Warm conditions belied the first week of fall as 40 teams entered the Last Chance event for qualifying for the Tackle HD Joe Bass Invitational to be held at Bucksaw Resort and Marina. The derby also provided the anglers a sneak preview of the championship venue, although the normally tough September bite will likely improve as water temperatures cool down over the next few weeks
Topping the field was the reigning Truman Division points champion, Kelly Nunn, who partnered with Jamie Duncan in lieu of Matt Gunter. Kelly and Jamie’s 17.47 pound limit provided a 3.5 pound advantage over the runner position and was anchored by the Ozark Chevrolet Big Bass, a lunker 5.74 pound largemouth. Jamie shared their Tackle HD Key to Success was flipping jigs and worms from 2’ out to 10’ deep.
Truman veteran Kevin Love fished by himself to amass a solid 13.94 pound limit, good enough for second place. Kevin noted he also fished jigs, concentrating on pole timber in the 4-10’ depth range.
Maintaining their recent hot streak, Marty Watson and Doug Long rounded out the top three with a 13.22 pound bag. They threw spinnerbaits from 2’ to 12’ with shad being present critical to their success. Marty explained the bite was tough, as they only caught the five keepers they weighed in. They also took home the highest finishing Skeeter bonus as they fished from Doug’s 2020 FXR21.
The 2021 Tackle HD Joe Bass Invitational will take place for qualifying teams October 16th and 17th with pretournament festivities Friday night the 15th. Full details, rules, and registration are available on the website.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Payout |
| 1 | Kelly Nunn – Jamie Duncan | 5 | 5.74 | 17.47 | $2,020.00 |
| 2 | Kevin Love – *fished aalone | 5 | 4.43 | 13.94 | $1,060.00 |
| 3 | Doug Long – Marty Watson | 5 | 4.13 | 13.22 | $1,060.00 |
| 4 | Mark Thompson – Mark Thompson II | 4 | 4.61 | 12.33 | $500.00 |
| 5 | Jim Sloan – Jeff Stout | 5 | 3.86 | 12.33 | $260.00 |
| 6 | Kenny Sloan – Brendon Mick | 5 | 11.87 | $200.00 | |
| 7 | Bryce Rieder – Mike Edrington | 5 | 3 | 11.82 | $180.00 |
| 8 | Timmy Newberry – Rusty Darnell | 5 | 3.35 | 11.37 | $160.00 |
| 9 | Jon Lengel – Jacob Sloan | 5 | 11.36 | ||
| 10 | Wayne Garrison – Doug Zink | 4 | 3.68 | 10.91 | |
| 11 | Ricky Clemen – Phil McKinney | 5 | 3.66 | 10.72 | |
| 12 | *fished aalone – John Hodson | 3 | 5.5 | 10.04 | $150.00 |
| 13 | Bryan Baker – Darren Baker | 5 | 3.08 | 10 | |
| 14 | Greg Askew – Terry Case | 4 | 9.69 | ||
| 15 | Laurence Subelka – David Williams | 4 | 7.53 | ||
| 16 | Joddy Dungan – John Matousek | 2 | 4.79 | ||
| 17 | Richard Johnson – Charles Cadenhead | 2 | 4.31 | ||
| 18 | Bobby Carver – Brett Mitchell | 1 | 3.51 | 3.51 | |
| 19 | Earl Horton – | 1 | 2.66 | 2.66 | |
| 20 | Lyle Armstrong – Mitchell Armstrong | 0 | |||
| John Bennett – Darrell Reach | 0 | ||||
| Kris Bollinger – Coty Baldwin | 0 | ||||
| Justin Borum – Jake McKinnis | 0 | ||||
| Blake Burford – Tim Collins | 0 | ||||
| Dan Cox – *fished aalone | 0 | ||||
| Shawn Crabtree – Theresa Patterson | 0 | ||||
| Jeff Donovan – Trevor Donovan | 0 | ||||
| Charles Edgar – Steve Fowler | 0 | ||||
| Brent Eitel – Jeff Blackford | 0 | ||||
| Jon Gillotte – *AUSTIN cAMPBELL | 0 | ||||
| Billy Greenwell – Keith Nickell | 0 | ||||
| Patrick Hatfield – Chris Banks | 0 | ||||
| Kelly Jones – Roger Satterfield | 0 | ||||
| *Jay Melkus – Chris Savoie | 0 | ||||
| Randy Oliphant – Scott Oliphant | 0 | ||||
| Greg Snider – Tim Lane | 0 | ||||
| Mike Thomas – Jeff Lane | 0 | ||||
| Charley Thomas – Chris Thomas | 0 | ||||
| Dene White – Joe Dorcy | 0 | ||||
| John Williams – *Rocky Carden | 0 |
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*alternate