188 teams made their way to Orleans Trail Marina to compete in the 2023 Joe Bass Team Trail Invitational. The tournament is the result of a season long battle for qualifying points in the various divisions. The anglers present represent the very best in the area, all with the hope of finding their names at the top of the Window World Leaderboard at the conclusion of the derby. Prior to the event, teams met Friday evening for check-in, a fantastic meal provided by the folks at Orleans Trail, and a ton of giveaways by the Trail’s sponsors. Be sure and check out the website for a complete list of sponsors, as without your support, the product giveaways simply don’t take place. Division winners were recognized for their efforts and a time of fellowship to connect with friends and competitors was had by all. Many teams reported tough fishing conditions, with warm water temperatures compounded by strong winds, all of which seems to have suspended the typical strong fall bite.
Skill and experience always factor into a top finish, but in a field comprised top to bottom with the best anglers from throughout the region, it can be hard to separate from the crowd. Local sticks Brandon and Ron Rummel have spent a day or two on Stockton, and their skill level rang through bright and clear as they took top honors in the Invitational. Team Rummel brought a two day 10 fish limit to the scales that locked at a 27.11 pound total. Brandon noted they ran a true “junk” pattern, as their Albers Marine Key to Success involved working jigs and topwater baits on numerous shallow locations. They joked that if they caught a fish, it was time to move as they found the bass to be widely scattered. It often comes down to a kicker fish to push a team over the top, and in this case, Brandon and Ron anchored their bag with the NAPA Big Bass of the event, a stout 5.67 pounder.
Another veteran team that leveraged their knowledge of Stockton Lake, Jim Davidson and Mike Ashbacher took second places honors. They also brought a 10-fish tournament limit to the weigh-in, with their bag pushing the scales to 25.69 pounds. Jim and Mike also employed a self-professed junk pattern as they spent the weekend slinging spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, Senkos, ploppers and jigs to trigger their bites.
Proving experience counts, John Bennett and Darrel Reach rounded out the top three. The long-time team has dealt with the volatility of Stockton Lake in the fall before, so they knew a good day one could be followed by a tough day two due to changing conditions. Their time-proven approach was to lean on their strengths, which meant one throwing a spinnerbait with the other following up with a squarebill. The eight keepers they weighed totaled 25.56 pounds, just off the second place weight, but also within striking distance of a win had they been able to trigger two more bites. Nonetheless, a third place finish in an event of this magnitude simply adds to their lengthy tournament resume.
Last year’s Invitational winners, Kevin Johnston and Roger Waters, padded their 9th place finish by taking Top Skeeter honors as they put 10 bass weighing 21.79 pounds into Kevin’s Skeeter bass boat.
Jeremy Gilbert joined the Skeeter family as his name was drawn for the sparkling red/white/black ZX150 draw boat. Powered by a dependable Yamaha outboard and sitting on a Skeeter Built trailer, Jeremy’s new Skeeter is tournament ready!
Continuing the Tournament of Champions perk from last season, the division winners that fished the Invitational battled for 5 paid entries for the 2024 season. Truman points leaders Bryce Rieder and Mike Edrington weighed 25.42 pounds to add the paid entries to their fourth place finish, resulting in a profitable weekend on the water.
New for the 2023 season, Joe Bass announced another side pot for qualifying staff teams. Nine boats vied for a five paid entries for the 2024 season similar to the Tournament of Champions. Ed Larson and Matt Cesar came out on top with a 7.83 total, providing a narrow .09 pound edge over the runner-up staff team. They relied on a Chompers Possum Tail Worm to put their fish in Ed’s Skeeter boat.
Special thanks to all of the trail’s sponsors, especially Orleans Trail Marina and Resort for hosting the event and Taylor Grubaugh Chevrolet/GMC/Buick in West Plains for sponsoring the live release boat. The division sponsors, 154 Marina (Mark Twain), Championship Marine (Open), TNT Quick Stop (Pomme de Terre), Mid America RV (Bull Shoals), Mike Smith Electric/Kavan Maybee Insurance (Antique), Hobbytime Motorsports (Truman), Motion Fishing (Lake of the Ozarks) Albers Marine (Stockton) and Chompers (Table Rock) are the lifeblood of the trail. Lucas Oil provided a ton of giveaway product at the registration meeting, as did Rapala/VMC/Storm/Suffix. Thanks to Napa for their sponsoring the Big Bass awards for the season. As mentioned above, visit the website for a complete list of save-a-receipt sponsors and show your appreciation by supporting each of them!
