After a grueling season that started 11 months ago with the Bull Shoals Division kickoff wrapping up with multiple events last month, 199 of the absolute best teams in the area converged on Bucksaw Resort for the 2020 Joe Bass Team Trails Invitational. With a season pock-marked with extremes in weather, record high and low lake levels, and a flu virus that has devasted the nation, 40+ mph winds, swapping directions by 180 degrees during the event and a 30 degree downward spiral in temperatures seemed like just another “2020” obstacle. However, in a circuit that has sent two anglers to the prestigious BASSMASTER CLASSIC, no one doubted fish would be caught leading to a victory well-earned.
Taking that victory was the staunch team of Rick Fishback and Blake Felix. They started the derby with a solid 15.17 pound limit, anchored by a 5.09 pound kicker, which landed in them in 5th place after day one. Dealing with the swap in wind directions and falling temperatures, Rick and Blake dropped 16.13 pound on the scales, again anchored by a 5.61 largemouth to seal the deal with a winning total of 31.30 pounds. Blake shared their SportBoats USA Key to Success was working squarebill crankbaits and Motion ½ ounce jigs tipped with Chompers twin tail trailers to garner 7 keeper bites on day one and 5 on the final day. Blake noted their fish came from a 100 yard stretch of a steeper sloped bank in the 6’-8’ depth range.
Ron Belew teamed with Derek Dace to take second place with a total of 30.65 pounds. Ron and Derek brought 14.57 pounds to weigh-in on day one, with a final day weight of 16.08 pounds moving them up the Window World leader board on day two. Ron explained they fished Chatterbaits on 45 degree rock banks, catching 10-12 keepers a day. Areas getting a straight shot of the high winds both days kept them off certain banks, but Ron noted it was important to fish banks with a decent wind in order to find active fish.
Roger and Chase Fitzpatrick rounded out the top three with a two day total of 26.44 pounds. Chase offered their approach involved topwaters fished in areas where the wind allowed it. They didn’t catch a lot of fish, 5-6 keepers a day, but managed to get the right bites focusing on shallow banks with isolated cover. Roger and Chase added to their winning take home pay with the SportBoats USA Highest Finishing Skeeter bonus as they fished from Roger’s FXR20 Skeeter boat.
The veteran Truman team of John Bennett and Darrell Reach padded their 15th place finish with the Ozark Chevrolet Big Bass of the event, a stout 5.87 largemouth that anchored their 22.07 8-fish total. The brute hit a spinnerbait rolled on a steep channel swing bank with a laydown providing the cover.
John Cates was the drawing winner of the 2020 Skeeter/Yamaha package.
