After a 2022 season that seemed to pass like a flash, 198 teams descended on Stockton Lake to vie for the title of 2022 Joe Bass Team Trails Invitational champions. With the water temperatures finally beginning to drop, hopes were high a strong fall bite would kick in for the event. High winds and extremely low water levels made for challenging conditions during practice, with the “dock talk” centering on teams catching fish but struggling to find the quality that would run them up the leader board.
Friday night activities were hosted by the folks at Orleans Trail with a dinner that drew rave reviews from those in attendance. The evening was topped off with drawings from the Skeeter Demo Ride event, Save-A-Receipt program, and draws for literally tons of product supplied by Lucas Marine, Rapala/Suffix/VMC/Storm, Fitzgerald Rods, and a host of others (see website for a complete list of sponsors). At the risk of sounding rote, it’s important to emphasis that without the anglers, there would be no Joe Bass Team Trail. Similarly, without the anglers supporting the sponsors, there would be no product giveaways. Joe Bass would be no different than the myriad of tournament groups that show up and fish for a small jackpot rather than for the more than $80,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs at the 2022 Invitational. Do your part and reach out to the sponsors and express your appreciation!
Now to the fishing! Given the tough conditions, experience tends to pay incredible dividends. Proving this to be true, the veteran team of Kevin Johnston and Roger Water topped the field with a 2-day 10 fish limit that pushed the weigh in scales to 28.95 pounds. Kevin and Roger are no stranger to the check line, having won a numerous events throughout the years. Relying on Roger’s handmade black and blue jig, they shared their Albers Marine, Inc. Key to Success involved crawling the jig through crevices of big rocks on steeper banks. They found an extremely light bite, with success coming in the 6’-10’ range. Adding to their first place money, Kevin and Roger padded their first place money by taking Top Skeeter honors as they fished from Kevin’s new Skeeter bass boat! There is not a stronger team out there and congratulations are definitely in order to Kevin and Roger, your 2022 Joe Bass Team Trails Invitational Champions!
Also showing experience to be key, the runner up team of Charles Edgar and Steve Fowler relied on decades of fishing to bring 10 fish to the scales. Their 25.95 pounds of Stockton bass fell to a subtle approach, as Charles noted they downsized to a small stick worm on a shakey head to get bit. As with the leaders, they found their fish relating to large boulders. Charles also noted the courtesy shown by a kayaker that was on one of their spots upon arrival. Asking if they were fishing a tournament, the rower graciously moved outside and encouraged them to fish where they needed. That’s a lesson that many should take note of, as many teams noted issues with fellow competitors cutting one another off. It’s bad enough if we do something of that nature to one of our own, but it paints an even nastier picture to the general public. Let’s all take a note from Charles and Steve noting the courtesy they were shown and conduct ourselves in a similar fashion while on the water.
Rounding out the top three, Josh Busby and Rick Johnston wrangled a 10 fish 25.42 bag to the scales. Again showing that experience pays dividends, Josh and Rick, also no strangers to the check line, explained they relied on a “junk” pattern, throwing buzzbaits, ploppers, and spinnerbaits to catch their fish. Their pattern was finding there was no pattern, forcing them to stand on the trolling motor and cover as much water as efficiently possible.
The Ozark Chevrolet Big Bass award for day 1 went to the team of Mark Moody and Kyle Kiister. Their 5.97 pounder succumbed to a crawbait pitched to a brush pile in 3’ of water and pushed them to an 11th place overall finish. Day 2 winners, Barry Huwar and Logan Dye, caught their 5.68 pound kicker on a brush hog flipped to one of the few docks on the lake. Their anchor fish put them in 12th place overall, just a spot below the day 1 big bass winners.
Introduced this season was the Tournament of Champions held within the Invitational. Only Division Champions were eligible. Our 2022 Tournament of Champions winners are Luke Routh and Tyler Weaver who qualified by winning the Open Division. Their 42nd place overall was the highest of all Division Champions resulting in their membership and 5 paid tournaments in 2023.
Happy to place in the money, KJ Hughes can use his portion of the 21st place check he had with partner Seth Glynn to gas up his brand new Skeeter boat. KJ was the fortunate angler to win the sparkling Skeeter ZX150 presented by Tim Reed of Skeeter Boats in conjunction with Kent and Stacie Hines of Smithville Marine. KJ joins the Skeeter family as he is now the proud owner of the brand that won the 2022 Joe Bass Invitational!
