It was only fitting that the 2026 Joe Bass Team Trail Lake of the Ozarks division, sponsored by Window World, would be dealt a radical change in weather conditions to close the season. After a beautiful spring day on Saturday, teams launched on tournament day under warm but cloudy skies. By late morning, 40-50 mph winds shifting from the south to the north signaled a 30+ degree drop in temperatures with rain thrown in for good measure. Notwithstanding, the LOZ anglers proved there were bass to be caught as big fish and heavy bags were brought to the weigh-in at beautiful Alhonna Resort to determine a daily winner and crown a division points champion.
Bryan Loseman and Gary Martens followed up a win on Saturday with another victory on Sunday. Bryan and Gary brought a stout 19.74 pound bag to the scales to take the win. They shared their Window World key to success was working crankbaits and jigs along pea gravel banks in the back of spawning coves. They boated 7 keepers before the wind shift which killed their bite. Included in their sack was the Wilson Truck Sales big bass of the derby. Their 6.16 kicker bit a jig.
Mike Mancil and Chris Bolte followed up a win in the last Joe Bass Ozarks division tournament with a second place finish. They also had the 2nd place big bass, a 5.25 kicker that pushed their total to 17.70 pounds. Mike and Chris cranked secondary points to catch 7 keepers, once again all before the winds kicked in.
Brendan Ackerman and Oliver Siebert rounded out the top three. They dropped a five fish limit on the scale to lock in a 16.64 final weight. They combined a jig and jerkbait to catch a dozen keepers on an all-day bite.
Joe Bass staffer Mark Thompson fished with son Luke to take the Top Skeeter award for the day. They put 16.23 pounds of A-rig bass in the Skeeter’s livewell. In addition to the Joe Bass Top Skeeter cash, Mark and Luke pocketed an additional $500 compliments of Blackbeard Marine by fishing from Mark’s new 2026 Skeeter ZXE20 purchased from Blackbeard Marine. Mark would like to put out a special thanks to Tyler Frahm from Blackbeard who put in some OT at the Joe Bass Table Rock event on Saturday, addressing an issue with a graph. Tyler’s extra effort made it possible for Mark and Luke to trek north to Lake of the Ozarks and pull down the Skeeter bonus. Thanks Tyler and Blackbeard Marine!
With the 2026 Lake of the Ozarks division sponsored by Window World in the books, Matt King and Kody Yates earned Top Points honors and will receive paid entry to the Joe Bass Invitational on Truman in October and will lead the field out as boat #1 at next season’s Ozark’s events.
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!
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Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout |
| 1 | Bryan Loseman – Gary Martens | 5 | 6.16 | 19.74 | 220 | $1,426.00 |
| 2 | Mike Mancil – Chris Bolte | 5 | 5.25 | 17.7 | 219 | $760.00 |
| 3 | Brendan Ackerman – Oliver Siebert | 5 | 4.63 | 16.64 | 218 | $310.00 |
| 4 | Mark Thompson – *Luke Thompson | 5 | 4.36 | 16.23 | 217 | $1,000.00 |
| 5 | Tony Torretta – *fished aalone | 5 | 4.06 | 16.19 | 216 | |
| 6 | Matt King – Kody Yates | 5 | 3.71 | 14.65 | 215 | |
| 7 | David Conner – Bradly Robbins | 5 | 13.42 | 214 | ||
| 8 | Dallas Stamper – Jason Hollandsworth | 5 | 3.33 | 12.98 | 213 | |
| 9 | Tyler Hermes – Richard Hermes | 3 | 8.67 | 212 | ||
| 10 | Rocky Carden – Trenton Choate | 2 | 4.47 | 211 | ||
| 11 | Mike Thomas – Dirk Thomas | 1 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 210 | |
| 12 | Keith LaBarge – Roger LaBarge | 0 | 20 | |||
| Rich Rayfield – Joshua Harley | 0 | 20 | ||||
| John Shanahan – Dan Allison | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Tom VanKeirsbilck – Jacob Sloan | 0 | 20 | ||||
| Chad Wagner – Kevin Altman | 0 | 20 |
*alternate