Sounding like a broken record, the theme for the Joe Bass Team Trail Bull Shoals Division continues to be one of constant change. Several mild days following a brutal cold spell led to a day of fog on the water until noon for Friday’s practice day. Once that finally broke, severe thunderstorms complete with high winds and tornados in the area, raced through the Ozark hills followed by clear skies and high winds for tournament day. Proof of the mettle of the Bull Shoals anglers, 35 teams bagged 26 limits for a 10.63 pound average as they competed for daily bragging rights and qualifying points for the Joe Bass Team Trails Championship at Truman Lake next October.
Running away with first place was Aaron Hodge and James Bailey. Their 20.27 stringer was nearly four pounds over the next closest weight, proving they pieced the puzzle together in fine fashion! Their Sport Boats USA Key to Success was working jigs and crankbaits along windy banks. Their kicker fish, a 4.77 pounder, proved to be the big bass for the event as well. It came on a crankbait on a downlake bank in 8’-10’ of water.
Gary Daniel and Jay Oliver teamed up to take second place. They also fished shallow, slinging crankbaits and umbrella rigs to amass their weight of 16.56 pounds. Gary noted their fish were positioned in less than 15’ of water, with the wind being a key, although they had to find areas with a good breeze but not the big rollers. They culled through several keepers to get to their final weight, noting they caught 9-10 keepers throughout the day. Adding to their prize money, they also wrangled the Sport Boats USA Skeeter Bonus as they fished from Gary’s new Sport Boats USA ZX250 Skeeter.
Rounding out the top three was Caleb Cline and Donald Bovat. Their five fish limit pushed the scales to 15.40 pounds. They also worked crankbaits to catch their fish, although they stuck to steeper channel swing banks to get their bites. Working through nearly a dozen keepers to upgrade to their final weight proved to be the key to their pattern.
The next event in the Bull Shoals Division is January 5, 2019 at 7:00 am, Buck Creek Marina.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout | |
| 1 | Aaron Hodge – James Bailey | 5 | 4.77 | 20.27 | 110 | $2,000.00 | 1BB |
| 2 | Gary Daniel – Jay Oliver | 5 | 4.53 | 16.56 | 109 | $2,210.00 | Top Skeeter/2BB |
| 3 | *Caleb Cline – Donald Bovat | 5 | 4.11 | 15.4 | 108 | $640.00 | |
| 4 | Drew Sagely – Taylor Surly | 5 | 4.35 | 14.88 | 107 | $350.00 | |
| 5 | Ed Young – *Danny Burns | 5 | 4.48 | 14.79 | 106 | $240.00 | |
| 6 | Dustin Blevins – Eric Blevins | 5 | 3.95 | 14.74 | 105 | $180.00 | |
| 7 | Roger Harp – Kevin Hyde | 5 | 3.35 | 14.7 | 104 | $160.00 | |
| 8 | *Steve Rider – Brock Tabor | 5 | 4.2 | 13.16 | 103 | ||
| 9 | Mark Sanders – James Barnett | 5 | 12.97 | 102 | |||
| 10 | Jeff Epley – Kelly Greer | 5 | 12.96 | 101 | |||
| 11 | Max Atkinson – Kevin Roach | 5 | 3.24 | 12.95 | 100 | ||
| 12 | Tom Mason – Chris Reese | 5 | 3.24 | 12.63 | 99 | ||
| 13 | *Phillip Milam – Ted Borchers | 5 | 2.68 | 12.45 | 98 | ||
| 14 | David Rogers – *Greg Blair | 5 | 3.75 | 12.35 | 97 | ||
| 15 | Matt Garrett – Kaleb Rook | 5 | 3.09 | 12.31 | 96 | ||
| 16 | Bill Virden – Bill Stokes | 5 | 2.94 | 11.98 | 95 | ||
| 17 | Bruce Klatt – Ron Beard | 5 | 3.25 | 11.82 | 94 | ||
| 18 | Jacob Garrett – Kem Wallace | 5 | 3.58 | 11.81 | 93 | ||
| 19 | Wyatt Reed – Zach Pitney | 5 | 2.7 | 11.64 | 92 | ||
| 20 | Roger Morris – Gregg Sapp | 5 | 11.09 | 91 | |||
| 21 | Don Parkin – Rodney Shockey | 5 | 11.07 | 90 | |||
| 21 | Jim Phillips – Cody Combs | 5 | 11.07 | 90 | |||
| 23 | Darrin King – Mark Mahaffe | 5 | 10.75 | 88 | |||
| 24 | Jason Davidson – Darren Tilley | 5 | 10.61 | 87 | |||
| 25 | Landon Snelson – Ricky Jones | 5 | 10.57 | 86 | |||
| 26 | Tim Kube – Dennis Kube | 5 | 9.18 | 85 | |||
| 27 | Richie Huebner – Brandon Lowry | 3 | 4.35 | 8.57 | 84 | ||
| 28 | Chad Stallcup – *Noah Tullos | 4 | 7.96 | 83 | |||
| 29 | Casey Brotherton – Mike White | 4 | 7.92 | 82 | |||
| 30 | Larry Hurtt – Chris Adams | 4 | 7.29 | 81 | |||
| 31 | Mark Thompson – Jim Smith | 3 | 2.33 | 5.65 | 80 | ||
| 32 | Jeff Bradford – Bob Capps | 0 | 10 | ||||
| Justin Clark – Cody Ellison | 0 | 10 | |||||
| Kelly Jones – Roger Satterfield | 0 | 10 | |||||
| Matt Layman – Randy Colter | 0 | 10 |
*alternate