Spring has finally arrived, and with it, the kicker bass in Truman Lake made their annual pilgrimage to the spawning banks. With water temperatures in the upper 50’s to mid 60’s range, 76 teams set out from the Shawnee Bend launch site on a chilly windy morning prepared to target shallow targets with the intangible problem of dropping water levels offsetting the bass moving up in the back of their minds. The results were stellar as 54 limits and an average weight per team of over 12.5 pounds were presented for weigh-in as the field continued the season quest for qualifying points for the Joe Bass Team Trails Championship at Truman Lake in October got off to a decent start.
Proving that experience matters, John Krewson and Tony Powers set the standard for the day with a 21.98 winning weight. Anchored by the Ozark Chevrolet Big Bass of the event, a 5.91 lunker they caught on a plastic craw, John shared their Sport Boats USA Key to Success was to run to familiar waters with a mix between flat banks and 45 degree steeper sections. They mixed in spinnerbaits and jigs to cull though around 20 keepers. Adding to their take home pay, John and Tony also took the Sport Boats USA Highest Finishing Skeeter award as they fished from John’s Sport Boats USA Skeeter.
Another longtime Truman team, Marty Watson and Doug Long, finished a close second. Their best five bass pushed the scales to 20.08 pounds. Doug noted they primarily pitched lizards to shallow bushes, catching over three limits of bass to amass their final weight.
Dan Weber and Robert Leininger rounded out the top three. They also mentioned catching multiple limits on their way to a 19.89 weight. They coupled a jig bite with a Rat-L-Trap pattern, focusing on banks with a 25-30 degree pitch in 10’ or less.
The third event in the Truman Division will be on May 19th.. Note the takeoff time is 6:00 am at Shawnee Bend Ramp.
Everharts Outdoor Store is the Truman Division sponsor located in Clinton MO stop in for tackle and maybe a few fishn stories.
Photos
Results
| Place | Team Members | Fish | Pnlty | B/F | TotWgt | Pts | Payout | |
| 1 | John Krewson – Tony Powers | 5 | 5.91 | 21.98 | 110 | $3,430.00 | 1BB & Top Skeeter | |
| 2 | Marty Watson – Doug Long | 5 | 5.06 | 20.08 | 109 | $1,530.00 | ||
| 3 | Dan Weber – Robert Leininger | 5 | 4.56 | 19.89 | 108 | $1,120.00 | ||
| 4 | Bryan Baker – Darren Baker | 5 | 4.55 | 19 | 107 | $800.00 | ||
| 5 | Larry Wright – Doug Wallace | 5 | 4.36 | 18.74 | 106 | $700.00 | ||
| 6 | Bryce Rieder – Mike Edrington | 5 | 4.99 | 18.59 | 105 | $500.00 | ||
| 7 | Tony Habiger – John Shields | 5 | 4.55 | 18.52 | 104 | $400.00 | ||
| 8 | Eric Zuk – Ben Zuk | 5 | 0.5 | 5.16 | 18.46 | 103 | $350.00 | |
| 9 | David McCormick – Gary Shartzer | 5 | 3.83 | 17.84 | 102 | $320.00 | ||
| 10 | Corey Besgrove – Eddie Brown | 5 | 4.96 | 17.76 | 101 | $300.00 | ||
| 11 | Kevin Johnston – Roger Waters | 5 | 3.59 | 17.25 | 100 | $250.00 | ||
| 12 | Kevin Love – *Kevin Parker | 5 | 4.17 | 17.05 | 99 | $220.00 | ||
| 13 | James Macleod – Danny Johnston | 5 | 5.44 | 16.98 | 98 | $200.00 | ||
| 14 | Sean Bowling – Brandon Brown | 5 | 5.37 | 16.95 | 97 | $180.00 | ||
| 15 | Greg Askew – Terry Case | 5 | 5.29 | 16.62 | 96 | $160.00 | ||
| 16 | Mark Thompson – Mark Thompson II | 5 | 4.44 | 16.53 | 95 | |||
| 17 | *Mike Rowland – JR Shinn | 5 | 4.55 | 16.51 | 94 | |||
| 18 | Kevin Duer – Dustin Young | 5 | 4.72 | 16.38 | 93 | |||
| 19 | Jay Roe – John Bollinger | 5 | 3.88 | 16.31 | 92 | |||
| 20 | Jerry McCutchen – Kevin Smith | 5 | 5.32 | 16.25 | 91 | |||
