4/30/23 Joe Bass Team Trail

Courtesy of joebassteamtrail.com:

Truman anglers were greeted to the season opener with a cold front that lowered temps from the previous days, but the main weather item they had to deal with was a strong wind. For some, the wind sparked an aggressive bite while it made presentation a challenge for others. Still, 97 teams brought over 950 pounds of bass to the scales for nearly a 10 pound per team average! Just as importantly, 100% of the fish were released alive back to Truman Lake from the Taylor Grubaugh Chevrolet, Buick & GMC Live Release boat. As always, it’s not too early to be thinking ahead, solidifying the concept that every fish counts towards qualifying points for the Joe Bass Invitational to be held Stockton Lake next fall.

Long-time Truman sticks Marty Watson and Doug Long came out on top with a stout 18.43 pound stringer. Their bag was anchored by the NAPA Big Bass of the event. Their lunker pushed the scales to 6.14 pounds. Marty and Doug shared their Hobbytime Motorsports Key to Success centered on dragging a brush hog in 8’-10’ of water. They worked through 8 keepers with their weigh-in limit all coming before noon. Marty and Doug pegged the trifecta as they added Top Skeeter honors to their first place and big bass awards as they fished from their Skeeter bass boat.

Karl Schmidt paired with Dan Martinez to take second place honors. Their 18.11 pound stringer came up just short of a win, but provided a super start to the 2023 season nonetheless. They managed 9 keepers scattered throughout the day. Their strategy was crawling a jig in 5’-10’ of water.

John Prochko and Diego Segui rounded out the top three with a strong 17.70 limit. They also slow-worked brush hogs and jigs in the 8’-10’ range to catch their fish. They noted fishing was tough as they boated only 7 keepers on an all day bite.

The second event of the Truman Division will be May 21 with a 6:00 takeoff from Shawnee Bend. Be sure and show up early to ensure you have plenty of time to check in and launch prior to take-off.

Paid places:                                              Big Fish    Total Weight  Winnings

4 David McCormick – Gary Shartzer          5.8             17.59        $900.00
5 Ryan Tucker – *Anthony Dimaggio        4.83            17.18       $800.00
6 Caleb Carr – Dustin Langston                  4.44          17.12        $682.00
7 Kevin Johnston – Roger Waters               3.96           16.95       $500.00
8 Wayne Garrison – Billy Greenwell           4.94             16.8       $450.00
9 Andrew Eisterhold – Kaden Zimmerman  5.73          16.7        $400.00
10 Matt Gunter – Kelly Nunn                        4.69           16.69      $350.00
11 Rich Campbell – Travis Stevens             4.01            16.44      $300.00
12 Kris Bollinger – Keven Bollinger            5.03             16.31     $250.00
13 Charles Edgar – Steve Fowler                 4.72            16.25     $250.00
14 Tony Powers – Cindy Powers                 5.39            16.05     $200.00
15 Kevin Smith – Jerry McCutchen             5.49             16.02     $200.00
16 Donald Clark – Brantley Clark                4.24            15.96      $200.00
17 Barton Wines – Marshall Gregory         4.27             15.63     $180.00
18 Gaige Blanton – Kody Mazur                 4.93              15.41     $180.00
19 Timmy Newberry – Rusty Darnell         4.1                15.14     $180.00