2026 Elite Series Stop #7 · September 12
Pomme de Terre Preview
One Lake. Three Races. No Mulligans.
The Elite Series reaches its final stop with an individual championship, a three-team title fight and the last Taney 20 invitations still on the line. Then there is Pomme—a lake that has never cared much for anyone’s calculations.
2026 Pomme de Terre Preview
One Lake. Three Races. No Mulligans.
On September 12, the 2026 MoYak Elite Series reaches Pomme de Terre with no next stop, no second chance and almost no part of the leaderboard settled.
Micah Funderburgh arrives with one hand on the Angler of the Year trophy. Everhart’s A-Team carries an 11.25-point Team AOY lead that is far less comfortable than it looks. Around 20th place, a cluster of anglers will be fishing for one of the final invitations to next spring’s Taney 20.
Then there is Pomme itself.
This lake has produced a 64-inch winning total and a 93.25-inch demolition. It has settled a championship by tiebreaker, rewarded anglers who never left sight of the ramp, and punished entire fields with hours of rain, rising water and 20-mph wind. The winning approach has ranged from dragging a Texas rig into deeper holes to burning a spinnerbait over a laydown.
The championship may come down to mathematics, but Pomme has never cared much for anyone’s calculations.
The Finale at a Glance
| Item | Current outlook |
|---|---|
| Date | Saturday, September 12, 2026 |
| Competition start | 6:30 a.m. First cast per the current event listing |
| Current lake elevation | 839.31 feet on August 24 |
| Pool trend | Essentially stable; down 0.02 foot in 24 hours |
| Multipurpose pool | Approximately 839 feet |
| Historical late-summer winning range | 84.25-93.25 inches in the three August/September events from 2020, 2021 and 2024 |
| Central question | Does the winner chase bait shallow, follow fish toward deeper holes, or find one productive river stretch and refuse to leave? |
The lake is currently sitting almost exactly at multipurpose pool. That is a very different starting point from the rapidly rising floodwater that defined the April 2025 event. The weather forecast is still too far away to treat as meaningful; this section should be updated during tournament week.
Eight Events, Eight Different Stories
| Year | Date | Winner | Winning total | Margin | Big Bass | The story |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | June 23 | Jeff Mellencamp | 81.25 | — | Tyy Ward, 20.75 | Mellencamp topped a compact 22-angler field. |
| 2019 | April 20 | Steve Bryant | 64.00 | 1.00 | Tommy Probst, 19.75 | The harshest Pomme result in the archive: 64 inches was enough. |
| 2020 | August 22 | Darian Beedle | 93.25 | 11.50 | Beedle, 22.50 | A river-arm masterclass and the largest winning margin in a MoYak live event at the time. |
| 2021 | September 11 | Joe Mersky | 84.25 | Tiebreaker | Mersky, 20.75 | Mersky and Justin Coon tied; Big Bass gave Mersky the win. |
| 2022 | October 8 | Chris Robbs | 81.50 | 1.50 | Frankie Miller Jr., 19.50 | Robbs stayed around bait and cover; the Burrito Banditos won the team event. |
| 2023 | April 15 | Randy Hoehn | 79.50 | 0.25 | Preston Maples, 20.75 | Only a quarter-inch separated first and second. |
| 2024 | August 24 | Tommy Probst | 86.75 | 2.50 | Richie McMichael, 21.00 | Probst beat a strong summer field; the Top 10 cut reached 76 inches. |
| 2025 | April 5 | Chris Robbs | 78.50 | 5.25 | Robbs/Doug Wright, 20.25 | Cold rain, rising water and wind reduced 69 anglers to only 12 limits. |
The full eight-event average is 81.13 inches, but that number disguises the lake’s seasonal personality. The three August/September events since 2020 averaged 88.08 inches. Spring has produced both the 64-inch low-water mark and the brutal 2025 survival test.
For a September finale near normal pool, the summer history deserves more weight than the full average.
The Day Pomme Got Juiced
Darian Beedle’s 2020 performance remains the standard by which every Pomme tournament should be measured.
