Feb 21
May 19th, 2019
6:30am to 3:00pm
LAKE of the Ozarks – Pa He Tsi Ramp
80% payback
$20.00 per boat optional for 100% payback on Big Bass Pot
ATTENDANCE DRAW PRIZES
Entry fee $150 for an entry form CLICK HERE
Includes a Chance to Qualify for the TBF NATIONAL SEMI-FINAL
And an Opportunity to move on to the TBF National Championship and BFL All-American
Jan 03
At the December Board meeting the Missouri TBF voted on an exciting schedule for 2019. Once again, the schedule will include 2 separate solo tournaments along with the annual Team Championship, providing each member with 3 opportunities to qualify for the National Semi-Final events. The first qualifier will be held at Table Rock Lake (Mill Creek Ramp) on March 23 & 24th. The second event will be at Truman Lake (State Park Marina) on June 8 & 9th. If mother nature cooperates anglers should have the opportunity to catch some big sacks at each event. With the clear water of Table Rock and the cover rich environment of Truman lake anglers will be challenged to show their mastery of a wide range of techniques if they are to produce the kind of bags necessary to reach the top of the field.
Missouri TBF’s two-tournament schedule gives anglers twice as many chances to qualify for the National Semi-Final. Unlike some circuits, the Missouri TBF has two separate statewide tournaments which helps clubs and their anglers avoid family and other commitments each year and still have an opportunity to qualify for advancement to the TBF National Championship, BFL All-American and even the Forrest Wood Cup. This is not a “series” format, instead the top 3 anglers and 3 co-anglers from each event will move directly to the TBF National Semi-Final this fall. This means that anglers can fish the Qualifier, the National Semi-Final and the TBF National Championship all in a matter of 12-16 months!
The Qualifying tournaments are a traditional “draw” format, with boaters and co-anglers being scored separately. This means boat partners will not be fishing against each other during the day, which creates a friendly experience for everyone (see Tournament Rules for full details). For 2019 the new lower entry fees will be maintained with an optional side pot available for those that wish to take a chance on a cash prize! At the Qualifiers anglers and co-anglers will be fishing for daily big bass payouts, trophies and expense paid trips to the National Semi-Final. Additionally, annual Angler and Co-Angler of the year prizes and trophies will be awarded to the top point getters over both tournaments.
In order to participate in the Qualifiers anglers must have annual dues and individual entry fees paid at least 7 days prior to the event. Entry forms for the Qualifier are available on the website or from your club President. Clubs or individual anglers who are interested in joining the Missouri TBF should contact Tom Kaufmann at (573)216-4980 or Dennis Maggart at (816)718-0335. We have clubs across the state that are looking for boaters and co-anglers so if you are an experienced tournament angler or a weekend guy wanting to have fun and learn more about how to catch big bass please give us a call.
See 2019 Missouri TBF Bass Federation Tournament Qualifier Entry Form on website
The Second Annual Missouri TBF Team Championship
The Missouri TBF is excited to announce details for the Second Annual Missouri TBF Team Championship May 18th at Lake of the Ozarks (Pa He Tsi Ramp).
This event is open to all anglers, allowing us to introduce non-TBF members to the advantages of participating in our programs. The winning team from this event will have the opportunity to fish the 2019 TBF National Semi-Final.
Cash awards, trophies and lots of draw prizes will be available along with special prizes for TBF Members that bring a new TBF member to this event. Further details and entry forms for this exciting new tournament will be available soon but please put this date on your calendar. For more information on this exciting event please contact Joe Hughes at (573)216-4232.
See 2019 Missouri TBF Bass Federation Open Buddy Bass Tournament Entry Form on website
Apr 24
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.
Apr 24
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!
TBF News