHOUT Forward Facing Sonar! Included in their bag was the NAPA Big Bass of the day weighing 4.89 pounds.
Taking the runner-up position for the second tournament in a row was the team of Wade Walling and Matt Weigel. Wade and Matt took a different approach to their day, as the team looked for fish under schools of large shad suspended off steep banks with Forward Facing Sonar. Wade and Matt would then drop a Rattle trap down through the shad to get a reaction strike. The team brought in 15.30 pounds of Mark Twain Lake bass to the scales, to finish second.
Finishing in Third place today was the veteran team of Charlie Kunkle and Keith Williams. The 154 Marine sponsored team fished big worms on deep structure and brushpiles in the lower end of the lake bringing in 13.33 pounds to the scales. Keith was also the highest finishing Skeeter owner as the team fished out of his new 2024 FXR 21.
25 teams 47 fish weighed 47 fish released 4 limits.
Our next and final Mark Twain Lake division tournament of the 2024 season, sponsored by 154 Marine, will be Sunday August 11th. 6am Take-off Robert E Allen ramp. This will be a No Membership required open tournament.
Host Lodging for Joe Bass at Mark Train is Country Inn Resort (573)267-3800
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Pay special attention to the top 3 places in the points race. Beginning this season all 3 will be eligible for the Tournament of Champions held inconjuction with the Invitational.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Don McFetridge – Gary McFetridge | 5 | 4.89 | 17.72 | 220 | $1,810.00 |
| 2 | Wade Walling – Matt Weigel | 5 | 3.77 | 15.3 | 219 | $850.00 |
| 3 | Charlie Kunkle – Keith Williams | 5 | 3.05 | 13.33 | 218 | $1,010.00 |
| 4 | Dominic Perotti – Nick Perotti | 5 | 12.61 | 217 | $250.00 | |
| 5 | Cory Kunkle – *Mack Tucker | 4 | 4.37 | 12.32 | 216 | $200.00 |
| 6 | Ron Mellinger – *Travis Wilson | 4 | 4.8 | 10.8 | 215 | $100.00 |
| 7 | Keith Hendrix – Greg Zumwalt | 3 | 4.24 | 8.58 | 214 | |
| 8 | Larry Rothwiel – Steve Smith | 4 | 7.59 | 213 | ||
| 9 | Josh Gebhardt – Ross Lord | 2 | 4.08 | 6.01 | 212 | |
| 10 | Steve Chiaurro – *Tim Wurm | 2 | 5.21 | 211 | ||
| 11 | Lonnie Franklin – *fished aalone | 2 | 2.73 | 5 | 210 | |
| 12 | Brad Dooley – *Robin Hessling | 2 | 3.91 | 209 | ||
| 13 | Chad Denningmann – Kurt Denningmann | 1 | 3.35 | 3.35 | 208 | |
| 14 | Zackery Andersen – Matthew Andersen | 1 | 2.56 | 2.56 | 207 | |
| 15 | Phil J Zimmerman – Phil M Zimmerman | 1 | 2.03 | 2.03 | 206 | |
| 16 | Preston Hartung – *Finn Reed | 1 | 1.65 | 1.65 | 205 | |
| 17 | Bill Baumbach – James Guinn | 0 | 20 | |||
| Doug Buhr – Bill Cantwell | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Alan Hoyt – John Summers | 0 | 20 | ||||
| David Kampschroeder – Dustin Kampschroeder | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Donnie Palmatory – Logan Hughes | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Denis Repa – *fished aalone | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Scott Taucher – Dave Becker | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Mathew Waller – Connor McBride | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Steve Weber – Sam Phillips | 0 | 20 |
*alternate