With a break in the heat, anglers were greeted to mild temperatures to close out the 2023 Stockton Division. With the cool-down just starting, the bass are far from a fall run to the coves and creeks to feed up for winter, which forced teams to ply the brushpiles and structure breaks to find fish. All of that adds up to tough fishing which manifested itself in the stats as 45 teams struggled to bring 14 limits to the scales.
Glenn Harrison capitalized on the tough conditions by bringing in a solid limit for 14.34, good enough for top honors for the derby. Glenn’s sack included the NAPA Big Bass of the day, a stout 5.44 pounder. Glenn’s Albers Marine, Inc. Key to Success centered on a big worm worked through brushpiles scattered throughout the lake. Depth varied as he caught fish from both the shallower cover as well as deeper spots.
Brandon and Ron Rommel used their knowledge of the lake to secure the runner-up spot with a 13.87 pound limit. They caught a few fish early on a topwater before switching to jigs. They also had to fish quite a few spots as both the brushpiles and better structure spots have been worked over pretty hard with the low water conditions.
Matt Garrett teamed with Will Isaac to take the remaining podium position. Their five fish limit pushed the scales to 13.48, just a shade off the 2nd place weight. Matt and Will noted they struggled to find a pattern. Instead, they ran a bunch of spots and worked them with a variety of baits. They made the most of their junk fishing approach to end the day with a solid finish.
Gerald McDaniel and Jeff Pascoe added to their fifth place check by taking Top Skeeter honors. They put a solid five fish limit weighing 13.04 in their 2018 ZX250 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 | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Glenn Harrison | 5 | 5.44 | 14.34 | 220 | $2,630.00 |
| 2 | Brandon Rummel – Ron Rummel | 5 | 4.35 | 13.87 | 219 | $1,300.00 |
| 3 | Matt Garrett – Will Isaac | 5 | 4.18 | 13.48 | 218 | $840.00 |
| 4 | Brent Greek – Andy Greek | 5 | 13.11 | 217 | $600.00 | |
| 5 | Gerald McDaniel – Jeff Pascoe | 5 | 2.7 | 13.04 | 216 | $750.00 |
| 6 | Mike Butcher – Justin Amershek | 5 | 11.47 | 215 | $400.00 | |
| 7 | Mark Moody – Kyle Kiister | 5 | 10.84 | 214 | $210.00 | |
| 8 | Eric Craft – *Marshall Craft | 5 | 10.66 | 213 | $180.00 | |
| 9 | Dan Cox – Tim Kastning | 5 | 2.49 | 10.35 | 212 | $180.00 |
| 10 | Luke Routh – Tyler Weaver | 5 | 9.99 | 211 | ||
| 11 | *Cody Sisco – Sean Brashears | 5 | 9.83 | 210 | ||
| 12 | Chad Allison – Jeff Moss | 4 | 9.26 | 209 | ||
| 13 | Scott Berry – Wes Darnell | 5 | 8.93 | 208 | ||
| 14 | Chris Macy – Tim Lawyer | 3 | 3.61 | 7.95 | 207 | |
| 15 | Mike Hagensicker – Dillon Brock | 5 | 7.95 | 206 | ||
| 16 | Tyler Eagan – James Eagan | 4 | 7.38 | 205 | ||
| 17 | Brady Graves – Darryll Waller | 5 | 7.34 | 204 | ||
| 18 | Ricky Clemen – Phil McKinney | 4 | 7.25 | 203 | ||
| 19 | Mike Johnson – Andrew Johnson | 4 | 6.94 | 202 | ||
| 20 | Greg Seiner – Brad Seiner | 2 | 3.88 | 6.02 | 201 | |
| 21 | Garen Hunt – Troy Hunt | 2 | 3.12 | 5.38 | 200 | |
| 22 | Justin Bogner – Kenny Bogner | 3 | 4.67 | 199 | ||
| 23 | JR Williams – Lee Jordan | 2 | 3.94 | 198 | ||
| 24 | Steve Teske – Bruce Yarnell | 3 | 3.93 | 197 | ||
| 25 | Tony Habiger – | 2 | 3.64 | 196 | ||
| 26 | Rick Bowman – Jeff Moore | 2 | 3.34 | 195 | ||
| 27 | Nick Hass – Bruce Francisco | 2 | 2.96 | 194 | ||
| 28 | Greg Bohnsack – Chris Wells | 1 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 193 | |
| 29 | Jared Essary – *Barb Cooper | 1 | 1.78 | 1.78 | 192 | |
| 30 | Justin Borum – Jake McKinnis | 0 | 20 | |||
| Cody Brown – Kevin Collins | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Scotty Cavanaugh – Adam Schwinn | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Robert Cowan – Dallas Beasley | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Jim Davidson – Mike Ashbacher | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Colby Davidson – Jeff Stidham | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Ronny DeNayer – Trey Gustin | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Michael Frye – Michael Landwehr | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Seth Glynn – Kelly (KJ) Hughes | 0 | 20 | ||||
| *Gavin Hensley – Josh Hensley | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Ron Hills – Ray Holt | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Keith Hurd – Jeff Nelson | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Scott Kennedy – Alan McMillan | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Jason Rehg – *Kelly Rehg | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Matthew Roberts – Brian Pahl | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Kennedy Schwartzburg – Jared Soloman | 0 | 20 |
*alternate