Mild temperatures, clear skies and a light breeze greeted the 42 teams that gathered at Ahoy’s to battle for top honors in the final event of the 2023 of the Table Rock Division. Contrasting the decent conditions, September’s “fishing curse” was in full effect as the bass appeared to be confused between what the calendar should show as a transition from their deep haunts while the warm water temps suggested otherwise. The confusion was manifested in the stats as only 19 limits were brought to the scales and top weights were much lower than the previous four events. Nonetheless, every fish still counts for qualifying points for the Joe Bass Invitational to be held at Stockton Lake next fall.
Wrapping up the season with a victory, Jay and Clay Henderson wrangled 15.28 pounds of T-Rock bass. Their Chompers Key to Success was dragging big worms. Jay and Clay moved around a bit, as they found their bites on a variety of spots with different cover and structure. Depth was mixed as well, with their winning fish coming from both shallow and deeper locales.
Cory and Roger Cook took runner-up honors. Their best five fished pushed the scales to 13.98 pounds. Their bag was anchored by the NAPA Big Bass of the day, a stud 4.42 pounder. Cory and Roger optimized their time by staying close to takeoff. Their lure of choice was a jig crawled through brush and rocks on multiple spots.
Roger Satterfield and Kelly Jones capped off another strong season with a podium finish. They paired an early buzzbait bite with their favorite jig to nab 13.92 pounds of bass, narrowly missing the second place prize. Roger and Kelly added Top Skeeter money to their winnings as they fished from Roger’s 2022 ZXR Skeeter.
Special thanks to Taylor Grubaugh Chevrolet, Buick & GMC in West Plains for sponsoring the live release boat.
Invitational sign up will be posted on-line. Watch the website. Orleans Trail Marina official lodging.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | Pnlty | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Jay Henderson – Clay Henderson | 5 | 4.03 | 15.28 | 220 | $2,330.00 | |
| 2 | Cory Cook – Roger Cook | 5 | 4.42 | 13.98 | 219 | $1,450.00 | |
| 3 | Kelly Jones – Roger Satterfield | 5 | 4.32 | 13.92 | 218 | $1,250.00 | |
| 4 | Bobby Paul Jr. – *Debra Beachum | 5 | 3.42 | 13.58 | 217 | $620.00 | |
| 5 | John Cates – Mike Edwards | 5 | 3.11 | 13.52 | 216 | $400.00 | |
| 6 | Bryan Baker – *fished aalone | 5 | 4.12 | 13.25 | 215 | $212.00 | |
| 7 | Brett Rider – Steve Rider | 5 | 3.01 | 13.02 | 214 | $180.00 | |
| 8 | Mike Utt – Mike Uttt | 5 | 4.12 | 12.73 | 213 | $180.00 | |
| 9 | Rusty Darnell – David Rogers | 5 | 3.8 | 12.46 | 212 | ||
| 10 | Mark Long – *Jerry Pendergrass | 5 | 2.48 | 12.46 | 211 | ||
| 11 | Chad Morgenthaler – *fished aalone | 5 | 2.94 | 12.23 | 210 | ||
| 12 | Landon Edwards – Cody Ellison | 5 | 11.8 | 209 | |||
| 13 | Gary Brach – James Brach | 5 | 2.9 | 10.95 | 208 | ||
| 14 | Cody Miller – Dillon Robertson | 5 | 2.67 | 10.92 | 207 | ||
| 15 | Jake Smith – Neil Booher | 5 | 10.61 | 206 | |||
| 16 | Adam Cook – Jeremy Hittler | 5 | 10.42 | 205 | |||
| 17 | Tony Harp – Mike Rodgers | 5 | 9.88 | 204 | |||
| 18 | Michael Cross – William Beaver | 5 | 9.7 | 203 | |||
| 19 | Eric White – *Ron Foss | 4 | 3.11 | 9.05 | 202 | ||
| 20 | Ken Gross – Daniel Pueppke | 5 | 9.02 | 201 | |||
| 21 | Sam Grace – Blake Macamber | 4 | 8.6 | 200 | |||
| 22 | Kyle Wagner – John Wagner | 4 | 3.03 | 8.54 | 199 | ||
| 23 | Matt Cesar – Ed Larson | 3 | 3.7 | 7.79 | 198 | ||
| 24 | Gregg Sapp – Robert Duffy | 4 | 7.76 | 197 | |||
| 25 | Rick Jones – Jeremy Gilbert | 4 | 7.55 | 196 | |||
| 26 | William Luethje – Danny Smith | 4 | 0.5 | 7.47 | 195 | ||
| 27 | Kade Underwood – Bill Elkins | 3 | 7.06 | 194 | |||
| 28 | Jared Essary – *fished aalone | 3 | 7.03 | 193 | |||
| 29 | Rodney Bowersox – *Jamie Robinson | 2 | 2.89 | 4.56 | 192 | ||
| 30 | Shane Harms – Dillon Harms | 2 | 4.38 | 191 | |||
| 31 | Michael Frye – Michael Landwehr | 2 | 4.26 | 190 | |||
| 32 | Michael Hogan – *John Hogan | 2 | 3.1 | 189 | |||
| 33 | Jay Carden – Dustin Lowe | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Jordan Dibben – Jason Conner | 0 | 20 | |||||
| Bill Hayford – *Mike Rose | 0 | 20 | |||||
| Terry Hutchison – Jason Coley | 0 | 20 | |||||
| Terry Letterman – Doug Smart | 0 | 20 | |||||
| Kavan Maybee – Josh Wray | 0 | 20 | |||||
| Roger Morris – *fished aalone | 0 | 20 | |||||
| Justin Pruit – | 0 | 20 | |||||
| Jerry Roark – *fished aalone | 0 | 20 | |||||
| Danny Waite – Bryan Leonard | 0 | 20 |
*alternate