Special thanks to all the anglers, directors, and sponsors that made the 2022 version of the Joe Bass Team Trails Invitational such a sterling success! Congratulations to those that cashed a check, took home sponsor’s draw prizes, and to all that continue to make Joe Bass the largest and premier circuit in the area!
With the 2022 season in the books, Rusty will kick off the 2023 Joe Bass season at Buck Creek Marina on Bull Shoals November 19 with a 7:00 am takeoff.
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Payout |
| 1 | Kevin Johnston – Roger Waters | 10 | 4.29 | 28.65 | $12560.00 |
| 2 | Charles Edgar – Steve Fowler | 10 | 4.86 | 25.95 | $6,550.00 |
| 3 | Josh Busby – Rick Johnston | 10 | 3.1 | 25.42 | $3,000.00 |
| 4 | John Prochko – Diego Segui | 10 | 4.73 | 24.95 | $2,930.00 |
| 5 | Kyle Alsop – Lance Maldonaldo | 10 | 3.06 | 24.33 | $1,000.00 |
| 6 | Mark Mathis – Chris Maccy | 10 | 23.75 | $900.00 | |
| 7 | Josh McIntire – Robert Carleton | 9 | 5.43 | 23.3 | $800.00 |
| 8 | Drew Sagely – Taylor Surly | 10 | 5.63 | 23.08 | $700.00 |
| 9 | Roger Fitzpatrick – Chase Fitzpatrick | 10 | 22.92 | $600.00 | |
| 10 | Scott Tassi – Glenn Harrison | 10 | 22.88 | $500.00 | |
| 11 | Mark Moody – Kyle Kiister | 9 | 5.97 | 22.81 | $2,950.00 |
| 12 | Barry Huwar – Logan Dye | 8 | 5.68 | 21.97 | $1400.00 |
| 13 | Chris Randell – Tim Randell | 9 | 4.35 | 21.96 | $400.00 |
| 14 | Chris Macy – Tim Lawyer | 9 | 5.42 | 21.79 | $400.00 |
| 15 | Blake Price – Travis Glenn | 9 | 4.98 | 21.67 | $300.00 |
| 16 | John Bennett – Darrell Reach | 10 | 2.88 | 21.66 | $300.00 |
| 17 | Keith Hendrix – Greg Zumwalt | 10 | 21.61 | $300.00 | |
| 18 | Robert Leininger – Dan Weber | 10 | 3.42 | 21.6 | $250.00 |
| 19 | Matthew Roberts – Brian Pahl | 10 | 3.59 | 21.48 | $250.00 |
| 20 | Jason Weast – Scott Miles | 10 | 21.47 | $250.00 | |
| 21 | Seth Glynn – Kelly (KJ) Hughes | 8 | 5.22 | 21.17 | $820.00 |
| 22 | Tony Mayfield – Fisher Mayfield | 10 | 2.93 | 21.08 | $200.00 |
| 23 | Mike Hamilton Jr – Chance Scott | 10 | 2.92 | 20.71 | $200.00 |
| 24 | Mike Johnson – Andrew Johnson | 9 | 3.37 | 20.42 | $200.00 |
| 25 | Roy Butler – Gary Maxwell | 10 | 20.32 | $200.00 | |
| 26 | Scott Hill – Brandon Hill | 9 | 4.7 | 20.31 | |
| 27 | Matt Garrett – Will Isaac | 10 | 2.77 | 20.19 | |
| 28 | Andre Dickniete – Noah Dickneite | 9 | 20.13 | ||
| 29 | Greg Snider – Terry Bradley | 10 | 20.08 | ||
| 30 | Kris Bollinger – Coty Baldwin | 9 | 19.85 | ||
| 31 | Dylan Sousley – Seth Carleton | 9 | 19.69 | ||
| 32 | Mike Hagensicker – Dillon Brock | 8 | 19.59 | ||
| 33 | Karl Schmidt – Dan Martinez | 9 | 19.43 | ||
| 34 | Ricky York – Ed Gilbert | 10 | 19.37 | ||
| 35 | David Shaw – Tyler Shaw | 8 | 19.37 | ||
| 36 | Gerald McDaniel – Jeff Pascoe | 8 | 19.32 | ||
