Hermitage, Missouri – April 6, 2025

If there’s one thing predictable about spring in the Ozarks, it’s that nothing is predictable—especially at Pomme de Terre. Anglers in the MoYak Fishing Series’ second Elite event of the season were met with brutal conditions and a stingy bite, but that didn’t stop Chris Robbs from rising to the top yet again.

Heavy rains leading up to tournament day caused the lake to swell rapidly, with water levels rising by the hour as anglers launched into a soaking cold front. Air temps hovered around 45 degrees, a steady rain fell for most of the day, and winds kicked up to nearly 20 mph by late morning—making paddle and pedal drives feel more like survival gear than fishing equipment. By evening, some parts of the region even saw snow.

But through all of that, Robbs showed once more why he’s the man to beat at Pomme. With gritty persistence and strategic adjustments, he claimed his second Elite Series win on the lake, following up on his October 2022 victory where he edged out Lance Burris with 81.5” to 80”.

This time around, the lake was even less generous. Just 12 out of 69 anglers managed to catch a five-fish limit, and a surprising 21 anglers didn’t record a single fish. Only 148 total fish were submitted—a stark reminder that Pomme, especially when angry, makes no promises.

The win also gave Robbs and teammate Chad Davison the Team Series title for the weekend, with their six longest fish measuring 96.75”. As the Everharts A-Team, they were one of the few duos able to put together consistent bites when others were simply trying to stay dry and upright.

Meanwhile, Robert Swearngin and Richie McMichael each posted their second straight top-ten finish of the season. The strong showing was enough for Swearngin to overtake McMichael for the Angler of the Year lead—setting the stage for a tightly contested race as the season progresses.

The event also marked a breakout performance for two of MoYak’s newest names: Marcus Sherman and Tyler Alexander, both rookies, who broke into the top ten with performances that showed poise beyond their experience.

On the Team Series side, the Burrito Banditos kept their momentum rolling with a third-place finish, holding on to their Team AOY lead over Something To Prove in what’s shaping up to be a season-long duel.

Pomme de Terre was cold, wet, windy, and wild—but for the anglers who adapted, adjusted, and outlasted, it was a day to remember. For Chris Robbs, it was one more chapter in a legacy he’s writing on this unpredictable lake, one cast at a time.

Here are your top ten for the 2025 MoYak Stop #2 Pomme de Terre presented by Eco Fishing Shop.

Chris Robbs – 78.5″
Tyler Cokley – 73.25″
Troy Nydegger – 71.75″
PJ Coley – 71.25″
Richie McMichael – 70″
Robert Swearngin – 68.75″
Tyler Alexander (R) – 68″
Marcus Sherman (R) – 66.5″
Blake Weilant – 64″
Pat Lassek – 63.25″

Let’s take a closer look at the top five finishers and hear how they solved the puzzle in their own words:

What was your strategy going into the day?

Chris – The plan was to target areas I thought pre spawn fish would be utilizing and to power fish! I felt the time of year and weather conditions were going to make for a perfect day to keep a moving bait glued to my hand.

Tyler – Just go fish for 5 bites.

Troy – TBH, I didn’t have much of a strategy going in since I didn’t get a chance to prefish. I wasn’t sure what the water looked like and expected it to be much more stained than what is was with all the rain we had. The are I was in was pretty clean. I focused on deeper (8-10 ft) structure and brush piles because I felt the dropping water temps would pull them back a bit.

PJ – Before the rains my plan was to go up the river and try and beat the bank in the warmer waters I had found the weekend before but seeing how bad the rivers were I went more main lake and fished brush piles around docks knowing how bad the weather was going to be felt it was the only option to halfway stay out of the wind and be able to fish productively

Richie – My strategy was to target points, rocky banks and flooded brush with spinnerbaits and crankbaits.

Were you able to prefish and did you find anything that helped you on game day?

Chris – No prefishing

Tyler – No pre fishing

Troy – No prefishing

PJ – I was able to go down the weekend before and did decent beating the bank up the river on a wigglewart but after the rains come tournament day there was no way I’d be able to get up there and fish with how fast, high and dirty the water was so come tournament day I just had to wing it

Richie – Did not prefish due to the weather.

What was your best finish at Pomme before this?

Chris – 1st place. This is my second win on Pomme.