| 21 | Scott Hankinson – Brandon Rowland | 5 | 4.39 | 15.99 | 90 | |||
| 22 | Chris Bridges – Steve Prince | 5 | 3.59 | 15.84 | 89 | |||
| 23 | Shawn Crabtree – Reece Crabtree | 5 | 3.75 | 15.79 | 88 | |||
| 24 | Troy Hardie – Tommie Hutchenson | 5 | 4.39 | 15.56 | 87 | |||
| 25 | Stephen Smith – Garren Hunt | 5 | 4.44 | 15.47 | 86 | |||
| 26 | Matt Gunter – Bobby Williams | 5 | 3.85 | 15.37 | 85 | |||
| 27 | Nick Leggett – Alec Mueller | 4 | 4.8 | 15.32 | 84 | |||
| 28 | Gary Arterberry – Gus Adkinson | 5 | 3.9 | 15.26 | 83 | |||
| 29 | John Campbell – Chuck Roberts | 5 | 3.91 | 15.24 | 82 | |||
| 30 | Lyle Armstrong – Mitchell Armstrong | 5 | 2.89 | 14.95 | 81 | |||
| 31 | Keith Livingston – Steve Livingston | 5 | 5.46 | 14.86 | 80 | $260.00 | 2BB | |
| 32 | Justin Hosler – Kyle McAdams | 5 | 3.63 | 14.86 | 79 | |||
| 33 | Brad Jelinek – John Slavens | 5 | 3.75 | 14.44 | 78 | |||
| 34 | Don Heiser – Jim Sells | 5 | 3.55 | 14.28 | 77 | |||
| 35 | *Fred Jobe – Jamie Edge | 5 | 4.11 | 14.23 | 76 | |||
| 36 | Bill Dennis – Steve Olive | 5 | 4.71 | 13.76 | 75 | |||
| 37 | Michael Simons – Jacob Simons | 5 | 2.8 | 13.23 | 74 | |||
| 38 | Chet Douthit – Bill Hendrick | 5 | 3.3 | 13.08 | 73 | |||
| 39 | Jimmie Snodgrass – Jim Waggoner | 5 | 2.98 | 12.88 | 72 | |||
| 40 | Troy Hendrick – Chad Hendrick | 5 | 3.77 | 12.74 | 71 | |||
| 41 | Jeremy Fly – Marc Czachowski | 5 | 2.93 | 12.74 | 70 | |||
| 42 | Paul Hager – Phil Allen | 5 | 4.03 | 12.73 | 69 | |||
| 43 | Donald Clark – Brantley Clark | 5 | 4.49 | 12.68 | 68 | |||
| 44 | Tom McGovern – Chris McGovern | 5 | 3.63 | 12.66 | 67 | |||
| 45 | Donnie Reynolds – *Bill Brasel | 5 | 12.44 | 66 | ||||
| 46 | Karl Schmidt – *fished aalone | 5 | 0.5 | 2.86 | 12.26 | 65 | ||
| 47 | Rich Campbell – Marvin Decker | 5 | 4.02 | 12.24 | 64 | |||
| 48 | Stacy Howell – Robert Traquair | 5 | 3.21 | 12.24 | 63 | |||
| 49 | Brett Fickle – Joseph Hull | 5 | 4.12 | 11.82 | 62 | |||
| 50 | Ron Peek – Pat Deaton | 5 | 3.28 | 11.77 | 61 | |||
| 51 | Phillip Schwartz – Colby Schwartz | 4 | 4.6 | 11.09 | 60 | |||
| 52 | Jared Knuth – David Knuth | 5 | 11.07 | 59 | ||||
| 53 | Wayne Garrison – Robbie Plowman | 5 | 2.41 | 10.72 | 58 | |||
| 54 | John Williams – James Brown | 3 | 4.56 | 10.69 | 57 | |||
| 55 | Mark Patterson – Brandon Patterson | 5 | 2.74 | 10.65 | 56 | |||
| 56 | Ronnie Rush – Rick Rush | 5 | 4.79 | 10.41 | 55 | |||
| 57 | Bob Jany – Dennis Schilb | 4 | 10.3 | 54 | ||||
| 58 | Ozzie Wallace – Brian Vanderzeil | 4 | 4.56 | 10.13 | 53 | |||
| 59 | Chris Callahan – Justin Wasmer | 4 | 3.5 | 9.45 | 52 | |||
| 60 | Glen McCrary – Sondra McCrary | 3 | 3.78 | 9.19 | 51 | |||
| 61 | Lennie Becker – Elmer Becker II | 3 | 3.64 | 7.98 | 50 | |||
| 62 | John Bennett – Darrell Reach | 3 | 7.39 | 49 | ||||
| 63 | Charley Thomas – Chris Thomas | 5 | 7.04 | 48 | ||||
| 64 | Mike Thomas – Jeff Lane | 2 | 4.63 | 6.47 | 47 | |||
| 65 | Jonathan Evans – Bradley Dillon | 3 | 6.38 | 46 | ||||
| 66 | Edward Nelson – Tony Zaharsky | 2 | 3.45 | 6.35 | 45 | |||
| 67 | *John Driver – Troy Ladenhoff | 3 | 5.85 | 44 | ||||
| 68 | James McCutchen – Lowell Wascher | 2 | 5.45 | 43 | ||||
| 69 | Billy Greenwell – Kelley Greenwell | 3 | 5.39 | 42 | ||||
| 70 | Denis Repa – Alec Repa | 2 | 5.21 | 41 | ||||
| 71 | John Martin – Jeff Jones | 3 | 4.73 | 40 | ||||
| 72 | Jack Young – Bill McAvoy | 2 | 3.01 | 39 | ||||
| 73 | Jay Carden – Dustin Lowe | 1 | 2.12 | 2.12 | 38 | |||
| 74 | Danny Carter – *John Bannon | 0 | 10 | |||||
| 74 | Junior Fiedler – Chris Fiedler | 0 | 10 | |||||
| 74 | Randy Oliphant – Scott Oliphant | 0 | 10 |
*alternate