Most of the 11 teams were able to secure a day off work on Friday the 18th and made it down to pre-fish for at least a while. The weather was agreeable as were the fish! Air temps were in the 70’s and water temps ranged from the mid 40’s to the mid 50’s later in the day. Everyone was hopeful the bite would hold on and the rain forecast for Saturday would hold off. For the most part it did!
Saturday morning greeted the anglers with a beautiful sunrise and mild temperatures, a tad cooler than the day before, but still quite comfortable compared to the blizzard we experienced in this tournament last year! The day progressed nicely, but with about an hour left in our fishing day the skies had held off as long as they could and the rain started. By the time we all had to head for the ramp it was coming down pretty good, but fortunately everyone made it back to the Gravois Mills ramp in good shape.
Taking the lead on Saturday was the team of Mike Perry and Bryant Haddock. They weighed in an impressive sack of 7 fish totaling 21.15 lbs, anchored by the day’s boater big bass of Mike’s, a nice 4.78 lb toad, besting Jeff Wilson’s 4.76 lb bass by a mere .02 oz!! Nice job guys!
Sliding into the second place spot on Saturday was the team of Bryan Odette and new member Darren Lofts with an impressive bag of 6 fish weighing 17.72 lbs.
Rounding out the paying spots in 3rd place was the team of Pat Greisen and Sean Stuckey with a nice bag of 4 fish weighing 12.05 lbs, anchored by the day’s non-boater big bass of Sean’s, a 4.27 lb hog!
Sunday morning we awoke to clearing skies with a forecast of a dry and warmer day. Fortunately the rain from the day before had not cooled off the water temps significantly so most were hopeful the bite would remain good, especially with what appeared to be improving weather conditions. However the Noon weigh-in told another story.
The first place team of Mike Perry and Bryant Haddock brought just 3 fish to the scales today for a total weight of 7.31 lbs, anchored by the day’s boater big bass, Mike’s 3.35 lb bass. Boater big bass for Mike both days, he was on some good fish! This bag was good enough to keep them in the top spot with a tournament total weight of 28.46 lbs!! Nice job guys!
Although they didn’t bring any fish to the scales on Sunday, the nice sack from the day before was good enough to keep Bryan Odette and Darren Lofts in the second place spot with a tournament total weight of 17.72 lbs! Again, nice job guys! Not a bad way to start off your club membership Mr. Lofts! We’ll have to keep an eye on this one boys!
The team of Paul VanNieuenhuyse and Larry Hedenskog were right on the heels of the 3rd place team of Pat Greisen and Sean Stuckey on Saturday. Paul and Larry managed to weigh 4 fish for 11.33 lbs on Saturday and added 2 more fish to that total on Sunday for another 5.01 lbs to edge out Pat and Sean to take 3rd place honors with a tournament total weight of 16.34 lbs! Way to go guys!
Non-Boater Big Bass on Sunday went to Mr. Skip Long for his nice 3.26 lb bass. Good job Skip!
Rounding out the rest of the field
4th place, Pat Greisen – Sean Stuckey, 5 bass, 14.20 lbs. Winners of new bait cast rods courtesy of our sponsor!
5th place, Jeff Wilson – Larry Murphy, 6 bass, 13.76 lbs. Winners of new Diawa reels courtesy of our sponsor!
6th place, Gary Parker – Skip Long, 5 bass, 12.86 lbs. Winners of new bait cast rods courtesy of our sponsor!
7th place, Garry Gustafson – Bill Phelps, 7 bass, 11.96 lbs. Winners of a new spinning combos from our sponsor!
8th place, Deon Hockensmith – Paul Boesel, 4 bass, 11.46 lbs.
9th place, Mike Powell – Chris Harbrucker, 3 bass, 7.06 lbs.
10th place, Jim Terrell – Morgan McLain, 1 bass, 2.92 lbs
11th place, Terry Tholen – Rob Milligan, 0 bass.
Thanks again to our tournament sponsor, Flooring Direct of Kansas City. Please be sure to patron our tournament sponsors whenever possible! Please see Jim Terrell for more info on Flooring Direct of KC!
Jeff Wilson with his 1st Place Duck Fishing Trophy....apparently Jeff's tournament angling skills are not limited to bass!!!!