Tyler – I’ve only fished it one time in a tournament and finished 17th

Troy – The only other time I had fished Pomme was the MOYAK stop #6 last year and I finished 6th in that one.

PJ – Honestly have no idea pomme has always been a lake that has had my number so feels good to get that monkey off my back and have a good finish

Richie – 3rd is my highest Pomme finish.

What was the general tackle you used on game day?

Chris – Spinnerbait and crankbait.

Tyler – Ozark flash spinnerbait/ shakey head with crocogator beaver bug

Troy – All of my fish were caught on either a jig or a ned rig.

PJ – At the start I tried cranking and throwing a spinnerbait but started taking a finesse approach as the weather set in and caught all but one throwing a neko rig with a black and blue senko

Richie – Crankbaits.

How far did you have to travel to find your fish? If you are willing, please give the general area(s) of the lake you fished.

Chris – Not far at all. Started within site of where I launched. Targeted the pre spawn areas, transitions around main lake points and the point itself, and the channel banks leading into the creeks/pockets.

Tyler – I just bounced around between couple areas but never went very far from truck

Troy – I think it’s called the Decker Branch area. There was a lot of traffic in there, both kayaks and bass boats.

PJ – Only went about a mile or two fishing the northwest side of the lake

Richie – Started fishing very close to the ramp. Fished the southeast side of the lake.

Chris – Yes, I chose the mid lake area. I felt  with all the rain, that area of the lake wouldn’t be blown out as much as the river might of been, but still stained up enough to where I could power fish the way I wanted to.

Tyler – I picked an area that had cleaner water but had a creek close enough I could run to dirty water if I needed.

Troy – Not really.

PJ – Leading up I was set where I wanted to go but the rains made it way to muddy and current was way to fast so I chose to go find cleaner water and at the beginning of the day water clarity was what I wanted but as the day went on started getting murky and dirty but didn’t seem to affect how I was fishing

Richie – My spot I usually launch at was out of play due to all the rain so I picked a spot that looked good and just went fishing.

Did you lose any fish that would have made a difference or do you have a story to tell about your biggest bass of the day?

Chris – 6 bites, 6 fish in the boat. Fishing clean is key to winning or cashing checks with the group of anglers in this club. My big fish came early in the day on the spinnerbait and she jumped two or three times right next to the boat before I was able to reach her with the net. When I went to lift her into the boat the spinnerbait fell out of her mouth….

Tyler – Nope I landed every bite I got and I never caught a big fish.

Troy – No. I only caught six bass all day, and the last one was a 12 incher that didn’t help.

PJ – About a hour in I hooked into one fishing a brush pile that I knew was the one you need but just before getting to the kayak and within shot of seeing it, it shook loose other then that one I’m happy to say I fished pretty clean and the bites i did get made it into the yak

Richie – No lost fish. Had 5 bites all day and luckily landed them all.

See any wildlife worth mentioning?

Chris – Heard the turkeys gobbling and bald eagles flying.

Tyler – Lots of bald eagles and loons

Troy – A couple of bald eagles in the morning and I caught a turtle half way through the day. That was fun.

PJ – Saw a pretty big river otter that popped up under a boat slip and scared me pretty good when I was trying to get out the rain and warm my hands up

Richie – Nothing memorable, nothing wanted to be out in that weather.

Are you planning to fish the Ellie Bowman Memorial on Table Rock in May?

Chris – Yes! Maybe it will be warm enough for a topwater bite by then?

Tyler – absolutely

Troy – I am going to try. It depends on how my schedule works out.

PJ – Yes as of now I plan on fishing it

Richie – Absolutely, I plan on fishing the Ellie Bowman Memorial on Table Rock.

Do you have any sponsor or personal shout-outs you’d like to give?

Chris – Big thanks to my wife for supporting my fishing obsession and taking care of our little man on tournament days. Thanks to all my sponsors for their support. I like to support local business and I’m fortunate to have local companies that support my fishing.

• Everharts Outdoors
• Council Bluff Crankbaits
• Baitcave Customs
• Buff Truck Outfitters

Tyler – Eco Fishing Shop

Troy – No sponsors, but I’d like to thank Joshua Boothe, Johnathan Dominguez, yourself and anyone else who helps put on the MOYAK series. They are always well run events and a lot of fun (weather aside!)

