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Anglers face Historically Low Water Levels for Event

Adjusting to new and changing conditions is often what separates the best anglers from the rest of the field and TBF District 7’s visit to Stockton Lake in the Ozark hills of Missouri was no exception.  A loaded field of 26 boaters and co-anglers had years of combined experience on this body of water, yet early fall water levels 7 feet below normal pool created an unfamiliar challenge for the anglers.  Participants that were used to running up one of the 3 river arms to find fresh fish were restrained by low water that made common summer runs extremely treacherous.  Compounding this challenge was the fact that warm fall temperatures had delayed the migration of shad to the backs of the creeks making the river bite unproductive. This concentrated the anglers to the main lake and limiting productive patterns available to the anglers. The remaining main lake bite was also abnormal with water levels making brush piles unproductive and putting other typical fall cover out of the water.

While the water conditions were a challenge the weather cooperated with consistent dry conditions and sunny skies for both practice and tournament days.  Highs for each day were in the low 80’s with morning lows around 50 degrees.  Winds were light and variable allowing water temps to cool off steadily from around 73 on the first day of practice to about 69 degrees on the final Sunday.  The lack of recent rain also provided good water clarity with 1–3-foot visibility around the lake.

The tournament started with Saturday’s low in the low 50’s and very light winds from the NNE.  A hazy sunrise caused by light fog greeted the boaters on their way to their first spot.  Day 1 boater results showed Brian Maloney of Missouri in first place with 5 fish for 14.04 pounds followed by Hunter Baird (Kansas) at 13.49 and Larry Stoafer (Kansas) with 11.25.  Attesting to the tough water conditions only 8 limits were weighed but Brian was able to land a 5.04-pound kicker to take home the big bass pot for the boaters.

Hunter Baird, Boater District 7 Champion

Sunday dawned with light winds again that picked up only slightly throughout the day. Finishing out the 2-day event on top was Hunter Baird of Kansas with 10 fish for 24.77.  Hunter is one of our best young anglers and used a shad pattern to boat limits each day.  He followed the shad to the back of windy pockets hitting lots of spots each day with a combination of top water baits and plastic creature baits.  He would like to thank his sponsors Texoma Tackle, Whitetail Properties, Mesu Fishing and Jewel Baits.

Brian Maloney, Boater – Second Place

Finishing second overall and first in the Missouri division on the boater side was one of our most decorated anglers, Brian Maloney.  As a past champion of the BFL All-American and multiple TBF National Final qualifier it was inevitable that he would be a top contender in this event.  He boated multiple keepers each day and culled his sack up to a total of 23.03 pounds.  He used a combination of top water baits early to fill his limit then reverted to his trusty jig to add weight and cement his trip to the 2023 TBF National Championship. Robert Hime led the final day results with 13.02 but it was not enough to crack the top 5 even with his big bass of 4.33 pounds.

Rounding out the top boater finishers were Larry Stoafer (Kansas) 21.58, Craig Wolf (Kansas) 19.95 and Craig Torkleson (Kansas) 18.71 and Jeremey Montgomery (Kansas) 17.85.  Each angler used a combination of top water baits, jigs and soft plastics to boat their limits.  Other anglers having strong finishes were Robert Hime with a final day limit of 13.02, anchored by the big bass of 4.33 pounds.

Billy Ray, District 7 Co-angler Champion

Co-anglers face a difficult challenge in these events with varying patterns and a tough bite adding to the normal challenge. This year’s event also included a loaded field of strong anglers including several divisional and national qualifiers.  Day one co-anglers were led by John Kelley (Missouri) with 13.33 pounds, Don Glick (Kansas) at 7.96; Billy Ray (Missouri) with 6.03. John also landed the big bass on the co-angler side out of a brush pile that weighed 4.97.  While some angler’s bites faded, Billy Ray found a way to hold on with a strong day 2 ending with a total of 17.84.  Billy had an amazing year, winning both the Missouri TBF Co-Angler of the Year along with the state’s qualifying slot for the 2023 TBF National Semi-Final.  He would like to acknowledge the great boaters he had (Larry Stoafer and Hunter Baird) that put him in position to use both a top-water bait and shaky head to land his keepers.

Don Glick, Co-angler Second Place

Finishing second overall and first in the Kansas division was Don Glick who boated 8 keepers for a total of 16.23. Finishing 3^rd overall was one of Missouri’s newest anglers (High School Anglers) Brent Ryan with 13.36.  Rounding out the top 5 were John Kelley (Missouri) with 13.33 and Paul Huse (Missouri) with 9.21.  Each of these anglers showed amazing adaptability, fishing tough conditions behind some of the best anglers in the Ozark area.

