Decent weather, for a winter tournament, greeted the 23 teams that met at Alhonna Resort for the second event of the 2026 Joe Bass Team Trail Lake of the Ozarks division, sponsored by Window World. Dock talk was optimistic based on the results of a Saturday derby that took some good bags to garner a high finish. Teams knew they would need to bring their A game if they expected to find their names near the top of the Window World leaderboard. With nearly 70% of the field weighing a five fish limit averaging over 11.5 pounds, the prognosticators were spot on. As always, teams were also vying for valuable qualifying points for the Invitational on Truman Lake out of Bucksaw Resort & Marina next fall.
Andy Newcomb and Justin Swast followed up a top finish on Saturday by taking the win on Sunday. Working through a couple dozen keepers, Andy and Justin’s best five strained the scale to a final weight of 23.32 pounds. They shared their Window World key to success was working a combination of jerkbaits and a-rigs on steeper banks in the 12’-15’ range. They noted they got bit throughout the day but had a bit of a flurry midday that bolstered their bag. Their big sack was anchored by a 6.28 pound brute that secured the Wilson Truck Sales big bass of the day. The team’s sponsors include, Angler’s Port Marine, Phoenix Boats, Mercury, Power Pole, Rouge Custom Apparel, Aftco, Apex Tackle, Bait Cave Customs, Daiwa, Fitz Fishing, and Trophy Properties LLC.
Matt King and Kody Yates dropped 17.72 pounds of LoZ bass on the scales to take the runner up spot. They also worked jerkbaits and a-rigs in the 12’ depth range to catch their fish. Matt noted they boated a dozen keepers throughout the day, but most of their better bites came before noon. Included in their string was the second place big bass of the day, a stout 5.87 largemouth. Sponsors include, Angler’s Port Marine, FX Custom Rods, Phoenix Boats, Mercury Marine.
David McCormick and Gary Shartzer rounded out the top three. After battling through a bunch of small “swirler” fish on Saturday slinging jerkbaits, Gary and David switched to rigs to boat 18 keepers on an all-day bite. Their best five locked the scales at 15.28 pounds. Sponsors include Phoenix Boats, Mercury Marine, Angler’s Port Marine.
Joe Bass pro-staff Mark Thompson and Rusty Darnell narrowly missed a top three finish but held on to take a check for fourth place which they padded by gleaning Top Skeeter honors. They worked jerkbaits and a-rigs in 10’-25’ of water to put 15.22 pounds into the livewells of Mark’s 2023 ZXR20 Skeeter.
Forgetting to bring your empty packages of Rapala, Crush City, Storm, VMC and Suffix with your name and phone number written on them to your next Joe Bass Tournament for a chance at a tackle pack could cost you $100 in Rapala products. Drawings are done monthly throughout the tournament season.
Clear Cast Marine Electronics repair is continuing to support Joe Bass Team Trail. Their support of the Tournament of Champions and Staff Shootout opportunities at the Invitational is paramount to it’s success. SUPPORT their efforts! Be sure and visit their website for details for your repair and setup needs!
The third event of the 2026 Ozarks Division will takeoff from Alhonna Resort. Sunday 1/18 with a 7:30 am takeoff.
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Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Andy Newcomb – Justin Swast | 5 | 6.28 | 23.32 | 220 | $1,860.00 |
| 2 | Matt King – Kody Yates | 5 | 5.87 | 17.72 | 219 | $990.00 |
| 3 | David McCormick – Gary Shartzer | 5 | 4.07 | 15.28 | 218 | $520.00 |
| 4 | Mark Thompson – Rusty Darnell | 5 | 4.65 | 15.22 | 217 | $458.00 |
| 5 | Kason Henderson – Joe Dougherty | 5 | 5.23 | 14.87 | 216 | |
| 6 | Jeremy Johnson – Jonathan Pimentel | 5 | 4.89 | 14.74 | 215 | |
| 7 | Robert Thompson – Jeff Schultz | 5 | 14.54 | 214 | ||
| 8 | Kaden Zimmerman – Andrew Esterhold | 5 | 14.16 | 213 | ||
| 9 | Mike Mancil – Chris Bolte | 5 | 13.62 | 212 | ||
| 10 | Beau Harris – | 5 | 13.44 | 211 | ||
| 11 | Jim Morrison – Bryan Short | 5 | 12.74 | 210 | ||
| 12 | Dallas Stamper – Jason Hollandsworth | 5 | 12.38 | 209 | ||
| 13 | James Welch – Caleb Welch | 5 | 12.29 | 208 | ||
| 14 | Keith LaBarge – Roger LaBarge | 5 | 11.6 | 207 | ||
| 15 | John Hewkin – Frank Meyer | 5 | 3.48 | 11.45 | 206 | |
| 16 | David Conner – Bradly Robbins | 5 | 11.11 | 205 | ||
| 17 | Tom Herndon – Jason VanBeers | 4 | 10.96 | 204 | ||
| 18 | John Shanahan – Dan Allison | 4 | 7.28 | 203 | ||
| 19 | Brent Basler – Mike Smith 2 | 4 | 6.73 | 202 | ||
| 20 | Brendan Ackerman – *Brandon Foley | 4 | 5.23 | 201 | ||
| 21 | Rocky Carden – Trenton Choate | 2 | 4.27 | 200 | ||
| 22 | Lynn Pugh – *Jeremy Pugh | 1 | 3.43 | 3.43 | 199 | |
| 23 | Alston Golian – *fished aalone | 0 | 20 |
*alternate