David Rogers won both the Save A Receipt and Skeeter boats walk around drawing.
With the conclusion of the 2020 season, it’s time to turn our attention to the 2021 with the kickoff of Rusty’s Bull Shoals division Saturday, November 21, 2020.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Payout | |
| 1 | Rick Fishback – Blake Felix | 10 | 5.61 | 31.3 | $9,550.00 | |
| 2 | Ron Belew – Derek Dace | 10 | 3.98 | 30.65 | $5,930.00 | |
| 3 | Roger Fitzpatrick – Chase Fitzpatrick | 10 | 3.61 | 26.44 | $4,620.00 | Top Skeeter |
| 4 | Mike Rogers – Donnie Crist | 10 | 4.21 | 25.41 | $2,000.00 | |
| 5 | Kelly Nunn – Jamie Duncan | 10 | 4.39 | 25.37 | $1,000.00 | |
| 6 | Doug Long – Marty Watson | 10 | 3.92 | 24.94 | $900.00 | |
| 7 | Jordan Williams – Riley Hill | 10 | 5.05 | 24.63 | $800.00 | |
| 8 | Greg Askew – Terry Case | 10 | 3.17 | 24.3 | $700.00 | |
| 9 | Kenneth Peters – Chris Johnsonn | 10 | 3.32 | 23.87 | $600.00 | |
| 10 | Mike Butcher – Glenn Harrison | 7 | 5.32 | 23.62 | $500.00 | |
| 11 | Jeffery Smith – Jeffery A Smith | 8 | 4.75 | 23.56 | $2,050.00 | |
| 12 | Bryce Rieder – Mike Edrington | 8 | 5.51 | 22.89 | $1,430.00 | |
| 13 | Todd Miller – Cameron Miller | 10 | 22.89 | $500.00 | ||
| 14 | Jake Beem – Justin McCelland | 10 | 4.52 | 22.38 | $500.00 | |
| 15 | John Bennett – Darrell Reach | 8 | 5.87 | 22.07 | $1,500.00 | 1BB |
| 16 | Tim Hintenach – Travis Williams | 9 | 3.74 | 22.05 | $500.00 | |
| 17 | Rich Campbell – Travis Stevens | 8 | 4.03 | 21.64 | $500.00 | |
| 18 | Kavan Maybee – Josh Wray | 9 | 3.58 | 21.31 | $500.00 | |
| 19 | John Campbell – David Rogers | 8 | 4.95 | 20.9 | $2,000.00 | |
| 20 | Chad Allison – Jeff Moss | 9 | 3.87 | 20.77 | $400.00 | |
| 21 | John Krewson – Tony Powers | 7 | 5.22 | 20.64 | $400.00 | |
| 22 | Donnie Reynolds – Mark Reynolds | 9 | 20.22 | $400.00 | ||
| 23 | Steve Weber – Sam Phillips | 9 | 3.53 | 20.08 | $400.00 | |
| 24 | David Hughes – Lucas Fornelli | 7 | 4.51 | 19.68 | $400.00 | |
| 25 | Wayne Garrison – Billy Greenwell | 8 | 4.04 | 19.49 | $400.00 | |
| 26 | Matt Gunter – Gage Gunter | 8 | 4.11 | 19.48 | ||
| 27 | Kent Campbell – Shane Burr | 8 | 5.56 | 19.22 | ||
| 28 | Preston Hartung – George Harrington | 8 | 19.09 | |||
| 29 | Mark Dunbar – Johnny Bell | 8 | 2.75 | 18.22 | ||
| 30 | Jim Dopp – Harlin Husky | 8 | 3.27 | 18.18 | ||
| 31 | Blake Burford – Tim Collins | 7 | 17.97 | |||
| 32 | Mark Moody – Kyle Kiister | 8 | 3.73 | 17.7 | ||
| 33 | Levi Snow – Benjamin Hodgson | 8 | 17.55 | |||
| 34 | Tom Statler – Dillon Statler | 9 | 4.52 | 16.93 | ||
| 35 | Kevin Duer – Dustin Young | 6 | 3.88 | 16.73 | ||
| 36 | Doug Wallace | 7 | 3.62 | 16.72 | ||
| 37 | Ron Peek – Pat Deaton | 6 | 5.18 | 16.48 | ||
| 38 | Cody Campbell – Quinten Carr | 7 | 16.23 | |||