PJ – Ecofishing Shop, Jackiewiczs swim baits, Motionfishing, wootungsten, Aquaflage  all play a huge part with there support and amazing products they offer and of course all my friends and family at home with out there support and love none of it would be possible

Richie – Thanks to Mo-Yak for putting on another great tournament with beer and food at the awards.

Derby Stats
Anglers 69
Fish caught – 148 (FPA – 2.14)
Total limits – 29 (17%)
Margin of victory – 5.25″
Twenty+ Club – Chris Robbs (20.25″), Doug Wright (20.25″)
Trash Pot – Richie McMichael – 23″ Carp ($125)
Smallest Bass Award – Dane Lewis 8″
Air temp at launch – 42
Air temp at takeout – 45

Osage Beach, Missouri – The 2025 EcoFishing Shop Stop #1 on Lake of the Ozarks greeted 81 MoYakkers suffering from cabin fever to a lake that had been rocked the week prior with 50+ mph winds, forest fires, and a tough mid-March bite. After a windy start to the morning, we had a brief window of decent spring weather before getting snow the night after the derby. After the smoke cleared (literally), with 84″, Ozark’s Troy Enke emerged victorious with a one-inch lead over his fellow EcoFishing Shop team member, Aaron Gardner.

The Burrito Banditos (Richie McMichael 51.75″ and Troy Enke 54″) took top honors on the team side with 105.75″ of Lake of the Ozarks bass. In 2025 each team member contributes their longest three fish to the six bass team total. The Reel Food Guys (Michael Buvid 51″ and Patrick Bowman 45.75″) notched 2nd place honors with 96.75″.

The big bass contest was very tight as six anglers caught 20+” fish and Tyy narrowly beat Michael Buvid with the 20.5″ tiebreaker by catching his before Michael’s (another new rule this year).

Here are your top ten for the 2025 MoYak Stop #1 Lake of the Ozarks presented by Eco Fishing Shop.

Troy Enke – 84″
Aaron Gardner – 83″
Robert Swearngin – 81.75″
Russell Bergeron – 81.25″
Richie McMichael – 81″
Rylan Sommer – 80.5″
Zachary Woolverton – 80.25″
Jared Fosnow – 79.5″
Chris Woehl – 77.5″
Mike Tichenor – 77″

Let’s take a closer look at the top five finishers and hear how they solved the puzzle in their own words:

What was your strategy going into the day?

Troy – I hadn’t been on LOZ since the Winter Series event in December so I wanted to junk fish my way until I found something that worked.

Aaron – The bite had been super tough around the whole lake so my best chance of finding some fish was finding the warmest water possible.

Robert – I had planned on fishing main lake points and bluff ends.  The water temp tanked 6 degrees on me overnight on the place I was planning on spending most of my time on.  I couldn’t hardly ever get on the points I wanted to fish though.  Every time I would get close, a bass boat would run in and cut me off.

Russell – no report

Richie – The bite was tough the last several weeks so my plan was just to get a limit. I like throwing crankbaits in the spring and have done well at LOZ in the past cranking. My strategy was to target wind-blown points and rocky banks.

Were you able to prefish and did you find anything that helped you on game day?

Troy – I had originally planned to take Friday off to prefish but the Hobie doesn’t do well in 50mph winds.

Aaron – No prefishing. Just watched conditions unfold leading up to tourney day and made a gutsy decision.

Robert – I was able to get in about 4 hours of prefishing on Friday.  The wind caused me to have to get off the water around noon.  Places I caught fish on Friday, I couldn’t get bit on Saturday and areas I never had a bite on Friday were my most productive areas on tournament day.

Russell – no report

Richie – The plan was to prefish Friday but decided not to because of the high winds. Should have checked out the ramp I decided on because it was closed in the morning and had to scramble to find another launch close to the area I wanted to fish.

What was your best finish at LOZ before this?

Troy – I got 2nd in the October 2023 contest and our team won that event.

Aaron – This was my best finish so far on LoZ in the main MoYak series. I did win a Sunday series last year on here.

Robert – 1st Place in the 2023/2024 Moyak Winter Series.

Russell – no report

Richie – My best finish was 3rd in 2020.

What was the general tackle you used on game day?

Troy – Frittside 5 in Red Craw, 1/2oz Accent River Special spinnerbait (Charteuse & White), Jackhammer (White with white 4″ Rage Menace).