Like us on Facebook & Instagram then send a Thank you to our sponsors.
The 2024 schedule is on the website, with the season starting with Rusty’s inaugural Bull Shoals event at Buck Creek Marina on November 4.
Photos – more photos –
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Payout | |
| 1 | Brandon Rummel – Ron Rummel | 10 | 5.7 | 27.11 | $12,190.00 | |
| 2 | Jim Davidson – Mike Ashbacher | 10 | 3.8 | 25.69 | $5,476.00 | |
| 3 | John Bennett – Darrell Reach | 8 | 4.4 | 25.56 | $3,714.00 | |
| 4 | Bryce Rieder – Mike Edrington | 10 | 4.5 | 25.42 | $2476.00 Tournament of Champions Winners | |
| 5 | Jerry Roark – Jamie Edge | 10 | 4 | 24.76 | $2,090.00 | |
| 6 | Luke Routh – Tyler Weaver | 10 | 5.4 | 22.68 | $800.00 | |
| 7 | Nick Hallbeck – Todd Knaack | 9 | 4.1 | 22.41 | $700.00 | |
| 8 | Jordan Williams – Riley Hill | 10 | 22.14 | $600.00 | ||
| 9 | Kevin Johnston – Roger Waters | 10 | 3.4 | 21.79 | $1,000.00 | |
| 10 | Kevin Jackson – Bryan Jackson | 7 | 4.3 | 21.36 | $500.00 | |
| 11 | Chad Allison – Jeff Moss | 10 | 3.8 | 21.11 | $500.00 | |
| 12 | Aaron Foglesong – Jeff Wilkins | 9 | 3.9 | 19.9 | $400.00 | |
| 13 | Kyle Alsop – Lance Maldonaldo | 10 | 19.89 | $400.00 | ||
| 14 | Chad Morgenthaler – Dave Mansue | 10 | 19.75 | $400.00 | ||
| 15 | Tyler Eagan – James Eagan | 10 | 19.73 | $300.00 | ||
| 16 | Gaige Blanton – Kody Mazur | 9 | 19.73 | $300.00 | ||
| 17 | Dene White – Joe Dorcy | 9 | 19.6 | $300.00 | ||
| 18 | Brady Graves – Darryll Waller | 8 | 4.4 | 18.37 | $300.00 | |
| 19 | Scott Hill – Brandon Hill | 9 | 18.04 | $276.00 | ||
| 20 | Michael Fey – Jarad Hinson | 9 | 4.1 | 17.71 | $200.00 | |
| 21 | Andrew Eisterhold – Kaden Zimmerman | 9 | 17.66 | $200.00 | ||
| 22 | Dalton Saxon – Sean Brashears | 8 | 3.3 | 17.34 | $200.00 | |
| 23 | Rick Bowman – Jeff Moore | 9 | 16.8 | $200.00 | ||
| 24 | Kelly Jones – Roger Satterfield | 6 | 4.2 | 16.64 | $200.00 | |
| 25 | Cody Campbell – Quinten Carr | 8 | 3.1 | 16.53 | $200.00 | |
| 26 | Justin Faucett – Eric Stephenson | 8 | 16.48 | |||
| 27 | Rocky Carden – David Rogers | 6 | 4.6 | 16.36 | ||
| 28 | Eric Power – Chris Power | 8 | 16.2 | |||
| 29 | Scott Kennedy – Alan McMillan | 7 | 3.9 | 16.11 | $1,214.00 | Skeeter Demo ride Winner |
| 30 | Dusty Richardson – Robert Shackelford | 10 | 16.07 | |||
| 31 | Scott Tassi – Glenn Harrison | 8 | 16.04 | |||
| 32 | Josh Busby – Rick Johnston | 9 | 15.99 | |||
| 33 | Nick Hass – Bruce Francisco | 8 | 15.98 | |||
| 34 | Darrin Lankford – Sean Bowling | 7 | 3.5 | 15.86 | ||