The Missouri TBF would like to thank all the participants for their cooperation and support at this event.  We would also like to thank our event venue, Orleans Trail Resort, who provided a great meeting location and lodging but also a fantastic meal for the attendees on Friday night.  We also appreciate the support of our sponsors Ranger Boats, Humminbird, Lowrance, Minn Kota, Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, Strike King, Lews and Wholesale Batteries.  Finally, we would like to thank the anglers and their families who support the Missouri TBF and the Kansas TBF.  We were specifically encouraged by the young anglers that attended this event along with the Missouri TBF Junior Anglers who held their fall event in conjunction with the TBF National Semi-Final. The sportsmanship shown by the participants set a great example for these new participants and goes a long way to helping both the Missouri and Kansas TBF continue to grow.

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56 boats competed on Saturday, October 19, 2019 at the Bass Pro Shops / FLW High School Open Lake of the Ozarks. The bite was pretty tough only a few teams coming in with a five fish limit. Buzz bait was the primary producer of the bigger fish. Top 5 teams qualify for the National Championship at Lacrosse, WI in June, 2020. Congratulations!!! Full results are on the FLW site. https://www.flwfishing.com/results

Continue reading]]> 27 SAF Teams Advance to National Championship Held in Conjunction with the 2018 High School Fishing World Finals

The Missouri TBF hosted the 2018 SAF Missouri High School State Championship on Saturday, April 14 at Truman Lake.  A large field of excited anglers were greeted with a cruel trick from Mother Nature.  A warm week of spring weather was followed up on Saturday morning with a blast from old man winter with air temperatures at launch in the low 40’s.  Temperatures continued to drop all day with winds switching to the north and blowing at 15-25 mph.  This made for a tough challenge for our field and scratched many anglers plans of making any long runs up the Grand or Osage arms to find warmer water and early spawning fish. 

While the weather may have been unpleasant, it did not deter a huge field of young, enthusiastic anglers from hitting the water in search of largemouth and spotted bass.  With the help of  Missouri TBF’s new partners, National Youth Fishing Association (NYFA), the event attracted a field of 272 teams! This was truly an amazing turnout and a testament to the enthusiasm for high school fishing in Missouri and the quality of the event.  The event had outstanding support from the TBF national office, NYFA staff, local TBF volunteers and Long Shoal Marina.  With the generous support of TBF National sponsors (Lowrance, Ranger Boats, Hummingbird, Minn Kota and Cabelas), state sponsors (Lews & Dobyns Rods) and individual TBF members (Ken Whitfield, Don Heiser and Patrick O’Neal) Missouri TBF was able to give every participant the opportunity to enjoy the fishing and take home several additional prizes.

Topping the field was the team of Zak Hobbs and Tristian Konenik from Seckman High School (Imperial) with 5 nice keepers for 16.62 pounds (anchored with a 4.67 pounder).  They caught their fish using a white spinner bait (Indian and Colorado blades). The cold-water temperatures (48-49 degrees) made fish lethargic but they were able to trigger strikes by working the bait slower. They paired the spinnerbait bite with a white bladed jig using a swim bait trailer. Slow rolling the bladed jig triggered some of their bigger bites.

They concentrated on water 4-8 feet deep, focusing on secondary points in a specific cove near the dam. This cove had several wind-blown secondary points which attracted staging fish moving in looking for early spawning spots. They stayed in the same cove all day, bouncing from point to point covering all angles of the point.  Since this was the only place on the lake they found active fish they decided to grind it out.

Both anglers wanted to say a thanks to their boat captain for sitting out there all day in the cold and helping to keep them focused in very tough conditions.  In addition, they wanted to thank their sponsors 13 Fishing, The Rod Glove, Duns Sporting Goods, and Woo Tungsten.

Coming in second was a team from Mansfield High School of Dawson Barnett and Holden Dennis, bagging 4 fish for 16.11 pounds anchored by a big bass of 6.31 pounds.  They caught all their keepers using a spinner bait and home-made jig.  They had a total of 6 keepers and several shorts mostly fishing up the Tebo Arm.

The third-place team was made up of Devon Rathbun and Caleb Haines from Parkview High School (Springfield) with a sack weighing 15.45 pounds. They used a citrus shad and chartreuse/black square bill to catch most of their fish but also threw a spinner bait and rock crawler. 

Bites were tough with only 8-9 fish but 6 were keepers and proved to be the right size.  They ran up the Grand arm to some dirtier water and found a warm cove with 55-degree water.  They would like to thank their sponsors and especially their boat captain, Russel Hand, for making that long 20-minute run on a very cold day.

Finishing fourth,  was local favorites Rider Smith and Austin Hansen from Lincoln High School with 4 fish for 15.25 pounds (big bass of 6.32).  Finishing fifth,  was River Clunn and Zack Pierce from Ava with 5 fish weighing 13.99.

The big bass of the tournament was caught by Cater Fletcher & Jesse Anthony with a 6.51-pound lunker.  The big female hit a Megabars Jerk bait in pocket on a transition bank from chunk rock to gravel.

