It is no secret that Lake of the Ozarks holds one of the best bass populations of any Ozark lake. Problem is, they’re nearly inaccessible for a lot of the year due to the boat traffic. However, that may serve as a blessing in disguise as the bass don’t see the nonstop barrage of tournaments as neighboring lakes. Although many circuits host their year-end events at LoZ, pressure has subsided with the cooler temperatures, which intersect with a tremendous bite throughout the winter. All great reasons for the 24 teams that met at Alhoona Resort for a cold kick off the 2024 season! With anticipation levels high, anglers set out in hopes of finding their names at the top of the Window World Leaderboard while accruing valuable qualifying points for the Joe Bass Invitational to be held next fall.
Brandon and Rhett Hill started the 2024 season off with a bang as they brought an event-winning limit to the scales. Their best five locked in at 11.72 pounds. The win came down to a tie-breaker with Team Hill’s big fish weighing 3.76 pounds. Brandon and Rhett noted their Window World Leaderboard was combining an umbrella rig with a jig to target a mix of shallow and deeper spots.
Cole McFarland and Ryan Jordan also had an 11.72 limit, with their big fish coming in at 3.41 pounds, giving them runner-up honors. Although they caught a bunch of shorts, keepers were hard to come by as they said they put 8-9 keepers in the boat on a post front day. They also mixed a jig and rig, concentrating on spots in the 10’-12’ depths.
Andy Newcomb and Kevin Freeze rounded out the top three. They narrowly missed the win as their bag pushed the scales to 11.58 pounds. Bucking the trend, Andy said they caught a bunch of fish slinging a spinnerbait.
David McCormick and Evan Shartzer boated the Napa big bass of the day, a 5.81 pounder that whacked a spinnerbait.
Mark and Markie Thompson added to their 4th place finish as they put 10.31 pounds of LoZ bass in their 2023 ZXR20 to take Top Skeeter honors. Their fish came on umbrella rigs in the 10’-12’ range with deeper water close by.
The second event of the Lake of the Ozarks Division will take place Sunday January 7 with a 7:00am takeoff from beautiful Alhoona Resort. Like us on Facebook & Instagram then send a Thank you to our sponsors.
Support Alhonna Resort. 25% discount for lodging booked during any Joe Bass Team Trail tournament.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Brandon Hill – Rhett Hill | 5 | 3.76 | 11.72 | 220 | $1,790.00 |
| 2 | Cole McFarland – Ryan Jordan | 5 | 3.41 | 11.72 | 219 | $910.00 |
| 3 | Andy Newcomb – Kevin Freeze | 5 | 3.23 | 11.58 | 218 | $550.00 |
| 4 | Mark Thompson – Mark Thompson II | 5 | 2.5 | 10.31 | 217 | $724.00 |
| 5 | Brayden Wilson – Camden Kempker | 5 | 3.01 | 10.13 | 216 | |
| 6 | David McCormick – Evan Shartzer | 2 | 5.81 | 8.19 | 215 | $140.00 |
| 7 | Zachary Cooley – Kent Whitaker | 5 | 7.32 | 214 | ||
| 8 | *Adam Morrison – Jason VanBeers | 3 | 3.39 | 6.92 | 213 | |
| 9 | Brent Basler – Mike Smith 2 | 5 | 6.75 | 212 | ||
| 10 | Shawn Crabtree – *fished aalone | 2 | 3.54 | 6 | 211 | |
| 11 | Andrew Eisterhold – Kaden Zimmerman | 3 | 5.41 | 210 | ||
| 12 | Mark Dunbar – Cliff Wolf | 3 | 5.13 | 209 | ||
| 13 | Bryan Loseman – *Keith LaBarge | 2 | 3.43 | 4.76 | 208 | |
| 14 | Anthony Scoma – Greg Proffitt | 1 | 4.69 | 4.69 | 207 | $100.00 |
| 15 | Rocky Carden – *fished aalone | 1 | 3.59 | 3.59 | 206 | |
| 16 | Justin Maddux – Jackson Stewart | 1 | 3.58 | 3.58 | 205 | |
| 17 | Ryan Beals – Wayne O’Halloran | 1 | 2.28 | 2.28 | 204 | |
| 18 | Eric Dearduff – Steve Varner | 0 | 20 | |||
| Joe Grafeman – Rustin Hayes | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Hal Land – Brad Baze | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Wyatt Miller – Cameron Miller | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Mike Rogers – Bryce Henderson | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Mike Rowland – Brandon Rowland | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Matt Seger – Jason Rhyne | 0 | 20 |
*alternate