113 teams gathered at Bucksaw Resort to battle it out for the 2026 season finale in the Joe Bass Team Trail Invitational. With fishing the focal point of the weekend, the event is also a time to get together and celebrate the season, share memories from the divisional events, and prognosticate on what will be needed to come out on top of the tournament. Friday afternoon kicked off the registration activities where teams selected from a truckload of products supplied by Lucas Oil and Rapala. Winners were drawn for the $1000 Save A Receipt program as well as for those that took the exhilarating demo ride provided by the Skeeter Demo Team with the winner pocketing a cool $500! A fantastic meal was provided by the folks at Bucksaw Resort & Marina. Then it was time to get down to business. After a salute to the flag, recognition to the division points leaders took front stage. The two winter divisions were up first, with Justin Garner and Jacob Wade representing the Table Rock Winter Division sponsored by Blackbeard Marine with Matt King and Kody Yates topping the Window World Lake of the Ozarks division. Don and Gary McFetridge led a hard-fought Mark Twain division supported by 154 Marine. Jay Oliver and Aaron Hodge wrangled the top spot in the Table Rock Antique division sponsored by Maybee Insurance and KGB Swimbaits while Kavan Maybee and Josh Wray won the Table Rock Blackbeard Marine summer division. The Pomme de Terre TNT Quick Stop division found David Mulkey and Tyler Weaver at the top of the ranks with Glenn Harrison and Ryan Stuart topping the Albers Marine, Inc. Stockton Division. Kenny Sloan and Brandon Mick laid claim to the Valley Transmission Shop Truman Division. Roger Satterfield and Kelly Jones topped off a phenomenal season, missing a perfect 880 point score by one point, to take the Open Division sponsored by Championship Marine Repair.
For those that took advantage of the 13 Fishing “by one get one” program, a stack of great rods was available to choose from simply by showing a receipt for a purchase of a 13 Fishing rod. After a quick review of the rules and take-off procedures, names were drawn for a ton of product from Modern Outdoor Tackle, Everharts Outdoor Store, and Rapala to name just a few. Pay attention to this point; the above isn’t a shameless plug of a handful of sponsors. Without the support of these companies, a list of which can be found on the Joe Bass website, the tens of thousands of dollars of products that find their way to the anglers simply wouldn’t exist.
Now on to the fishing!
Dock talk centered on a tough bite and that’s what the teams found. The 113 teams in the derby brought in only 23 10-fish limits, showing the warmer temps, bright skies and no wind set up a stingy fishery. However, somebody is going to find the fish to win, and for the 2026 Invitational, that proved to be Kyle Alsop. Kyle and his dad Tom finished 3rd in points in a tough Truman Division, but due to schedule issues that left Tom unavailable, Kyle fished alone. His best 10 fish locked the scales at 32.98 pounds, enough to narrowly secure the win. Kyle noted he “was looking at fish” for the better part of the first day without success before running into a bite halfway back in a set of coves. His fish bit a jig, shaky head and worm. Kyle found the bite even more difficult on Sunday as he pounded the same spots but only boated 4 keepers before heading back to Bucksaw. He had a few minutes before his check in time, so he set the boat down on a bluff end within site of the ramp where he boated his limit fish with only minutes to go. That fish proved to be the difference as his weight was a mere .6 pounds heavier than second place. Kyle added to his first place winnings by taking the ClearCast Tournament of Champions Third Place Points title!
Desmon Carl and Tyler Glenn found the fishing tough as well so they kept a jig in their hands for two days and decided to grind away. Their bag weighed 32.38, just a tick out of the lead. Their big fish for the event was a 5.64 pound brute, 2nd biggest for the event, which helped to anchor their bag, but that bag held only 9 fish for the two day event. No doubt the lack of a two day limit hindered their chance at the win, but in a major event under extremely tough conditions and competition, they more than proved their mettle with a runner up finish.