Aaron – Majority of my fish came on Berkley dime 4 in Special Red Craw, paired with my FX XAS 6’6” Medium rod. 8lb CXX P-Line. I also caught a couple on the BaitCave 4” Flat worm in MVP.

Robert – Old beat up wiggle wart on a Megabass Ororchi Diablo Rod.  My 18.25 came on a homemade jig, but that was the only bite on the jig all day.

Russell – no report

Richie – Frittside 5 crankbaits in multiple colors.

How far did you have to travel to find your fish? If you are willing, please give the general area(s) of the lake you fished.

Troy – I fished the Glaize and went upriver from the ramp about 3 miles and did a circle back.

Aaron –  I had to travel a ways due to limited ramps. I put in the big Niangua and traveled as far as I could above HaHaTonka.

Robert – I fished the Glaize arm of the lake and didn’t travel too far.  In fact, I never caught a fish out of sight of the boat ramp.

Russell – no report

Richie – I started fishing only a few minutes from the ramp. I fished the southeast part of the lake.

Troy – I tried to stay under 6ft and caught most everything by bouncing the Frittside along the rocks all day. The water was perfectly stained the way I like it for a chatterbait or jerk bait but I couldn’t get anything going on either except for one ~15″ on the chatterbait.

Aaron – I was unsure my depth going into the day but after about the first 20 minutes of fishing, I found I needed only bout 3-5 feet of water depth. Clarity was about a foot. Water temp started at 56.1 and had 57.8 by the end of the day.

Robert – Water had a good stain to it, 1 1/2 to 2 ft of clarity, where I really like it.  All of my fish came in 4 to 10 foot of water.  Water temp started off in the mid 50s on Friday, but dropped after the storms Friday night to 47-50 on Saturday.

Russell – no report

Richie – I was concentrating on 2 to 10ft. The fish were getting shallower throughout the day. Water temps were low to mid 50’s.

Did you lose any fish that would have made a difference or do you have a story to tell about your biggest bass of the day?

Troy – I fished clean. I pulled into a small pocket around 10am to get out of the wind. There was a laydown in the back and I thought it looked like a spinnerbait needed to be pitched back there. After the first few turns of the reel handle, the line got heavy and she headed for deeper water.  It took several seconds for me to see her and I actually thought I had my usual trash fish but she came up and made my heart start pounding!  I few seconds and the worst net job ever and the 20 was on the board!

Aaron – So I did lose another small mouth that may have bumped me up more but probably not enough to catch Troy.  My big fish I think was out to give me a stroke. Starting about 1430 I had another strong wave of bites. Then about 1515 it stopped. I was a few casts away from calling it done. There was this seam I kept throwing to and had a big rock about half way back to the yak that if I hit it just right, I would get hit. At 1520 give or take I smacked that rock and she about pulled the road out of my hand. I thought I snagged a gar because they had been moving in but luckily it wasn’t. She came flying out of the water and sent me into panic mode because I knew I had only a few minutes to get the picture snapped. Thankfully she choked it and I able to hoarse her in a little faster than usual.

Robert – I fished pretty clean, only lost one that may have moved me to 2nd place.  No big bass stories to tell, but I did take a run at the trash pot.  Late in the day, I hooked something on a wart that at first I thought was BassQuatch.  However, I quickly realized that it wasn’t a bass as it dragged me about 100 yards out into the middle of the lake and spooled me.  No clue what it was, but it cost me an expensive wart and about 200 yards of FC Sniper Sunline.

Russell – no report

Richie – I tried to flip a fish around 15-16″ at the end of day which would have been an inch or two cull but wasn’t hooked good and came off. Had a few other opportunities but couldn’t keep them hooked.

See any wildlife worth mentioning?

Troy – Lots of feathered friends and one very well-fed otter.

Aaron – About 11:00 I had a big ol otter surface about 10 feet in front of me.

Robert – Lots of squirrels, ducks, and the Canadian Air Force (geese)

Russell – no report

Richie – A few bald eagles flying around.

What are your tournament fishing plans for 2025?

Troy – I think I have a tournament every weekend for the rest of the season, lol. I plan to fish as many MoYak events as possible, ECO BB 250, AAKC on Truman in May, some AAKS and any other local events that might help me prepare for any of those.  I enjoy jumping into NSKA events from time to time and I’ll try Oklahoma and Kansas if the timing is right.