He did not simply win. He posted 93.25 inches, beat Tommy Probst by 11.5 inches and caught the 22.5-inch Big Bass. The fish weighed 6.6 pounds and was Beedle’s personal best at the time. His winning total remains the MoYak Pomme de Terre record.
The route to that record began during practice. Beedle and his teammate started around Pittsburg, caught a few crankbait fish, then loaded up and explored the river. On tournament morning, roughly ten kayaks launched in the same river section. Most headed toward the lake. Beedle and his partner followed three anglers upstream.
He began with a Wiggle Wart, buzzbait and Whopper Plopper. When the topwater bite failed to develop, he abandoned it quickly and committed to the crankbait. By 7:30, he had caught two 18.75-inch bass on the Wiggle Wart. He added two more fish about an hour later by mixing in a spinnerbait.
Then the bite stopped.
Beedle kept throwing the same two moving baits. On the return toward the ramp, he cast the spinnerbait over a laydown, zipped it across the log and let it fall on the other side. The 22.5-inch fish crushed it on the drop.
The lesson was not a secret lure or untouched water. Beedle summarized it more simply: anglers can still catch fish behind other people if they stay confident and keep a line in the water.
Watch the 2020 Pomme tournament vlog and read Beedle’s original recap.
What the Past Winners Teach Us
1. The river can create a tournament within the tournament
Beedle’s 2020 record came upstream. Chris Robbs won in 2022 on the upper end. Richie McMichael began that event in the river and paddled as far as he could. Cooler inflow, stain, bait and confined cover can turn a comparatively small section of Pomme into the most valuable water on the lake.
But the river is not automatic. Heavy rain made PJ Coley’s planned river water too high, fast and muddy in 2025. He abandoned the plan, moved toward cleaner main-lake water and finished fourth. The river rewards commitment only when its water remains fishable.
2. Shallow moving baits have unusual staying power here
Wiggle Warts, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, buzzbaits, Ploppers and squarebills appear repeatedly in the recaps. Robbs won in 2022 with spinnerbaits and crankbaits around bait and shallow cover. Lance Burris rode a chatterbait all day to second. McMichael used a golden-shiner bladed jig. In 2025, Robbs again won with a spinnerbait and crankbait under radically different conditions.
Pomme may be called Potato Lake, but its historical winner’s tackle box looks more like a power-fishing catalog.
3. Bait matters more than beautiful-looking cover
Robbs’ 2022 plan was to stay near baitfish and thoroughly work every nearby piece of cover. That produced his first MoYak win. The lesson is especially important in late summer, when miles of shallow cover can look productive but hold nothing.
The highest-percentage stretch may be the one showing life, not the one that looks best on a map.
4. The morning plan has an expiration time
Joe Mersky planned a 2021 topwater assault, never felt comfortable with it, and quickly committed to a chatterbait and Texas rig. He targeted zero to three feet early, shifted to three to eight feet around 10 a.m., and also worked water as deep as 10 to 15 feet. The adjustment produced 84.25 inches and a tiebreaker victory.
The useful question is not simply whether the shallow bite will happen. It is how long an angler will wait before accepting that it did not.
5. Clean execution wins close events
Four of the seven events with a verified margin were decided by 1.5 inches or less, including a tie and a quarter-inch finish. Robbs landed all six of his bites in the miserable 2025 event. In 2022, he lost a bass beside the kayak with ten minutes remaining and believed it might have cost him the win.
At Pomme, the fish that comes unbuttoned may not merely cost a check. This year, it could decide an AOY title or a Taney 20 invitation.
What the Bass Boats Tell Us
The kayak archive is only part of Pomme’s late-summer scouting report. Bass-boat results from the same seasonal window reveal a lake capable of supporting entirely different winning patterns at the same time.