| 35 | Gabe Rooffener – Joe Rooffener | 8 | 15.83 | |||
| 36 | Jared Essary | 7 | 15.78 | |||
| 37 | Matthew Roberts – Brian Pahl | 6 | 3 | 15.42 | ||
| 38 | Jake Smith – Neil Booher | 8 | 15.01 | |||
| 39 | Billy McMillen – Bryan Bock | 6 | 5 | 14.8 | ||
| 40 | Kelly Nunn – Jamie Duncan | 7 | 14.76 | |||
| 41 | Greg Harris – Logan Scarlett | 6 | 3.6 | 14.72 | ||
| 42 | Tom Statler – Dillon Statler | 7 | 14.56 | |||
| 43 | Kyle Wagner – John Wagner | 7 | 3.8 | 14.52 | ||
| 44 | Matt Franke – Arthur Fortin | 6 | 14.33 | |||
| 45 | Bryan Baker – Darren Baker | 6 | 3.6 | 13.94 | ||
| 46 | Larry Lagsding – Kevin Davis | 6 | 2.3 | 13.15 | ||
| 47 | Ron Belew – Derek Dace | 7 | 12.74 | |||
| 48 | Mark Long – Nick Baker | 7 | 12.66 | |||
| 49 | Charles Edgar – Gus Adkinson | 5 | 5.3 | 12.65 | ||
| 50 | Steve Weber – Sam Phillips | 5 | 12.56 | |||
| 51 | Don Mason – Randy Davis | 6 | 12.43 | |||
| 52 | Tony Mayfield – Fisher Mayfield | 6 | 3.1 | 11.89 | ||
| 53 | JR Williams – Lee Jordan | 8 | 11.53 | |||
| 54 | Mike Johnson – Andrew Johnson | 5 | 11.41 | |||
| 55 | Matt McCullough – Scott Arensmann | 6 | 11.13 | |||
| 56 | Tom Mason – Chris Reese | 4 | 4.4 | 10.89 | ||
| 57 | Mike Hagensicker – Dillon Brock | 5 | 10.84 | |||
| 58 | Sam Grace – Blake Macamber | 5 | 10.74 | |||
| 59 | Tom VanKeirsbilck – Brian Rodrock | 5 | 10.44 | |||
| 60 | Danny Waite – Brad Martin | 5 | 10.41 | |||
| 61 | Dave Epema – Dan Bowman | 5 | 10.23 | |||
| 62 | Karl Schmidt – Dan Martinez | 5 | 10.17 | |||
| 63 | Keith Hendrix – Greg Zumwalt | 5 | 10.07 | |||
| 64 | Robert Cowan – Dallas Beasley | 5 | 9.91 | |||
| 65 | Mike Butcher – Justin Amershek | 5 | 9.87 | |||
| 66 | Ricky Clemen – Phil McKinney | 4 | 3.6 | 9.86 | ||
| 67 | Adam Procter | 4 | 9.81 | |||
| 68 | Kevin Dull – Tim Green | 5 | 9.8 | |||
| 69 | Brent Greek – Andy Greek | 5 | 9.78 | |||
| 70 | Chris Randell – Tim Randell | 5 | 9.7 | |||
| 71 | Jason Rehg – Rustin Ryan | 6 | 9.51 | |||
| 72 | Jay Oliver – Aaron Hodge | 5 | 9.34 | |||
| 73 | Colby Davidson – Jeff Stidham | 3 | 9.25 | |||
| 74 | Ron Hills – Ray Holt | 4 | 9.18 | |||
| 75 | Tim Lawyer | 4 | 9.09 | |||
| 76 | Matt Garrett – Will Isaac | 5 | 8.92 | |||
| 77 | Ralph Laster – Mike Fielder | 4 | 8.75 | |||
| 78 | Dustin Blevins – Eric Blevins | 5 | 8.7 | |||
| 79 | Adam Cook – Jeremy Hittler | 5 | 8.61 | |||
| 80 | Andre Dickniete – Noah Dickneite | 4 | 8.6 | |||
| 81 | Blake Price – Travis Glenn | 4 | 8.28 | |||
| 82 | Michael Dugger – Tim Goliglee | 4 | 8.2 | |||
| 83 | Kyle Kiister | 4 | 8.16 | |||
