Fall fishing can be very fickle, and September 28 – 29 for the 2024 TBF National Semifinal at Grand Lake in northeast Oklahoma was no different. Anglers were greeted with above average temperatures and little to no rainfall for several weeks.
During practice leading up to the event anglers reported tough conditions. While finding fish wasn’t a problem for most, it was finding quality fish that the anglers would need if they were going to find themselves atop the leaderboard during the two-day event.
As participants gathered at Wolf Creek ramp on Grand Lake Saturday morning, they were faced with a strong warm 14 mph wind and very little cloud cover. As the day went on any cloud cover disappeared and air temps rose to the low to mid 80’s and water temps hovered in the high 70’s.
As day one concluded and anglers started to check back in by the first flights 3pm cut off, a couple of things were becoming clear, Grands 12-inch length limit was going to be a huge part of the fish weighed-in, and a big bass was going to make the difference in an angler separating themselves from the field.
When day one came to an end it was Landen Cole (OK) leading the boater side for District 6 with five bass for 15.11 pounds, and Greg Dennis (AR) leading the co-anglers for District 6 with 5 fish for 12.35 pounds. District 7 Boater Jordan Williams (MO) five bass for 15.05 put him in leader position and Missouri co-angler Sam Heckman’s five bass for an impressive 15.96 pounds would put him in the lead and it would give him a 5-pound lead over second place Kyle Klein from Kansas.
Day two was a carbon copy of day one with one very noticeable difference, very little wind. This made the morning boat ride more enjoyable, but made some leery at take-off that it would affect their bite. As the day grew close to the noon hour the wind picked up, but only with gusts up to 8-mph.
2024 TBF District 6 (AR/OK) National Semifinal Top Boaters and Co-anglers
When day two’s fishing reached an end, it was time for District 6 to cross the scales first. Much of the same was true for day two, anglers that found average to above average fish were rewarded for the efforts. When weigh-in concluded it was District 6 Boater – Bradley Sullivan (OK) being crowned District 6 Boater Champion and punching his ticket to the 2025 Federation National Championship with a two-day 10 bass limit of 32.05 pounds. Bradley’s day two bag was anchored with a 7.41-pound Big Bass. Punching the District 6 Co-angler Champion ticket to the 2025 Federation National Championship was Charles Lawrence (OK). His two-day 10 bass total tipped the scales at 20.86 pounds.
District 6 Boaters and Co-anglers advancing to the 2025 Federation National Championship:
- Arkansas: Blake Wilson – Boater, Greg Dennis – Co-angler
- Oklahoma: Bradley Sullivan – Boater, Charles Lawrence – Co-angler
2024 TBF District 7 (KS/MO) National Semifinal Top Boaters and Co-anglers
On day two District 7 was the last flight to weigh in. After a stellar performance on day one Jordan Williams (MO) would not be denied a trip to the 2025 Federation National Championship! His two-day 10 bass limit weighed in at 28.79 pounds giving him over a six-pound advantage over second place Don Heiser (MO) and third place Jordan Dibben (MO). Mr. Williams reported doing most of his damage on a jig while staying close to take off fishing boat docks that looked “fishy”.
District 7 Co-anglers also looked very similar to day-one results with Sam Heckman (MO) earning trip number seven to the Federation National Championship. Sam was able to keep a three-pound lead on day two over Kansas’ co-angler Kyle Klein and a 5-pound gap over Missouri’s Troy Richter who was coming off his first ever trip in 2024 to the Federation National Championship. Sam said if it wasn’t for such good boaters his win wouldn’t have been possible. Sam reported he caught most of his fish behind his boaters on a green pumpkin finesse style worm in the mid-lake area.
District 7 Boaters and Co-anglers advancing to the 2025 Federation National Championship:
- Kansas: Justin Russell – Boater, Kyle Klein – Co-angler
- Missouri: Jordan Williams – Boater, Sam Heckman – Co-angler
2024 District 6/7 NSF Combine Boater Champion – Bradley Sullivan
2024 District 6/7 Combine National Semifinal Co-angler Champion – Sam Heckman
The overall 2024 Combine Boater and Co-angler Champions across the full District 6 and 7 angler field:
- 2024 Combine Boater Champion: Bradley Sullivan (OK) – 32.05 pounds
- 2024 Combine Co-angler Champion: Sam Heckman (MO) – 24.54 pounds
Congratulations to all the TBF District 6 and 7 winners and especially to the Boaters and Co-anglers from each state advancing to the 2025 Federation National Championship!
This was the first of a four-year experiment for The Bass Federation in having four states making up two districts to compete in a dual District National Semifinal event. Presidents from Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, and Kansas oversaw this event with the help of many volunteers from each state. In 2025 Missouri will be the host state with the event held at Table Rock Lake located in southwest Missouri. This will be an excellent venue for anglers to showcase their talent with various techniques on another world class Ozarks region tournament fishery.
Author: Matt Hyde, 2024