In late August 2020, Wesley Myers and Brock Reinkemeyer won a 52-team Joe Bass event with 18 pounds. Their best five came on football jigs in 10 to 20 feet across both arms of the lake. Second place weighed 17.77 on a white crankbait after covering both arms, while third caught 17.44 on football jigs in about 15 feet. Thirty-five teams brought in limits, and a 5.57-pound fish took Big Bass.
One year later, Pomme broadened the playbook. Jones and Satterfield won with 20.04 pounds by throwing squarebills and jigs around shallow wood in the upper Lindley arm. Nogosek and Fiedler finished only 0.45 pound behind them after catching their fish on buzzbaits across main-lake points during the morning. Yet Choate and Whitaker were just another 0.02 pound back in third with a deeper Chompers jig pattern. They had only five keeper bites, but one was the tournament’s 6.61-pound Big Bass.
That is the bass-boat lesson in one sentence: Pomme may not require anglers to identify the lake’s one correct depth. It may require them to identify which version of Pomme best fits them—and execute it without wavering.
The upper Lindley arm has legitimate winning history around shallow wood. Main-lake points can produce a competitive morning topwater bite. Football jigs and deeper cover are not merely fallback options; they have produced winning bags and giant kickers. Those 18- to 20-pound limits also strengthen the case that Beedle’s 93.25-inch performance was not a historical accident. When Pomme’s better late-summer fish cooperate, a 90-plus-inch kayak total is firmly within the lake’s ceiling.
The 6.61-pound bass from 2021 reinforces the projected 20.5- to 22.5-inch Big Bass range and leaves room for something larger. More importantly, the five-bite third-place finish is a warning: an angler can be around the fish that win Pomme without receiving many opportunities to prove it.
Joe Bass held another Pomme event on August 22, 2026, but results had not been posted when this preview was prepared. If they become available before tournament week, they will provide the closest bass-boat comparison to the September 12 finale. Until then, the 2020 and 2021 results offer a clear conclusion: shallow power fishing and methodical deeper fishing can both be championship patterns here.
Elite AOY: Micah’s Title to Protect
After six stops and the first drop, Micah Funderburgh leads Chad Davison by 70.25 points. Zach Woolverton, Tyler Alexander and Chris Robbs complete the top five.
At Pomme, only the best five of seven results will count. Each contender therefore must replace the lowest score currently included in his AOY total.
| Place | Angler | Current AOY | Behind | Pomme score to replace | Foundation before Pomme |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Micah Funderburgh | 1,925.00 | — | 364.50 | 1,560.50 |
| 2 | Chad Davison | 1,854.75 | 70.25 | 344.25 | 1,510.50 |
| 3 | Zach Woolverton | 1,815.50 | 109.50 | 338.25 | 1,477.25 |
| 4 | Tyler Alexander | 1,813.00 | 112.00 | 343.50 | 1,469.50 |
| 5 | Chris Robbs | 1,795.00 | 130.00 | 338.75 | 1,456.25 |
Chad’s narrow mathematical door
If Micah scores 364.50 points or fewer at Pomme, his final AOY total remains 1,925. Chad would need at least 414.75 Pomme points to reach 1,925.25 and pass him outright.
If the final field is not large enough for 414.75 points to be available to the winner, Micah has already mathematically clinched. If that score is available, Chad’s route still requires an event-winning caliber finish and essentially no improvement from Micah.
Once Micah improves his 364.50, Chad’s required score rises point for point.
Zach, Tyler and Chris can still fight for the podium, but their current foundations leave them outside a realistic championship path under the point ranges seen this season.
Micah does not need to win Pomme. He needs to avoid the kind of collapse Pomme occasionally produces.
Team AOY: Three Teams, One Very Small Gap
The Team AOY race is much tighter than the displayed totals suggest.
| Place | Team | Current AOY | Behind | Pomme score to replace | Four-score foundation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everhart’s A-Team | 1,994.50 | — | 390.50 | 1,604.00 |
| 2 | Once Is Luck | 1,983.25 | 11.25 | 382.25 | 1,601.00 |
| 3 | Scope and Hope | 1,968.50 | 26.00 | 383.00 | 1,585.50 |
If both Pomme results enter the final calculation, Once Is Luck needs to outscore Everhart’s A-Team by more than three points—not 11.25. Their lower replaceable score supplies the other 8.25 points.