| 84 | Hal Land – Brad Baze | 4 | 7.96 | |||
| 85 | Aaron Fisher – | 4 | 7.85 | |||
| 86 | Matt Cesar – Ed Larson | 4 | 2.5 | 7.83 | Staff Shootout Winners $1000.00 | |
| 87 | John Hewkin – Frank Meyer | 4 | 2.2 | 7.79 | ||
| 88 | Mark Thompson – Mark Thompson II | 4 | 7.74 | |||
| 89 | Kevin Smith – Matt Gunter | 4 | 7.61 | |||
| 90 | Terry Hutchison – Jason Coley | 5 | 7.53 | |||
| 91 | Scott Berry – Wes Darnell | 4 | 7.23 | |||
| 91 | Scott Jackson – Todd Martens | 4 | 7.23 | |||
| 93 | Scotty Cavanaugh | 4 | 7.2 | |||
| 94 | Jason Jenkins – Paul Angelakos | 3 | 7.14 | |||
| 95 | Jay Henderson – Douglas Nickle | 3 | 7.01 | |||
| 96 | Timmy Newberry – Rusty Darnell | 4 | 6.96 | |||
| 97 | Thomas Alsop – Keith Leftridge | 3 | 6.89 | |||
| 98 | Jake Beem – Joseph Beem | 4 | 6.86 | |||
| 99 | Jay Carden – Dustin Lowe | 3 | 6.69 | |||
| 100 | Phil J Zimmerman – Phil M Zimmerman | 3 | 6.57 | |||
| 101 | Eric Craft – Ryan Stuart | 3 | 6.55 | |||
| 101 | John Williams – Jim Williams | 3 | 6.55 | |||
| 103 | AJ Wenzel – Patrick Dickerson | 3 | 6.43 | |||
| 104 | Tony Habiger – | 3 | 2 | 6.38 | ||
| 105 | Rick Jones – Jeremy Gilbert | 3 | 6.24 | Skeeter ZX 150/Yamaha Winner | ||
| 106 | Sam Smith – Steve Lackey | 4 | 6.16 | |||
| 107 | John Campbell – Brock Rogers | 3 | 6.09 | |||
| 108 | Richard Beeson – Scott Meyer | 3 | 5.92 | |||
| 109 | Jamie Newton – | 3 | 5.83 | |||
| 110 | Ken Gross – Daniel Pueppke | 3 | 5.76 | |||
| 111 | Bill Jared – Rich Carpenter | 3 | 5.75 | |||
| 112 | Robert Hime – Paul Huse | 3 | 5.64 | |||
| 113 | William Luethje – Danny Smith | 4 | 5.54 | |||
| 114 | Mark Mathis – Chris Macey | 3 | 5.54 | |||
| 115 | Jason Hahn – Joshua Mills | 3 | 5.44 | |||
| 116 | Troy Hendrick – Chad Hendrick | 3 | 5.35 | |||
| 117 | Seth Glynn – Kelly (KJ) Hughes | 3 | 5.31 | |||
| 118 | Dan Hirstein – Chris Hirstein | 3 | 5.27 | |||
| 119 | Steve Ortiz – Sean Fincham | 3 | 5.13 | |||
| 120 | Gregg Sapp – Robert Duffy | 3 | 5.07 | |||
| 121 | Kade Underwood – Bill Elkins | 3 | 4.95 | |||
| 122 | Caleb Carr – Dustin Langston | 3 | 4.64 | |||
| 123 | John Cates – Mike Edwards | 2 | 4.57 | |||
| 123 | Dan Hankinson – Keith Hankinson | 2 | 4.57 | |||
| 125 | Steve Gwadera – Jake Desselle | 3 | 4.52 | |||
| 126 | Diego Segui – John Prochko | 2 | 4.45 | |||
| 127 | Greg Bohnsack – Chris Wells | 2 | 2.3 | 4.43 | ||
| 128 | Tom Herndon – Jason VanBeers | 2 | 4.34 | |||
| 129 | Kent Whitaker – Less Morris | 2 | 4.28 | |||
| 130 | Roger Morris – | 2 | 4.14 | |||
| 131 | Bob Neff – Gregg Wood | 2 | 4.02 | |||