| 39 | David Mulkey – Sean Mukley | 7 | 16.07 | |||
| 40 | Ricky York – Ed Gilbert | 6 | 5.58 | 15.92 | ||
| 41 | Ron Foss – Mike Smith | 7 | 3.39 | 15.88 | ||
| 42 | Keith Hendrix – Greg Zumwalt | 5 | 4.27 | 15.42 | $620.00 | |
| 43 | Sam Smith – Steve Lackey | 7 | 15.41 | |||
| 44 | Andrew Gwilliams – Brenden Williams | 6 | 4.29 | 15.34 | ||
| 45 | Stephen Smith – Garen Hunt | 7 | 15.25 | |||
| 46 | Charley Thomas – Chris Thomas | 6 | 15.21 | |||
| 47 | Casey Kidder – Chris Savoie | 6 | 3.12 | 14.71 | ||
| 48 | Bob Jany – Dennis Schilb | 5 | 5.28 | 14.66 | ||
| 49 | Jeff Barrickman – Cole Findley | 7 | 3.58 | 14.65 | ||
| 50 | Gary Koenig – Robin Hessling | 6 | 3.73 | 14.55 | ||
| 51 | Jason Huskey – Bryan Hulsey | 7 | 14.4 | |||
| 52 | Phil J Zimmerman – Phil M Zimmerman | 4 | 4.91 | 14.34 | ||
| 53 | Andre Dickniete – Allan Dickniete | 5 | 4.05 | 14.14 | ||
| 54 | Kevin Johnston – Roger Waters | 7 | 14.09 | |||
| 55 | Josh Shirley – Don Sanders | 7 | 14.06 | |||
| 56 | Ricky Clemen – Phil McKinney | 8 | 13.7 | |||
| 57 | Russ Hughes – Ronald Parker | 7 | 13.7 | |||
| 58 | Robert Hime – Paul Huse | 5 | 4.03 | 13.55 | ||
| 59 | Jim Coyner – Keith Ostrander | 5 | 4.46 | 13.48 | ||
| 60 | Landon Snelson – Ricky Jones | 4 | 5.62 | 13.38 | $1,000.00 | 2BB |
| 61 | Kolin Rogers – Wyatt Miller | 5 | 5.19 | 13.35 | ||
| 62 | Clay Messmer – Chris Klenke | 5 | 4.79 | 13.29 | ||
| 63 | Eric Craft – Dominic Cavitt | 6 | 2.09 | 13.25 | ||
| 64 | Mark Simmons – Terry Lawhon | 4 | 4.73 | 13.21 | ||
| 65 | Bryan Baker – Darren Baker | 6 | 3.11 | 13.16 | ||
| 66 | Kennedy Schwartzburg – Andrew Rogers | 6 | 2.13 | 12.97 | ||
| 67 | Lyle Armstrong – Mitchell Armstrong | 5 | 12.85 | |||
| 68 | Ryan Tucker – Ryan Heise | 5 | 4.18 | 12.76 | ||
| 69 | Kyle Uptegrove – Anthony Alkire | 5 | 12.44 | |||
| 70 | Mark Adkins – Chris Nichols | 6 | 1.87 | 12.27 | ||
| 71 | Matt Garrett – Kaleb Rook | 6 | 3.86 | 12.2 | ||
| 72 | Kenneth White – Ken White | 6 | 11.78 | |||
| 73 | Mark Riegel – JR Shinn | 5 | 11.63 | |||
| 74 | Michael Frye – Michael Landwehr | 4 | 11.4 | |||
| 75 | Michael Dugger – Jeff Lang | 7 | 2.86 | 11.29 | ||
| 76 | Joddy Dungan – John Matousek | 6 | 3.7 | 11.09 | ||
| 77 | Mark Thompson – Mark Thompson II | 6 | 1.21 | 10.92 | ||
| 78 | AJ Wenzel – Patrick Dickerson | 5 | 10.89 | |||
| 79 | Keith Hurd – Jeff Nelson | 5 | 4.99 | 10.35 | ||
| 80 | Eric Zuk – Chet Douthit | 4 | 3.11 | 9.39 | ||
| 81 | Tony Mayfield – Fisher Mayfield | 4 | 1.69 | 9.21 | ||
| 82 | Dan Hankinson – Korbin Hankinson | 3 | 9.1 | |||
| 83 | Dave Epema – Dan Bowman | 4 | 8.79 | |||
| 84 | Scott Hill – Brandon Hill | 4 | 8.74 | |||
| 85 | Clint Hart – KC Collette | 4 | 2.67 | 8.64 | ||
| 86 | Matt Cesar – Ed Larson | 3 | 4.43 | 8.57 | ||