Jordan Williams and Trevor Bartlett have been on a buzzbait bite on Truman for a month, as they took third place in the season divisional finale in September slinging the blade. Jordan and Trevor continued to lean on the buzzbait to put 10 fish in their Skeeter boat, weighing in 31.81 for the event. They noted their topwater bite fizzled after a few hours each day, making it important to boat everything that bit early as they said they could only muster a few bites the remainder of each day. The quality was on the early bite as well, showing they had to make the most of the low light conditions. Jordan and Trevor ended the Truman Division in second place in points, qualifying them for the ClearCast Tournament of Champions 2nd Place derby which they locked down with their high finish in the Invitational. They also landed some extra cash by taking Top Skeeter honors as they fished from their 2024 ZX200 Skeeter.
Kenny Sloan and Brandon Mick, Truman Points Champions, added to their 10th place finish by taking the Clear-Cast Marine Tournament of Champions Points leader race. They weighed 10 fish that pushed the scales to 27.94 pounds.
Steve Huff and Brad Martin made the most of a big bite as they wrestled the Wilson Logistics and Truck Sales big bass of the event, a 6.19 largemouth to the boat to take top big fish honors.
Joe Bass recognizes the extra work the staff teams put in setting up, tearing down, packing out, etc. after coming in early each event to prep for weigh-in. Tournament directors selected staffers to compete for that recognition in a “Staff Shoot Out” with Steve Webber and Sam Phillips bringing in 8 fish for 23.64 pounds to take the top spot!
Due to the TREMENDOUS support of Blackbeard Marine, teams competing in a current or last year’s model Skeeter purchased from Blackbeard Marine competed for a bonus payout. This year’s winner was Kevin Johnston who fished with Matt Gunter to take the last paying position in 20th place with 9 fish that weighed 25.52 pounds. However, that bag pocketed Kevin an extra $4500 cash as they put those fish in the livewell of their Blackbeard Marine Skeeter!
To round out the weekend, a dazzling Skeeter ZX150 w/Yamaha Outboard was drawn for. With being present to win proving to be especially important this year, as it took 3 names being drawn to find one who stayed until the end, Steve Chiaurro of the Mark Twain Division walked away with the ultimate prize for the weekend! Thanks to the folks at Skeeter Boats and congratulations Steve!
As mentioned above, visit the website for a list of sponsors and links and send them a message of thanks for supporting the trail. Without them, there would be no fishing rods, tackle, boat/vehicle maintenance products and especially no sparkling new Skeeter Boat available for you, the Joe Bass Team Trail anglers. Or send them to Bob and he will get them to the right places.
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Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Payout |
| 1 | Kyle Alsop – *fished aalone | 10 | 4.9 | 32.98 | $7,600.00 |