| 132 | Ralph Essig – Harlen Harvey | 2 | 4.01 | |||
| 133 | Kris Bollinger – Keven Bollinger | 3 | 4 | |||
| 134 | Greg Snider – Tim Lane | 2 | 3.79 | |||
| 135 | Richard Kiblinger – Greg Brown | 1 | 3.7 | 3.66 | ||
| 136 | Jeff Farquhar – Gary Hazell | 2 | 3.55 | |||
| 137 | Steve Teske – Bruce Yarnell | 2 | 3.1 | |||
| 138 | Michael Bray – Nathan Klepper | 1 | 2.5 | 2.49 | ||
| 139 | Greg Seiner – Brad Seiner | 1 | 2.4 | 2.36 | ||
| 140 | Shawn Crabtree – Theresa Patterson | 1 | 2.3 | 2.33 | ||
| 141 | Brit Phillips – Jim Troncin | 1 | 2.3 | 2.3 | ||
| 142 | Sam Harkey | 1 | 2.2 | 2.22 | ||
| 143 | Kevin Snyder – Nick Borchers | 1 | 2.2 | 2.17 | ||
| 144 | Garen Hunt – Troy Hunt | 1 | 2.1 | 2.12 | ||
| 145 | Drake Fredrick – David Crabill | 1 | 1.9 | 1.94 | ||
| 146 | Jeff Gilbert | 1 | 1.4 | 1.41 | ||
| 147 | Charles Abbott – Tim Wells | 0 | ||||
| Zachary Adams – | 0 | |||||
| Jerry Addington – Jasper Addington | 0 | |||||
| Greg Askew – Terry Case | 0 | |||||
| Jeff Bear – Quenton Bear | 0 | |||||
| Lennie Becker – Elmer Becker II | 0 | |||||
| Justin Bogner – Kenny Bogner | 0 | |||||
| Terry Bradley – Jason Swanigan | 0 | |||||
| Cody Brown – Kevin Collins | 0 | |||||
| Roy Butler – Gary Maxwell | 0 | |||||
| Rich Campbell – Travis Stevens | 0 | $1,000.00 | Save A Receipt Winner | |||
| Dan Cox – Tim Kastning | 0 | |||||
| Travis Day | 0 | |||||
| Leonard DeClue – Kelton Morris | 0 | |||||
| Mike Eutsler | 0 | |||||
| Jordan Dibben – Jason Conner | 0 | |||||
| Landon Edwards – Cody Ellison | 0 | |||||
| Richard Evans – Terry Close | 0 | |||||
| Casey Flood – Dan Flood | 0 | |||||
| Michael Frye – Michael Landwehr | 0 | |||||
| Preston Hartung – Justin Anderson | 0 | |||||
| Bill Hayford | 0 | |||||
| Keith Hurd – Jeff Nelson | 0 | |||||
| Fred Jobe – Tom Shewey | 0 | |||||
| Darrin King – Mark Mahaffey | 0 | |||||
| Kerry Kirkpatrick – Jeff Hamilton | 0 | |||||
| Kevin Love – | 0 | |||||
| Gary Martens – Bryan Loseman | 0 | |||||
| Gerald McDaniel – Jeff Pascoe | 0 | |||||
| David Mulkey – Sean Mulkey | 0 | |||||
| Randy Oliphant – Scott Oliphant | 0 | |||||
| Travis Poretta – Robert Daniels | 0 | |||||
| Randy Roustio – | 0 | |||||
| Anthony Scoma – Johnny Arial | 0 | |||||
| Johnny Smith – Josh Davis | 0 | |||||
| Dylan Sousley – Seth Carleton | 0 | |||||
| Matt Underwood – Logan Underwood | 0 | |||||
| Jason Weast – Scott Miles | 0 | |||||
| Wayne Werle – Nick Werle | 0 | |||||
| Kevin Whightsil – Darren Lofts | 0 | |||||
| Dennis Whitaker – Mike Tibbs | 0 | |||||
| Rick Wilson – Brad Weiss | 0 | |||||