| 37 | Shawn Crabtree – Theresa Patterson | 8 | 3.81 | 19.24 | |
| 38 | Justin Delk – Brandon Rummel | 8 | 4.5 | 19.2 | |
| 39 | Mark Long – Nick Baker | 9 | 19.19 | ||
| 40 | Darrin King – Mark Mahaffey | 8 | 19.13 | ||
| 41 | Gaige Blanton – Garret Cates | 10 | 19.01 | ||
| 42 | Luke Routh – Tyler Weaver | 9 | 18.77 | ||
| 43 | Cody Campbell – Quinten Carr | 10 | 2.42 | 18.55 | |
| 44 | Mark Thompson – Mark Thompson II | 10 | 18.38 | ||
| 45 | Terry Hutchison – Jason Coley | 10 | 18.09 | ||
| 46 | Mike Butcher – Justin Amershek | 8 | 18.08 | ||
| 47 | Jeff Gilbert – Bob Neff | 8 | 2.95 | 17.99 | |
| 48 | Danny Waite – Bryan Leonard | 7 | 3.23 | 17.65 | |
| 49 | Jeremy Pope – Mike Miller | 9 | 17.15 | ||
| 50 | Wesley Willett – Clint Cochran | 10 | 17.1 | ||
| 51 | Gary Martens – Bryan Loseman | 9 | 17 | ||
| 52 | Jerry McCutchen – Jamie Edge | 7 | 3.04 | 16.98 | |
| 53 | Stephen Smith – Garen Hunt | 9 | 16.91 | ||
| 54 | Tom Statler – Dillon Statler | 8 | 16.36 | $1,000.00 | |
| 55 | Matt Gunter – Kelly Nunn | 8 | 16.23 | ||
| 56 | Darryl Knacksted – Max Wilson | 8 | 16.15 | ||
| 57 | Nick Hallbeck – Todd Knaack | 7 | 16.01 | ||
| 58 | Eric Power – Chris Power | 7 | 15.92 | ||
| 59 | Jordan Dibben – Jason Conner | 7 | 15.61 | ||
| 60 | Travis Poretta – Robert Daniels | 7 | 3.33 | 15.33 | |
| 61 | Jordan Williams – Riley Hill | 8 | 14.98 | ||
| 62 | Harvey Horn – Les Cowan | 7 | 14.73 | ||
| 63 | Josh Miller – Ethen Johns | 8 | 14.65 | ||
| 64 | Terry McDowell – David Peacock | 7 | 14.64 | ||
| 65 | Michael Dugger – Tim Goliglee | 7 | 14.13 | ||
| 66 | Dewayne Weeks – Rocky Carden | 7 | 14 | ||
| 67 | Kevin Crossland – Geoff Blair | 6 | 4.37 | 13.86 | |
| 68 | Kevin Dull – Tim Green | 7 | 2.52 | 13.86 | |
| 69 | Jeff Bottorff – Justin Bottorff | 7 | 13.79 | ||
| 70 | Bryan Baker – Darren Baker | 7 | 13.45 | ||
| 71 | Sam Grace – Blake Macamber | 6 | 3.14 | 13.36 | |
| 72 | Dusty Richardson – Robert Shackelford | 5 | 4.23 | 13.29 | |
| 73 | Steve Weber – Sam Phillips | 6 | 13.26 | ||
| 74 | Dene White – Joe Dorcy | 6 | 2.84 | 12.91 | |
| 75 | Robert Cowan – Dallas Beasley | 5 | 12.22 | ||
| 76 | Rodney Bowersox – Randy Davis | 6 | 2.02 | 12.14 | |
| 77 | Randy Roustio – | 6 | 12.14 | ||
| 78 | Matt Underwood – Brian Dudley | 6 | 12.05 | ||
| 79 | Brent Greek – Andy Greek | 5 | 11.85 | ||
| 80 | Kevin Jackson – Bryan Jackson | 5 | 3.44 | 11.84 | |
| 81 | Tyler Eagan – James Eagan | 5 | 4.1 | 11.62 | |
| 82 | Anthony Alkire – Kyle Uptegrove | 5 | 2.73 | 11.42 | |
| 83 | Don Sanders – Josh Shiley | 6 | 11.33 | ||
| 84 | Scott Clift – Ashley Medley | 5 | 11.32 | ||
| 85 | Steve Ortiz – Sean Fincham | 5 | 11.18 | ||
| 86 | Brad Jelinek – Brock Reinkemeyer | 5 | 10.81 | ||
| 87 | Fred Jobe – Tom Shewey | 3 | 4.47 | 10.6 | |
| 88 | John Hodson – Kelvin Charles | 5 | 10.51 | ||