The outstanding turnout and commitment by the anglers means that Missouri will be able to send 27 teams to the High School Fishing National Championship.  This outstanding event will be held at beautiful Pickwick Lake in Florence, Alabama from June 26-30.  Contestants will not just be competing for a national title but also for scholarships and prizes such as laptops, gift cards, big screen TV’s, rods/reels and more.  Check out our website to register and learn more at: www.highschoolfishing.org/2018-high-school-fishing-world-finals-and-national-championship-combined-event/.

 The Missouri TBF would like to thank all of the participants for their support and cooperation.  The anglers showed great sportsmanship and patience, which is required with such a large field of contestants. We are sincerely looking forward to having this next generation of anglers advance through the college ranks and into our adult TBF clubs. 

FULL RESULTS

Continue reading]]> Strong Field meets the Challenge of Variable Spring Conditions, Ladehoff and Driver take home AOY Honors

Spring fishing can be a fickle challenge for anglers and Stockton Lake presented a full range of variables for the second Missouri TBF Qualifier.  Dock talk from practice had rumors of 10-pound bass and a wide range of patterns producing large numbers of keepers being caught in many areas of the lake.  Alabama rigs and Wiggle Warts seemed to be the dominate pattern, but wobble head jigs and spinner baits were in play with the seasonable weather on Thursday and Friday.  Water temps ranged from 50-57 degrees during practice with moderate winds from the West, great conditions for all the anglers to find a pattern for the weekend. 

As so often happens in the spring, mother nature had one last trick up her sleeve for the anglers to overcome.  This spring has had several severe cold fronts and Saturday started with clouds and wind, which can make Stockton a rough lake to navigate.  Several practice spots were blown out on Saturday, forcing anglers to adjust both their locations and lures.  As is always the case, some of the anglers made the adjustment and lead the way in the standings in a very tight race.

Leading the boater side was our defending Missouri TBF champion, Ken Whitfield.  After an exhausting week at the TBF National Championship Ken came to Stockton on short rest to find a pattern that would produce the winning sack.  Ken stayed in the main lake area and the Little Sac arm and used a wide range of baits (surprise) to bag a 10 fish limit of 24.61 pounds.  With few big females being caught Ken waded through multiple keepers each day to slowly upgrade his bag by ounces each day.  He primarily used an Alabama Rig and spinner bait but supplemented the catch with some Rock Crawler fish each day.

Finishing second in the event was Tim Merkh with 10 fish for 23.78.  Tim really worked hard to upgrade his bag, wading through 10-15 keepers each day. Even with changing conditions his bite was consistent, using a Wiggle Wart fished parallel to the bank.  He fished near the take-off and dam staying in the clearer water to catch all his fish.

Our third-place angler was perennial qualifier, Brian Maloney.  After just missing the top 3 at Lake of the Ozarks Brian met the challenge at Stockton with 10 keepers for 23.49 pounds.  Like our other qualifiers he caught multiple keepers each day, upgrading his sack by ounces throughout the day.  He started each day in the main lake area dragging an A-Rig in 8-12 feet of water to get a quick limit.  In an effort to upgrade his bag later in the morning he would run up the Big Sac arm and throw jigs and jerk baits on bluff wall ends, finishing his day up back at the dam area looking for another big fish like he caught in practice.

Leading our Co-Angler field was Troy Richter with an extremely strong performance with the only 10 fish limits of 20.68 pounds.  Troy culled each day, moving up critical ounces several times. As a co-angler Troy had to adjust to his boater locations but used an Alabama Rig effectively each day to catch his fish.

The second-place co-angler was one of our more consistent back-of-the-boat anglers, Jon Small.  He followed up a strong 4 fish performance on Saturday with 5 keepers on Sunday for a total weight of 17.42 pounds.  He overcame the stress of boat problems on Sunday and continued to use his Alabama Rig to catch his fish. 

Rounding out the co-angler field was one of our new friends from Kansas, Darrin Jones. Like all the qualifiers Darren caught lots of fish between 14-16 inches and were able to piece together 8 keepers for 16.68 pounds. 

Overall Big Bass honors went to one of our co-anglers, Tim Biondo, who presented a 7.25-pound lunker to the scale on Sunday.  Also finding quality fish, and cashing checks, were Brad Tyer 5.47 pounds, Trace Hannaford 5.63 pounds and Jeff Finch 2.85 pounds.  Winning the coveted Presidents Award for the boater with the best co-angler bag were Troy Ladehoff and Faron Morris. Taking home, the Ranger Cup bonus was our second-place boater, Tim Merkh. 

Since Stockton represented our last Qualifying event it also was the end of a very tight Angler of the Year race.  Squeaking out the win on the Boater side in a tie breaker was Troy Ladehoff (17 fish), tying Brian Maloney (16 fish) with 390 total points. Finishing first on the Co-angler side was John Driver with 388 points, ahead of Jeff Finch with 384 points.  Congratulations to all our Angler of the Year contestants and thanks for such an exciting race!

FULL RESULTS

LOZ STANDINGS