| 2 | Desmon Carl – Tyler Glenn | 9 | 5.6 | 32.38 | $4,000.00 |
| 3 | Jordan Williams – Trevor Bartlett | 10 | 4.9 | 31.81 | $1,850.00 |
| 4 | Peyton Jackson – Brayden Jackson | 10 | 4.1 | 31.33 | $1,800.00 |
| 5 | Wayne Garrison – Billy Greenwell | 10 | 4.7 | 31.13 | $600.00 |
| 6 | Brad Territo – Logan Carter | 10 | 4.5 | 29.89 | $900.00 |
| 7 | Darrell Reach – John Bennett | 10 | 5.2 | 29.81 | $400.00 |
| 8 | Pete Wenners – Brian Snowden | 10 | 29.08 | $400.00 | |
| 9 | Marty Watson – Doug Long | 10 | 3.1 | 28.03 | $350.00 |
| 10 | Kenny Sloan – Brendon Mick | 10 | 27.94 | $350.00 | |
| 11 | Glenn Harrison – Ryan Stuart | 10 | 4.5 | 27.93 | $300.00 |
| 12 | Clay Henderson – Jay Henderson | 10 | 4.1 | 27.71 | $300.00 |
| 13 | Scott Hill – Wyatt Marler | 10 | 3.7 | 27.59 | $250.00 |
| 14 | Matt King – Kody Yates | 10 | 4.2 | 27.58 | $250.00 |
| 15 | Bryan Baker – Darren Baker | 10 | 3.3 | 27.18 | $200.00 |
| 16 | Bryce Rieder – Mike Edrington | 10 | 26.57 | $200.00 | |
| 17 | Ron Belew – Derek Dace | 10 | 3.8 | 25.95 | $200.00 |
| 18 | Joe Dorcy – Dene White | 9 | 4.2 | 25.72 | $200.00 |
| 19 | David McCormick – Gary Shartzer | 10 | 4.6 | 25.71 | $200.00 |
| 20 | Kevin Johnston – Matt Gunter | 9 | 4.1 | 25.52 | $4700.00 |
| 21 | Tom Statler – Dillon Statler | 10 | 4.2 | 25.26 | |
| 22 | Brent Alegeo – Dennis Meyer | 10 | 4.5 | 24.9 | |
| 23 | Jim Davidson – Mike Ashbacher | 10 | 5.6 | 24.8 | |
| 24 | Robert Hime – Paul Huse | 10 | 4.1 | 24.66 | |
| 25 | Steve Weber – Sam Phillips | 8 | 4.4 | 23.64 | $500.00 |
| 26 | Travis Stevens – Rich Campbell | 9 | 4.2 | 23.58 | |
| 27 | Landon Edwards – Taylor Surly | 9 | 5.4 | 23.37 | |
| 28 | Rick Jones – Jeremiah Gilbert | 9 | 5.1 | 23.3 | $400.00 |
| 29 | Coty Baldwin – Kris Bollinger | 10 | 3.9 | 22.97 | |
| 30 | Mark Thompson – Luke Thompson | 10 | 5.6 | 22.75 | |
| 31 | Eric Zuk – Ben Zuk | 9 | 21.75 | ||
| 32 | Steve Fowler – Charles Edgar | 8 | 21.54 | ||
| 33 | Hal Land – Brad Baze | 8 | 3.8 | 20.47 | |
| 34 | Timmy Newberry – Rusty Darnell | 8 | 4 | 19.95 | |
| 35 | Aaron Foglesong – Jeff Wilkins | 8 | 19.9 | ||
| 36 | Phil J Zimmerman – Phil M Zimmerman | 8 | 3.8 | 19 | |
| 37 | Harvey Horn – Jim Ford | 7 | 4.5 | 18.29 | |
| 38 | Steve Chiaurro – Richard Dannegger | 8 | 3.3 | 17.97 | Skeeter Boat |
| 39 | Tom VanKeirsbilck – Jacob Sloan | 7 | 17.73 | ||
| 40 | Kirk Sims – Rick Watkins | 8 | 4.4 | 17.68 | |
| 41 | John Williams – Jim Williams | 8 | 3.4 | 17.21 | |
| 42 | Robert (Bobby) Shockley – Brayden Schaben | 8 | 17.07 | ||
| 43 | Deno Ek – James Medlock | 7 | 3.6 | 17.04 | |
| 44 | Gary Arterberry – Gus Adkinson | 6 | 3.5 | 16.7 | |
| 45 | John Wagner – Kyle Wagner | 7 | 16.58 | ||
| 46 | Chad Seiner – Brad Seiner | 6 | 3.4 | 16.53 | |
| 47 | Aaron Ragsdale – Chris Anello | 5 | 5.3 | 16.14 | |
| 48 | Tyler Hermes – Richard Hermes | 7 | 16 | ||
| 49 | Keith LaBarge – Roger LaBarge | 7 | 3.9 | 15.38 | |
| 50 | Chad Wagner – Kevin Altman | 6 | 4.1 | 15.25 | $1,000.00 |
| 51 | David Conner – Bradly Robbins | 7 | 14.52 | ||
| 52 | Jake Beem – Jason Beem | 5 | 4.7 | 13.52 | |