| 89 | Eddie McMasters – Jace McMasters | 5 | 10.36 | ||
| 90 | Rich Schroeder – Jim Weatherly | 5 | 10.18 | ||
| 91 | Randy Oliphant – Scott Oliphant | 4 | 3.4 | 10.13 | |
| 92 | Ronny DeNayer – Troy Hardie | 5 | 9.93 | ||
| 93 | Jim Phillips – Ethan Grubaugh | 5 | 9.89 | ||
| 94 | Shane Mooneyham – Les Brandenburg | 4 | 9.72 | ||
| 95 | Rich Campbell – Travis Stevens | 4 | 9.47 | ||
| 96 | Chad Karns – Austin Karns | 4 | 2.54 | 9.44 | |
| 97 | John Campbell – David Rogers | 4 | 9.38 | ||
| 98 | Kelly Jones – Roger Satterfield | 5 | 9.13 | ||
| 99 | Chris White – Kelly White | 5 | 9.12 | ||
| 100 | Jared Essary – Nick Hass | 4 | 9.05 | ||
| 101 | Desmon Carl – Tyler Glenn | 5 | 8.8 | ||
| 102 | Greg Proffitt – Anthony Scoma | 4 | 8.71 | ||
| 103 | Joddy Dungan – John Matousek | 4 | 1.91 | 8.44 | |
| 104 | Ron Peek – Pat Deaton | 5 | 8.41 | ||
| 105 | Ricky Clemen – Phil McKinney | 4 | 2.46 | 8.24 | $1,000.00 |
| 106 | Mark Riegel – JR Shinn | 4 | 8.09 | ||
| 107 | Mark Sloan – Parker Adair | 4 | 7.98 | ||
| 108 | Jack Young – Bill MacAvoy | 4 | 7.87 | ||
| 109 | Chace Mason – Mike Mason | 4 | 2.07 | 7.8 | |
| 110 | Dave Epema – Dan Bowman | 4 | 7.65 | ||
| 111 | Jack Stack – Dick Moger | 4 | 7.57 | ||
| 112 | Colby Davison – Ron Voet | 3 | 7.37 | ||
| 113 | Phil J Zimmerman – Phil M Zimmerman | 3 | 1.83 | 7.11 | |
| 114 | Aaron Foglesong – Jeff Wilkins | 3 | 6.93 | ||
| 115 | *Mark Glover – Charles Cadenhead | 4 | 2.11 | 6.77 | |
| 116 | Kyle Wagner – John Wagner | 4 | 6.64 | ||
| 117 | Steve Teske – Bruce Yarnell | 3 | 6.59 | ||
| 118 | Casey Flood – Dan Flood | 3 | 6.35 | ||
| 119 | Matt Cesar – Ed Larson | 3 | 6.32 | ||
| 120 | Layton Strong – Michael Harris | 3 | 6.28 | ||
| 121 | Troy Hendrick – Chad Hendrick | 3 | 2.09 | 6.27 | |
| 122 | Alan Hoyt – John Summers | 3 | 6.25 | ||
| 123 | Tim Hintenach – Travis Williams | 4 | 6.22 | ||
| 124 | Richard Kiblinger – Greg Brown | 3 | 6.19 | ||
| 125 | John Cates – Mike Edwards | 3 | 6.13 | ||
| 126 | Marcus McCaffrey – Austin McCracken | 3 | 5.97 | ||
| 127 | Russ Hughes – Ronald Parker | 2 | 4 | 5.93 | |
| 128 | Brady Graves – Darryll Waller | 3 | 5.89 | ||
| 129 | Justin Bogner – Kenny Bogner | 2 | 4.23 | 5.86 | |
| 130 | Mark Simmons – Terry Lawhon | 3 | 5.81 | ||
| 131 | Greg Askew – Terry Case | 3 | 5.74 | ||
| 132 | Todd Choate – Kent Whitaker | 3 | 5.41 | ||
| 133 | Scott Jackson – Jim Brewer | 3 | 5.37 | ||
| 134 | Kerry Moore – Tom Terrell | 2 | 5.09 | ||
| 135 | Jim Lomax – Wayne Werle | 3 | 4.78 | ||
| 136 | Bill Barsotti | 3 | 4.5 | ||
| 137 | Tony Habiger – | 2 | 4.5 | ||
| 138 | Bill Hayford – | 2 | 4.47 | ||
| 139 | Larry Barr – Cliff Wolf | 2 | 4.41 | ||
| 140 | Ryan Tucker – Ryan Heise | 2 | 4.24 | ||
| 141 | Jeff Bear – Quenton Bear | 2 | 4.21 | ||
| 142 | Corey Besgrove – Eddie Brown | 2 | 4.17 | ||