Scope and Hope must outscore Everhart’s by more than 18.50 points if both scores count. That is a meaningful deficit, but one Pomme big fish can erase it.
Everhart’s has the lead and the lake’s most accomplished active Pomme angler in two-time winner Chris Robbs. Once Is Luck has the best four-score foundation among the challengers and needs only a narrow head-to-head victory. Scope and Hope has less margin for error but remains one strong team bag away.
The Burrito Banditos’ missed Bull Shoals team score closed their title path. Even after discarding their 329.25, their four-score foundation is 1,510.75. They would need an impossible 483.75 Pomme score merely to pass Everhart’s current floor.
The Team AOY championship is therefore a three-team race.
The Taney 20: The Cut Line Is Not Where It Appears
Mike Keafer currently occupies 20th at 1,500.50, but the raw standings conceal the most important number: the score each angler can replace at Pomme.
| Place | Angler | Current total | From 20th | Score to replace | Foundation before Pomme |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Chris Woehl | 1,533.00 | +32.50 | 259.50 | 1,273.50 |
| 19 | Dane Lewis | 1,521.75 | +21.25 | 268.00 | 1,253.75 |
| 20 | Mike Keafer | 1,500.50 | Cut line | 173.75 | 1,326.75 |
| 21 | Trey Dawson | 1,473.25 | -27.25 | 233.25 | 1,240.00 |
| 22 | Trevor Motzkus | 1,467.00 | -33.50 | 195.25 | 1,271.75 |
| 23 | Emily Motzkus | 1,466.50 | -34.00 | 161.25 | 1,305.25 |
| 24 | Roger Daegele | 1,433.75 | -66.75 | 248.00 | 1,185.75 |
| 25 | Jeff Craven | 1,427.75 | -72.75 | 228.75 | 1,199.00 |
| 26 | Michael Sandlin | 1,414.00 | -86.50 | 231.25 | 1,182.75 |
Keafer controls the cut
Keafer’s current margin looks modest, but he can replace a 173.75. His four-score foundation is actually the strongest in this bubble group. If he and Dane Lewis earn identical Pomme scores that enter both totals, Keafer finishes 73 points ahead of Lewis.
Emily Motzkus is the dangerous angler below the line
Emily sits 34 points outside the apparent cutoff, yet she replaces only 161.25. Her 1,305.25 foundation is second only to Keafer among the anglers shown. With comparable Pomme finishes, she can leap several places.
Trevor is positioned better than 22nd suggests
Trevor Motzkus replaces 195.25 and carries a 1,271.75 foundation. He is only 1.75 foundation points behind Chris Woehl and 18 ahead of Dane Lewis. His race begins much closer to the line than the standings imply.
Bull Shoals changed Troy Enke’s postseason outlook
Enke entered Bull Shoals on the wrong side of the Taney 20 bubble, then finished second with 85.75 inches. He climbed to 11th at 1,647.25 and now carries a 146.75-point cushion over the current cutoff. Pomme can replace his 279.25 Stockton score, giving him another opportunity to improve rather than merely defend.
For the bubble anglers, Pomme is not the last regular-season tournament. It is a qualifying event for a tournament that will not happen until next spring.
Anglers to Watch
Chris Robbs – The Pomme Standard
Robbs is the only two-time winner in the eight-event archive. He won a shallow late-season event in 2022 and an almost unrecognizable cold-water flood in 2025, both with spinnerbaits and crankbaits. He enters the finale fifth in AOY and anchors the Team AOY leader. No angler has more at stake or more direct evidence that his approach travels across conditions.
Tommy Probst – Defending Summer Winner
Probst won the August 2024 event with 86.75 and finished second to Beedle’s record bag in 2020 with 81.75. Those are two Top 2 finishes in Pomme’s most relevant seasonal comparisons. If the lake fishes like late summer rather than fall, Probst deserves major consideration.