| 53 | John Prochko – Diego Segui | 5 | 2.8 | 13.29 | |
| 54 | Shane Voyles – Scott St. Clair | 5 | 13.29 | ||
| 55 | Kevin Love – Fisher Love | 5 | 12.86 | ||
| 56 | Brian Davidson – David Williams | 5 | 12.82 | ||
| 57 | Mike Thomas – Dirk Thomas | 5 | 12.29 | ||
| 58 | Doc Seger – Ed Larson | 5 | 3.2 | 12.25 | |
| 59 | Emory Richards – Tony Cabral | 5 | 2.9 | 12.21 | |
| 60 | Jim Buttress – Richard Johnson | 6 | 2.8 | 12.17 | |
| 61 | Matt Bryant – Scott Walker | 5 | 3.2 | 11.76 | |
| 62 | Chris Schiffelbein – Scotty Cavanaugh | 4 | 2.8 | 11.56 | |
| 63 | Kevin Jackson – Bryan Jackson | 5 | 3.3 | 10.86 | |
| 64 | Stephen Smith – Bill McAvoy | 4 | 4.1 | 10.84 | |
| 65 | Kelly Jones – Roger Satterfield | 4 | 3.9 | 10.79 | |
| 66 | Darrin Lankford – Kevin Pitts | 5 | 10.63 | ||
| 67 | Troy Nogosek – Jeremy Fiedler | 4 | 4.3 | 10.44 | |
| 68 | Troy Hunt – Garen Hunt | 4 | 3.8 | 10.43 | |
| 69 | Steve Huff – Brad Martin | 3 | 6.2 | 10.17 | $500.00 |
| 70 | Denis Repa – Alec Repa | 4 | 2.5 | 10.05 | |
| 71 | Kent Whitaker – Zachary Cooley | 4 | 9.93 | ||
| 72 | Adam Proctor – Hill Brandon | 4 | 9.91 | ||
| 73 | Josh Shirley – Don Sanders | 5 | 9.69 | ||
| 74 | Mike Neuman – Troy Soranson | 4 | 3.4 | 9.34 | |
| 75 | Jim Sloan – Jeff Stout | 4 | 9.03 | ||
| 76 | Corey Besgrove – Eddie Brown | 3 | 3.9 | 8.92 | |
| 77 | Kelly (Bob) Nunn – Jamie Duncan | 3 | 8.36 | ||
| 78 | Eric Webb – Dakota Nunnery | 5 | 1.4 | 8.18 | |
| 79 | Ron Peek – Louie Collier | 3 | 7.26 | ||
| 80 | Dallas Stamper – Jason Hollandsworth | 2 | 4.8 | 7.12 | |
| 81 | Tyler Frahm – Austin Frahm | 4 | 6.97 | ||
| 82 | David Rogers – Rocky Carden | 2 | 4.5 | 6.32 | |
| 83 | Preston Hartung – *fished alone | 2 | 5.93 | ||
| 84 | Brent Basler – Mike Smith | 2 | 3.5 | 5.35 | |
| 85 | Ralph Laster – Mike Fielder | 3 | 5.14 | ||
| 86 | Tom Herndon – Jason VanBeers | 2 | 5.13 | ||
| 87 | William Hess – Austin Hess | 3 | 4.52 | ||
| 88 | Chad Hawkins – Steve Hawkins | 2 | 4.42 | ||
| 89 | Jerry Addington – Jasper Addington | 2 | 4.1 | ||
| 90 | Mike Butcher – Justin Amershek | 2 | 2.83 | ||
| 91 | Seth Glynn – Kelly (KJ) Hughes | 1 | 2.2 | 2.15 | |
| 92 | Scott Neumann – Darrell Williams | 1 | 2.1 | 2.05 | |
| 93 | Will Pierce – Steve Allen | 1 | 2 | 2.04 | |
| 94 | Steve Teske – Bruce Yarnell | 1 | 1.9 | 1.94 | |
| 95 | Greg Askew – Terry Case | 0 | |||
| Terry Barnett – Rodney Bowersox | 0 | ||||
| Roy Butler – *fished aalone | 0 | ||||
| Shawn Crabtree – Reece Crabtree | 0 | ||||
| Michael Frye – Michael Landwehr | 0 | ||||
| Travis Glenn – Kerry Glenn | 0 | ||||
| Dan Hankinson – Keith Hankinson | 0 | ||||
| John Hewkin – Frank Meyer | 0 | ||||
| Raymond Holt – | 0 | ||||
| Earl Horton – | 0 | ||||
| Terry Hutchison – Jason Coley | 0 | ||||
| Jerry McCutchen – Kevin Smith | 0 | ||||
| Gerald McDaniel – Jeff Pascoe | 0 | ||||
| David Mulkey – *fished alone | 0 | ||||
| Randy Oliphant – Scott Oliphant | 0 | ||||
| Jay Oliver – Aaron Hodge | 0 | ||||
| Tony Powers – Cindy Powers | 0 | ||||
| Danny Waite – Bryan Leonard | 0 | ||||
| Slade Wilson – Joey Penzo | 0 |