| 87 | Roger Umbarger – Josh Louisville | 4 | 3.35 | 8.55 | ||
| 88 | Kevin Love – Parker Love | 4 | 8.45 | |||
| 89 | Brandon Morris – Logan Carter | 4 | 8.21 | |||
| 90 | Lennie Becker – Elmer Becker II | 3 | 7.63 | |||
| 91 | Tom Herndon – Jason VanBeers | 2 | 5.02 | 7.51 | ||
| 92 | Doug Asher – Seth Sherertz | 3 | 7.33 | |||
| 93 | John Williams – James Brown | 4 | 7.13 | |||
| 94 | Steve Gwadera – Jacob Desselle | 3 | 3.16 | 7.12 | ||
| 95 | Shawn Crabtree – Theresa Patterson | 3 | 3.24 | 7.1 | ||
| 96 | Danny Waite – Bryan Leonard | 3 | 3.67 | 7.09 | ||
| 97 | Ron Mellinger – Colton Mellinger | 2 | 7.07 | |||
| 98 | Chris Callahan – Justin Wasmer | 3 | 7 | |||
| 99 | Kelly Jones – Roger Satterfield | 3 | 6.85 | |||
| 100 | Wayne Werle – Jim Lomax | 3 | 6.72 | |||
| 101 | Luke Routh – Tyler Weaver | 3 | 6.65 | |||
| 102 | Dene White – Joe Dorcy | 3 | 6.43 | |||
| 103 | Sean Bowling – Brandon Brown | 3 | 2.63 | 6.4 | ||
| 104 | Tom Darnell – Brad Dooley | 4 | 6.37 | |||
| 105 | Rodney Bowersox – Randy Davis | 2 | 4.19 | 6.21 | ||
| 106 | Kevin Jackson – Bryan Jackson | 3 | 6.17 | |||
| 107 | Scott Danek – Scott Danek Jr | 3 | 5.97 | |||
| 108 | Eric White – Gavin White | 3 | 5.9 | |||
| 109 | Jerry McCutchen – Kevin Smith | 3 | 5.81 | |||
| 110 | Dan Hirstein – Chris Hirstein | 2 | 5.6 | |||
| 111 | Ronald Deckard JR – Sophia Spencer-Asbell | 2 | 5.31 | |||
| 112 | Craig Dort – Tony Johnston | 3 | 5.26 | |||
| 113 | Rocky Carden – Darryl Robinson | 3 | 5.15 | |||
| 114 | Terry Letterman – Doug Smart | 2 | 5.14 | |||
| 115 | Gary Arterberry – Gus Adkinson | 2 | 4.94 | |||
| 116 | Chris White – Kelly White | 2 | 4.86 | |||
| 117 | Rick Bowman – Jeff Moore | 2 | 3.92 | 4.83 | ||
| 118 | Dan Cox – Tim Kastning | 2 | 4.83 | |||
| 119 | Justin Miller – Mathew Miller | 2 | 4.8 | |||
| 120 | Randy Roustio – | 2 | 2.76 | 4.61 | ||
| 121 | Tony Habiger – Fabricio Toledo | 1 | 4.55 | 4.55 | ||
| 122 | Jerry Addington – Tony Addington | 2 | 4.55 | |||
| 123 | Bill Jared – Rich Carpenter | 2 | 4.3 | |||
| 124 | Jay Carden – Levi Carden | 2 | 2.31 | 4.03 | ||
| 125 | Russell Oliphant – Donnie Goodman | 2 | 4.03 | |||
| 126 | Timmy Newberry – Rusty Darnell | 3 | 3.91 | |||
| 127 | Troy Hendrick – Chad Hendrick | 2 | 3.9 | |||
| 128 | Drew Sagely – Taylor Surly | 2 | 3.7 | |||
| 129 | Dominic Perotti – Dominic Perotti Jr | 2 | 3.64 | |||
| 130 | Jim Davidson – Mike Ashbacher | 2 | 3.6 | |||
| 131 | Matt Underwood – Logan Underwood | 1 | 3.52 | 3.52 | ||
| 132 | Matt Layman – Randy Colter | 2 | 3.42 | |||
| 133 | Jeff Elkin – Rowdy Unruh | 2 | 3.22 | |||
| 134 | Ernie Cox – Ozzie Wallace | 1 | 2.92 | 2.92 | ||
| 135 | Roger Morris – Gregg Sapp | 1 | 2.57 | 2.57 | ||
| 136 | Bill McAvoy – Jack Young | 1 | 2.46 | 2.46 | ||
