Cody Miller and Tyler Dennis earn TBF Dual District Table Rock National Semifinal Bragging Rights
TBF District 6 & 7 conducted the second annual Dual District National Semifinal at Table Rock Lake on September 27-28, 2025, at Port of Kimberling. We have a four-year series of Dual District 6 & 7 National Semifinal events scheduled: 2024 was hosted at Grand Lake, 2025 – Table Rock Lake, 2026 Lake Dardanelle and 2027 Truman Lake. Table Rock Lake has hosted numerous TBF and MLF events over the years, this is the first time in many years (maybe ever) that a TBF National Semifinal event has been held on the legendary fishery. Table Rock Lake is one of the crown jewels of America’s fishing waters as well as the other lakes scheduled in the series. The series gives our anglers the opportunity to experience the unmatched beauty of the Ozarks and gain experience on some of the best lakes in America.
Table Rock Lake is the definition of a highland reservoir – deep, clear water, mix of rock and submerged timber from the dam to mid-lake and clear to stained water and shallow cover up the river arms. A mixed bag of largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass is common across the lake. Fishing in the early fall can be tough at Table Rock with the fish scattered from shallow to deep. History has shown that you can place well either by fishing shallow or fishing deep this time of year. A few guys always figure it out. With water temps still in the high 70’s and peaking near 80 in the late afternoon and summer-like heat still bearing down on the Ozarks – the lake was set up for a typical fall event at Table Rock.
Practice wound down and competitors gathered at Extreme Outdoors in Branson West, Missouri for the pre-tournament pairings and rules meeting many were still scratching their heads and looking for that perfect bait or technique to help them put keepers and above average fish in the boat.
53 pairs of anglers gathered Saturday morning, and even as boat 1 was called many still wondered how the day would unfold. The sun beat down nearly all-day Saturday, and temperatures pushed near 90 degrees, anglers found the nationally recognized lake extremely stingy. When weigh-in concluded only 5 limits were brought to the scale with Chris Huselton finding himself at the top of the boater’s leader board. On the co-anglers side only 3 limits were weighed with Missouri’s Sam Heckman ending the day as the leader with a 3 fish total of 6.95 lbs.
Sunday started out with a short fog delay. Fishing continued to be tough throughout the day, but one angler was using his local knowledge to put it together. Local, and the Missouri 2025 Angler of the Year Cody Miller stayed calm and put his head down and went to work burning through as much water as possible to bring 5 Table Rock bass to the scales weighing 11.59 lbs. Those 5 and his Saturday bag of 16.77 lbs., give him 28.36 pounds were good enough to edge out Justin Swayze’s 2-day total of 28.20 lbs. for the win.
Cody said “I wasn’t able to practice; I just burned as much bank as possible looking for late spawning bream and gizzard shad with a top water. I stayed close to the ramp and caught 15 pounds in the first hour on day one.” Day two wasn’t so good, Miller stated, “I tried doing the same thing, but I got very few bites, and I ended up breaking off a few.” He added that he went chasing the wind in a creek arm late in the day Sunday and caught a 3.5-pound smallmouth on this last cast on a square bill. “That last fish won me the tournament.”
On the co-angler side it was Tyler Dennis with a two-day total of 12.42 lbs. coming all the way from 11th to capture the win over perennial power Ray Cates from Kansas, by just over a ½ pound.
Overall Combine District 6 & 7 Champions
| Boater | Co-angler |
| Cody Miller, MO, 28.36 pounds | Tyler Dennis, AR, 12.42 pounds |
District 6 Top 5 Boaters
District 6 Top 5 Co-anglers
Top Five District 6 – Arkansas & Oklahoma
| Boater | Co-angler |
| 1. Justin Swayze, AR, 28.20 pounds | 1. Tyler Dennis, AR, 12.42 pounds |
| 2. Chris Huselton, AR, 25.24 pounds | 2. Aaron Baldridge, OK, 10.88 pounds |
| 3. Tony Baldridge, OK, 22.39 pounds | 3. Allen Musser, OK, 9.45 pounds |
| 4. Blake Wilson, AR, 21.42 pounds | 4. John Keck, OK, 8.31 pounds |
| 5. Brad Morgan, OK, 19.19 pounds | 5. Jonathan Dotson, AR, 8.10 pounds |
District 7 Top 5 Boaters
District 7 – Top 5 Co-anglers
Top Five District 7 – Kansas & Missouri
| Boater | Co-angler |
| 1. Cody Miller, MO, 28.36 pounds | 1. Ray Cates, KS, 11.93 pounds |
| 2. Jace McMasters, MO, 17.25 pounds | 2. Jasen Morisaki, MO, 10.95 pounds |
| 3. Hunter Baird, KS, 13.00 pounds | 3. Sam Heckman, MO, 9.25 pounds |
| 4. 4. Jerry Lovell, MO, 12.29 pounds | 4. Gary Martin, MO, 8.67 pounds |
| 5. Chris Brimager, KS, 2.46 pounds | 5. Richard Heflin, KS, 7.27 pounds |
Oklahoma – Federation National Championship Qualifiers
Kansas – Federation National Championship Qualifiers
Missouri – Federation National Championship Qualifiers
State National Semi-final Champions – Advancing to 2026 TBF Federation National Championship
| Boater | Co-angler |
| Justin Swayze – District 6, Arkansas | Tyler Dennis, – District 6, Arkansas |
| Tony Baldridge – District 6, Oklahoma | Aaron Baldridge – District 6, Oklahoma |
| Hunter Baird – District 7, Kansas | Ray Cates – District 7, Kansas |
| Jace McMasters – District 7, Missouri | Jasen Morisaki – District 7, Missouri |
Congratulations to all of the winners and those anglers advancing to the 2026 TBF Federation National Championship to compete for the Living Your Dream Prize Package and the opportunity to advance to the MLF All American and MLF Toyota Series National Championship.
The 2026 TBF Dual District 6 & 7 National Semifinal will be held at Lake Dardanelle, Russellville, Arkansas.