| 143 | Tom Herndon – Jason VanBeers | 2 | 4.11 | ||
| 144 | Justin Hosler – Keith Dugan | 2 | 3.98 | ||
| 145 | Aaron Vaughn – Parrish Vaughn | 1 | 3.9 | 3.9 | |
| 146 | Robert Oster – Brad Weiss | 2 | 3.9 | ||
| 147 | Mike Thomas – Jeff Lane | 2 | 3.89 | ||
| 147 | John Williams – Jim Williams | 2 | 3.89 | ||
| 149 | Steve Gwadera – Jake Desselle | 2 | 3.84 | ||
| 150 | Michael Frye – Michael Landwehr | 2 | 2.07 | 3.81 | |
| 151 | Troy Nogosek – Jeremy Fiedler | 2 | 3.6 | ||
| 152 | Greg James – Doug Hoeppner | 2 | 3.58 | ||
| 153 | Dennis Edwards – Hayes Edwards | 2 | 3.56 | ||
| 154 | Eric Craft – Dominic Cavitt | 2 | 3.37 | ||
| 155 | Timmy Newberry – Rusty Darnell | 1 | 2.88 | 2.88 | |
| 156 | Bill Jared – Rich Carpenter | 2 | 2.88 | ||
| 157 | Denis Repa – Alec Repa | 2 | 2.71 | ||
| 158 | John Hewkin – Frank Meyer | 1 | 2.4 | 2.4 | |
| 159 | Charles Rogers – Jeff Rogers | 1 | 2.19 | 2.19 | |
| 160 | Dan Hirstein – Chris Hirstein | 1 | 2.06 | 2.06 | |
| 161 | Kenny Dawson – Pat Katzer | 1 | 1.84 | 1.84 | |
| 162 | Chris LuAllen – Ben Sadler | 1 | 1.72 | 1.72 | |
| 163 | Troy Thomas – Mike Eickmann | 1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | |
| 164 | Charles Abbott – Tim Wells | 1 | 0 | ||
| 165 | Jerry Addington – Jasper Addington | 0 | |||
| 165 | Rick Beard – Rian White | 0 | |||
| 165 | Lennie Becker – Elmer Becker II | 0 | |||
| 165 | Justin Borum – Jake McKinnis | 0 | |||
| 165 | Rick Bowman – Jeff Moore | 0 | |||
| 165 | Jay Carden – Dustin Lowe | 0 | |||
| 165 | Chris Carter – Justin McMullen | 0 | |||
| 165 | Wesley Carver – Bobby Carver | 0 | |||
| 165 | Dan Cox – Tim Kastning | 0 | |||
| 165 | Mike Daley – Dale Elkins | 0 | |||
| 165 | Jim Davidson – Mike Ashbacher | 0 | |||
| 165 | Leonard DeClue – Kelton Morris | 0 | |||
| 165 | Brad Dooley – Terry Jones | 0 | |||
| 165 | Craig Dort – Tony Johnston | 0 | |||
| 165 | Jeff Farquhar – Gary Hazell | 0 | |||
| 165 | Richie Huebner – Brandon Lowry | 0 | |||
| 165 | Keith Hurd – Jeff Nelson | 0 | |||
| 165 | Ronnie Kane – Cory Steckler | 0 | |||
| 165 | Heath Kelly – Lucas Hudson | 0 | |||
| 165 | Terry Kennedy – Anthony Decker | 0 | |||
| 165 | David McCormick – Gary Shartzer | 0 | |||
| 165 | James McKown – Andrew McKown | 0 | |||
| 165 | Justin McMullen – Chris Carter | 0 | |||
| 165 | David Mulkey – Sean Mulkey | 0 | |||
| 165 | Edward Nelson – Tony Zaharsky | 0 | |||
| 165 | Jamie Newton – | 0 | |||
| 165 | William Orhring – Dan LaBouke | 0 | |||
| 165 | Gregg Sapp – Robert Duffy | 0 | |||
| 165 | Greg Seiner – Brad Seiner | 0 | |||
| 165 | Chris Thomas – Charley Thomas | 0 | |||
| 165 | Mike Utt – Mike Uttt | 0 | |||
| 165 | Tom VanKeirsbilck – Brian Rodrock | 0 | |||
| 165 | Kevin Whightsil – Darren Lofts | 0 | |||
| 165 | Kenneth White – Ken White | 0 |