| 137 | Dan Weber – Robert Leininger | 1 | 2.42 | 2.42 | ||
| 138 | Charles Abbott – Timothy Wells | 1 | 2.4 | 2.4 | ||
| 139 | Danny Shinneman – Mike Cooley | 1 | 2.22 | 2.22 | ||
| 140 | Jim Altman – Kevin Altman | 1 | 2.21 | 2.21 | ||
| 141 | LG Linville – Barry Mackey | 1 | 2.19 | 2.19 | ||
| 142 | Aaron Foglesong – Ben Redwing | 1 | 2.11 | 2.11 | ||
| 143 | Josh Gebhardt – Ross Lord | 1 | 2.08 | 2.08 | ||
| 144 | David Moore – Bob Moore | 1 | 2.04 | 2.04 | ||
| 145 | Jeff Donovan – Trevor Donovan | 1 | 1.96 | 1.96 | ||
| 146 | Jim Figg – Don Cox | 1 | 1.79 | 1.79 | ||
| 146 | Rory Preis – Mark Politte | 1 | 1.79 | 1.79 | ||
| 148 | Troy Thomas – Mike Eickmann | 1 | 1.63 | 1.63 | ||
| 149 | John Aleshire – Travis Aleshire | 0 | ||||
| Jeff Bear – Quenton Bear | 0 | |||||
| Corey Besgrove – Eddie Brown | 0 | |||||
| Jeff Boerding – Mike Reigh | 0 | |||||
| Kenny Bogner – Justin Bogner | 0 | |||||
| Justin Borum – Jake McKinnis | 0 | |||||
| Jeff Bradford – Bryan Vote | 0 | |||||
| Chris Bridges – Steve Prince | 0 | |||||
| John Cates – Mike Edwards | 0 | |||||
| Todd Choate – Kent Whitaker | 0 | |||||
| Chris Embry – Caston Embry | 0 | |||||
| Junior Fiedler – Chris Fiedler | 0 | |||||
| Lonnie Franklin – Bob Peneston | 0 | |||||
| Seth Glynn – Kelly (KJ) Hughes | 0 | |||||
| Paul Hager – Phil Allen | 0 | |||||
| Don Heiser – Jim Sells | 0 | |||||
| Todd Hessling – Mike Pettitt | 0 | |||||
| Ray Holt | 0 | |||||
| Earl Horton – | 0 | |||||
| Stacy Howell – Robert Traquair | 0 | |||||
| Scott Jackson – Jim Brewer | 0 | |||||
| Chris Johnson – Josh Calvin | 0 | |||||
| Brad Jones – | 0 | |||||
| Robert Keeth – Rick Harris | 0 | |||||
| Marvin Kinyon – Chris Roberts | 0 | |||||
| Jared Knuth – David Knuth | 0 | |||||
| Roger LaBarge – Keith LaBarge | 0 | |||||
| Ralph Laster – Steve Helms | 0 | |||||
| James Macleod – Don Miller | 0 | |||||
| Don Mason – Cliff Wolfe | 0 | |||||
| David McCormick – Gary Shartzer | 0 | |||||
| Glen McCrary – Sondra McCrary | 0 | |||||
| Gerald McDaniel – Jeff Pascoe | 0 | |||||
| Jeremy Montgomery – Devin Pino | 0 | |||||
| Sam Morton – Dennis Edwards | 0 | |||||
| Edward Nelson – Tony Zaharsky | 0 | |||||
| Troy Nogosek – Jeremy Fiedler | 0 | |||||
| Randy Oliphant – Scott Oliphant | 0 | |||||
| Jerry Roark – Jamie Edge | 0 | |||||
| Brandon Rowland – Russel Nigh | 0 | |||||
| Ronnie Rush – Rick Rush | 0 | |||||
| Dalton Saxon – James JD Dendy | 0 | |||||
| Karl Schmidt – Bret Stracke | 0 | |||||
| Greg Seiner – Rick Keeney | 0 | |||||
| Jack Stack – Dick Moger | 0 | |||||
| John Stewart – Corey Stewart | 0 | |||||
| Steve Teske – Jon Wall | 0 | |||||
| Mike Thomas – Jeff Lane | 0 | |||||
| Corey Vance – Tyler Dame | 0 | |||||
| Aaron Vaughn – Parrish Vaughn | 0 | |||||
| Rian White – Rick Beard | 0 | |||||
| $40,100.00 |