Chad Davison – The Hunter
Chad owns finishes of fourth in 2021, tenth in 2022 and second in 2024. He needs an extraordinary points day to threaten Micah for AOY, but Pomme has repeatedly put him near the front. He also pairs with Robbs on Everhart’s A-Team, so every upgrade affects both championship races.
Zach Woolverton – The Hottest Angler in the Field
Woolverton arrives after winning Bull Shoals with 86.25 inches. He finished ninth at Pomme in August 2024 and now sits third in AOY. Even if the overall title is out of reach, a second consecutive win could secure the season’s runner-up position and complete one of the strongest late-season surges in the field.
Troy Enke – The Momentum Pick
Enke finished second at Pomme in 2019, fifth in 2022 and just outside the Top 10 in 2024. He also shared the 2022 team win with Richie McMichael. His Bull Shoals runner-up moved him from 21st to 11th in AOY. Another shallow moving-bait event would fit both his history and his preferred style.
Micah Funderburgh – The Man Everyone Is Chasing
Micah has not dominated Pomme historically, but he does not need to. He finished seventh in 2023 and 16th in August 2024. A clean, controlled event near that level could end the title chase. His challenge is psychological as much as tactical: fish to avoid disaster without becoming so conservative that Pomme creates one.
Jason Shifflett – The Quiet Pomme Threat
Shifflett finished third with 83.75 in the 2021 September event and caught a 21.25-inch Big Bass in the October 2025 Missouri B.A.S.S. Nation Kayak Championship on Pomme. He enters the finale tenth in AOY. His lake history makes him a threat to both the event podium and the season’s final Top 10.
What Could Win the Finale?
The early shallow push
Buzzbaits, Ploppers, spinnerbaits, bladed jigs and squarebills around visible bait, rock, laydowns and bank cover. Pomme history strongly supports this approach, especially if the morning begins warm, stained or windy.
The river commitment
Crankbaits and spinnerbaits in confined, stained water with current, wood and bait. This is the route that produced Beedle’s 93.25, but it becomes dangerous if rain creates excessive mud and flow.
The transition game
Creek-channel banks, points, dock brush and the first deeper cover outside feeding areas. Robbs used these transitional targets in spring, and Mersky moved progressively deeper after 10 a.m. in September.
The five-bite survival plan
Jigs, Ned rigs, Neko rigs, shakey heads and Texas rigs around brush, docks and deeper holes. If the lake turns stingy, the angler who abandons the expected moving-bait bite first may gain the greatest advantage.
The winning angler may use more than one of these patterns. Pomme’s recent recaps repeatedly reward competitors who recognize when the lake has changed the assignment.
Early Prediction
| Category | Projection |
|---|---|
| Winning length | 84-88 inches |
| Top 10 cut | 74-77 inches |
| Big Bass | 20.5-22.5 inches |
| Safe pick | Chris Robbs |
| Summer-history pick | Tommy Probst |
| Momentum pick | Zach Woolverton |
| Championship pressure pick | Chad Davison |
| Dark horse | Jason Shifflett |
| Most important decision | When to abandon the morning moving-bait plan |
Beedle’s 93.25 proves that Pomme can still produce a runaway. The 2021 tie, 2023 quarter-inch finish and two other margins of 1.5 inches or less argue for the opposite.
The likeliest outcome is not domination. It is one fish deciding several seasons at once.
On September 12, a quarter-inch could determine the tournament winner, the Team Angler of the Year, the final Taney 20 invitation—or all three.
Sources
- 2026 Pomme de Terre event listing
- USACE Pomme de Terre water data
- Robbs nabs 2nd Pomme win
- Pomme gets “Robb”ed
- Mercy! What a finish for Mersky on Pomme
- Beedle Brings the Juice at Pomme
- Joe Bass Pomme results — August 29, 2020
- Joe Bass Pomme results — August 28, 2021
- Joe Bass Pomme division schedule
- MoYak/TourneyX result exports supplied for 2018-2025