Aaron – I plan on fishing the whole MoYak elite series, the river series, hopefully get a couple Sunday series in and the occasional BrockPots on Wednesdays.

Robert – I think I will make all of the Moyak Elite Series events except for Mark Twain.  I’m really looking forward to Truman in June, that can be some of my favorite fishing that time of year.  The All American Classic on Truman should be a great event I plan on attending as well.

Russell – no report

Richie – I plan on fishing most of Mo-Yak, A couple Bassmaster and an All-American or two in 2025.

Do you have any sponsor or personal shout-outs you’d like to give?

Troy – EcoFishingShop

Aaron –Huge thanks for all my sponsors.

• EcoFishingShop
• BaitCaveCustoms
• FX Rods
• Woo Tungsten
• YoloTek
• QuickBaits

I wouldn’t be able to excel without their help along the way. Also a big thank you to Josh Boothe.

Robert – Ellis Battery in Ozark kept me powered up all day!  Although I didn’t go far, the way I was fishing, I kept the trolling motor going non stop.  The wind was rough the first few hours of the day. Despite all of that, I never had to switch to my backup batteries.  If you need any kind of battery, I highly recommend getting ahold of Steve at Ellis Battery located behind Lamberts in Ozark, Mo.

Russell – no report

Richie – Mo-Yak for running a great tournament series and Kistler Rods. Kistler makes excellent rods and reels that help put fish in the boat.

Derby Stats
Anglers 81
Fish caught – 274 (FPA – 3.38)
Total limits – 29 (36%)
Margin of victory – 1″
Twenty+ Club – Tyy Ward (20.5″), Michael Buvid (20.5″), Troy Enke (20″), Zachary Woolverton (20″), Darian Beedle (20″), Jesse Payne (20″)
Trash Pot – Sam Young – 23″ Blue Cat ($180)
Smallest Bass Award – Eric Easter 9″
Air temp at launch – 49
Air temp at takeout – 72

Poplar Bluff, Missouri – The EcoFishing Shop Stop #5 of the Trail Series welcomed 50 MoYakkers as we teamed up with Drew Gregory and the Kayak Adventure Series for a road runner event in the Bootheel region. Anglers had the freedom to choose from various lakes, creeks, rivers, conservation areas, and national wildlife refuges, making this tournament truly unique.

The Chum Boys not only dominated the team competition but also claimed the top two individual spots, replicating their success at Table Rock. This time, Tyler Cokley secured 1st place with 92.75″, while his partner, Johnathan Dominguez, closely followed in 2nd place with 92.25″. Their achievement is notable not just for their recent consistent performance but also because they fished entirely different types of water to surpass the 90″ mark.

Speaking of consistency, Chad Davison recorded his fourth consecutive top-ten finish, taking a commanding lead in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race. With two events left, the competition remains fierce, and several anglers are still in the running as we head into the fall.

Here are your top ten for the 2024 MoYak Stop #5 Poplar Bluff presented by Eco Fishing Shop.

Tyler Cokley – 92.75″
Johnathan Dominguez – 92.25″
Mike Keafer – 82.25″
Chad Fleer – 79.75″
Chad Davison – 79.25″
Stony Floyd – 78″
Hunter Maddox – 75.5″
Trevor Motzkus– 75″
Robert Swearngin – 73.75″
Ryan Reed – 72.25″

Let’s take a closer look at the top five finishers and hear how they solved the puzzle in their own words:

What was your strategy going into the day?

Tyler – Day one of KAS was more of a pre-fishing / seeing if the fish were there or further up the river.

Johnathan – I fished all week, having little success. This was a last minute hail mary. I knew from Friday there were good fish in there. I was just hoping for a couple bites!

Mike – I had two different spots I was planning to fish.  Fish the first one for 3 to 4hrs and depending on how that turned out move to the second for the rest of the day.

Chad F. – Cover a lot of water throwing topwater and concentrate on where the bigger fish would be staged

Chad D. – I had found a creek in practice on Wapp that I got a lot of bites, so my plan was to start in there and try to get a limit.   I felt like if they were running water on the main river channel, there could be some bigger fish, so the plan was to run that later.

Were you able to prefish and did you find anything that helped you on game day?

Tyler – No prefishing except for looking further up the river during the KAS evening portion.

Johnathan – Prefishing helped me eliminate water but I never got those warm fuzzy feelings like I did at Table Rock. The refuge did offer plenty of opportunities with plenty of water in the area that I could audible if needed.

