Predictions for the Major League Fishing bass tournament on Truman Lake Sept. 15-17 were ominous:
“It’s going to be a grind,” said Chris Bridges of Clinton, who took ninth place. “The bass don’t really focus on what they are doing right now.”
September is a transition month where bass are moving from a summer pattern— in or suspended over deep water—to fall, when they head to the shallows to feed before winter. This can make it difficult for fishermen to find a pattern. Best guesses were that it would only take 36 pounds of bass to win the tournament.
The winner: Hunter Baughman of Judsonia, AR, who took first place with bag of 48 pounds, 10 ounces of bass won $32,429.
Baughman, who received a standing ovation from those at the trophy presentation, fishes using two fingers and a thumb on one hand. His other hand and his legs were amputated when he was nine months old following an attack of bacterial meningitis. Baughman is a professional fisherman and also enjoys deer and duck hunting.
“It has been a great tournament,” Baughman said. “Truman is a great lake.”
Brad Jelinek of Lincoln took second with 47 pounds even, winning $13,566. Brock Reinkemeyer of Warsaw, who was the leader after the second day, finished third with 46 pounds, 8 ounces. Michael Harlin from Sunrise Beach took fifth place, Chris Bridges of Clinton was ninth, Darin Lankford of Clinton in 17th, Kevin Smith of Lincoln in 19th, and Casey Scanlon of Eldon in 21st.
The winning co-angler, Dewey Larson of Fayetteville, Ark., won a rigged Phoenix 518 Pro boat, motor and trailer, valued at $33,500. His final bag weight was 23 pounds, 8 ounces.
The tournament, which lasted three days, drew 116 boats.
All anglers competed the first two days. After the second day weigh-in, the top 25 anglers from both the pro-boater side, who operate their boats in the tournament, and the co-angler side move on to compete the third day. For this event, fishermen were allowed to weigh their five heaviest bass each day.
Bridges noted that the tournament “played out pretty much the way I thought it would. The brush-pile fish held up better than I thought they would, but the weights were close.”
Baughman said that he concentrated his efforts on brush piles, which had been sunk in the lake by fishermen and the Missouri Department of Conservation. He said that his fish came on Brazalo Custom Lures jigs, ¾ ounce football and 5/16-ounce finesse versions.
All MLF tournaments are catch and release. Fish are placed in an aerated livewell in the boat and brought in to the weigh-in site. The fished are bagged and then placed in holding tanks prior to the weigh-in. After an angler’s weight has been recorded on stsge, the fish are taken to a release boat and returned to the lake once the tournament is over.
Most anglers reported they found the fishing over the three days to be tough, a “real grind” with bass few and far between. Fishermen found bass deep, shallow and in between. Based on comments made at the weigh in, bass were caught on a variety of topwater lures, from buzz baits to poppers. They also were caught flipping a variety of soft-plastic lures to brush and laydowns. Like Baughman, they found Truman was a great lake to fish, however.
After winning the tournament, Baughman drove his truck towing his boat back to Arkansas, where he competed in a Fish N Stuff Tuesday Night Championship tournament the next day on the Arkansas River near Little Rock. He and his partner placed second.
The MLF Toyota Series tournament was hosted by the Sedalia Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Benton County Tourism and Recreation.
Major League Fishing is one of the two largest bass tournament trails in the US. It has six different circuits to suit anglers from high-school age to “this is what I do for a job” professional fishermen.
There is a high school circuit, one for college teams and for weekend anglers, the Phoenix Bass Fishing League, that holds one day tournaments.
The three-day Toyota series is the next level, and has six divisions with successful anglers from each division qualifying for a championship event, which has a top purse of $235,000. This circuit has two anglers fishing from each boat, the pro-boater and co-angler. This is not a team event; boaters and co-anglers only fish together one day.
The Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit has six four-day tournaments with successful anglers qualifying for a final championship, six-day event.
The Bass Pro Tour is for professional fishermen and is limited to 80 anglers who compete in seven stages, culminating in the Redcrest Championship. The winner receives $300,000.
For more information on the events as well as online and television coverage, go to: www.majorleaguefishing.com.