Mike – Wasn’t really able to prefish, so I used day one of the KAS to narrow down an idea for Saturday.

Chad F. – Yes / located where the fish were feeding

Chad D. – Yes, I practiced Wed night and Thursday.   It was very helpful to get out and get some confidence in baits/areas.  Seemed like most bites were on wood, and caught them on various moving baits.

How do you prepare for road runner events? How do you like or dislike them compared to single-venue events?

Tyler – This was a very interesting event due to all the different bodies of water. I stuck to what I know and love, rivers. It takes a lot more homework and knowledge to win an event like this instead of a single venue which I like.

Johnathan – I felt like it was throwing darts at a map and hoping they stuck. At one point it was overwhelming all the water that was available. I liked it. I think it helps anglers play to their strong suits. It’s hard to find lakes that offer what a Road Runner style offers.

Mike – The same as other events. Prefish if you can, other than that you pick a spot and go fishing. I liked the diversity of fishing different bodies of water.

Chad F. – First Road Runner tournament for me, yes I liked the fact that there’s so many options on where to fish.

Chad D. – I do not like road runner events.   I prefer everyone to be on the same body of water.   I basically decided to fish Wapp before I arrived and stuck with that.

What was the general tackle you used on game day?

Tyler – All bigger baits looking for those above average bites like I typically do. Big wakebait and swimbaits

Johnathan – Z-Man Chatter bait. I fished Pomme a couple weeks ago and received a professional lesson from Troy Enke. The second day I changed colors and that helped with better bites.

Mike – Black buzz bait.

Chad F. – Council Bluff Crankbaits 110 Longear Plopper

Chad D. – Key baits in the tournament were a spinnerbait and several different shallow crankbaits.

How far did you have to travel to find your fish? If you are willing, please give the general area(s) of the lake you fished.

Tyler – I floated 9 miles on day one and about 15 miles on Saturday all my fish but one came Saturday morning in the first few miles of the river.

Johnathan – I believe my drive was about an hour from Poplar Bluff. May Pond. Literally a pond in the wildlife refuge.

Mike – It was 40 to 50min from where I was staying at to get to the wildlife refuge.

Chad F. – Floated roughly 12miles of river

Chad D. – I stayed within a couple miles of my launch.   I was fishing the upper 1/3 of Wappapello.

Tyler – It really helped the river bite, it had the perfect stain and the rivers stabilized just in time for an amazing bite Saturday.

Johnathan – Seemed like everyone was worried about the rain. I knew the rain would not affect me since I was not looking for a river to fish.

Mike – The storms from the hurricane caused me to switch from my original fishing plans on the Current River to the refuge.

Chad F. – No

Chad D. – No, the weather did not affect what I did.

Did you lose any fish that would have made a difference or do you have a story to tell about your biggest bass of the day?

Tyler – I had 4 other bites that were similar to my big fish of the day, could have been a 100” day.

Johnathan – I think I lost one fish on a wacky worm. I never saw the fish either so it was probably a ten pounder!!

Mike – I didn’t want to take the chance of losing my big bass. So I went to beach my yak to get the photo I needed and in doing so almost put a hole in it, cause I didn’t see the cypress knees hidden in the grass.

Chad F. – Yes lost a big smallmouth on a glide that would have made a difference. But landed a 20” beauty on the plopper!

Chad D. – I was fortunate to not lose any fish that would have helped me.   I did not expect to catch a big one in the area that I started.   I got a lot of bites there, but nothing real big in practice.   It was a surprise when one of the first fish of the morning was a 20″ stud!

See any wildlife worth mentioning?

Tyler – Couple of bald eagles!

Johnathan – No

Mike – No

Chad F. – Eagles and Deer

Chad D. – I saw a family of otters which is always cool to see.   Also an armadillo running down the bank.   And I can’t forget the stray dog in the campground by Wappapello dam where I was staying.   He ended up coming home with me and I named him Wapp.

What is your favorite rod and reel setup and what techniques do you have the most success with while using it?

Tyler – Shimano tranx 300 paired with my leviathan 8’ mh rod throwing my butcher glidebait.

Johnathan – I have really liked the 13 Fishing Rods and Reels they have been releasing. I used the newish GMan rod and reel for this event. The cranking version allows for good hook sets and keeping them pinned.

Mike – 6ft 10 med heavy Duckett rod with an 8:1 Duckett reel fishing a buzz bait.

Chad F. – Heavy Rod w a DC reel topwater/Long casts

Chad D. – One of my favorites is my Cashion Kayak Series Crankbait Rod paired with my Council Bluffs Crankbaits custom painted Frittside crankbait.   That setup with 12# line on a Shimano Curado DC reel is a go to for me when the bite is tough.

Do you have any sponsor or personal shout-outs you’d like to give?

Tyler – Chum glides and eco fishing!

Johnathan – Eco Fishing Shop as you know is really starting to expand their footprint here in the Ozarks and I am honored to be a part of their team! Also again thank you Sara for being supportive.

Mike – Big Thank You to my sponsors for the support. Bonafide Fishing, Lowrance Fishing, YakAttack, OMTC, Amphibia Eyegear

Chad F. – Council Bluff Crankbaits

Chad D. – Thank you to all my sponsors:  Old Town Fishing, H2 Bait Design, Apex Tackle, Dungarees Carhartt, Everharts Outdoors, Council Bluff Crankbaits, Cashion Rods, Max It Out LEDs.   Thank you Troy, Josh, and Johnathan for all you do to make Moyak one of the best clubs out there!

Derby Stats
Anglers 50
Fish caught – 269 (FPA – 5.38)
Total limits – 32 (64%)
Margin of victory – .5″
Twenty+ Club – Tyler Cokley (20.25″), Mike Keafer (20″), Chad Fleer (20″), Chad Davison (20″), Jared Tourville (20″), Lance Burris (20″)
Trash Pot – Troy Enke – 20.75″ Drum
Smallest Bass Award – Daniel AuBuchon 6.25″
Air temp at launch – 75
Air temp at takeout – 92

Shell Knob, Missouri – Sixty-six of MoYak’s finest descended upon the west side of The Rock for the Eco Fishing Shop – MoYak Kayak Bass Trail Series Stop #4 on Saturday, June 4, 2024. Like Stockton, the top ten was tight with six bags over 80″ and only 1″ separating the top three! 56% of the field caught their limit and we had a FPA of 4.97%

Johnathan Dominguez secured his first MoYak Solo Series win with 84.5″ of Table Rock bass including a behemoth 22″er!  That fish stands as the largest bass taken during a Table Rock solo event to date.

Not only did he win the solo side but he and his partner, Tyler Cokley won the team event with 107.25″ – a full 5.5″ over the Burrito Banditos in 2nd.

 

Here are your top ten for the 2024 MoYak Stop #3 Stockton Lake presented by Eco Fishing Shop.

Johnathan Dominguez – 84.5″
Tyler Cokley – 84″
Troy Enke – 83.5″
Jacob Johnson – 80.75″
Spencer O’Neal – 80.75″
Jared Tourville – 80.25″
Blake Weilant – 79.25″
Chad Davison – 79″
Mike Dent – 78.25″
Chris Moyher – 78″

Let’s take a closer look at the top five finishers and hear how they solved the puzzle on Table Rock in their own words:

What was your strategy going into the day?

Johnathan – I was able to prefish on Monday and Friday before the event. I found them schooling off docks and main lake points. I was not able to get a top water bite going but they would eat a jig head minnow.

Tyler – Start off throwing topwater and get a limit, when that bite shuts down switch to glide baits and spend the day going for just a couple of big bites.

Troy – Topwater till the sun came up and then junk fish until I found something that they wanted.

Jacob – Hit the shad spawn on the docks early and then go deeper throughout the day.

Spencer – I planned to keep an open mind. I never fished tablerock before Saturday so I was just trying to learn as I was going and get a pattern established.

Were you able to prefish and did you find anything that helped you on game day?

Johnathan – I was able to prefish and I consistently found schools of fish on main lake points. I noticed the better fish were deeper under the schools.

Tyler – Very little pre fishing. Just hit 2 different areas and tossed my glide around just to see if I could pull up some big fish. One area was dead and the other had a lot of big fish coming for the glide.

Troy – No

Jacob – I didn’t.

Spencer – No prefishing for me. Tablerock is about a 2.5-hour drive from me so I figured I’d just wing it and see what happens.

What was your best finish on Table Rock before this?

Johnathan – I fish another Missouri club a couple of years ago and finished 9th out of a hundred or so anglers.

Tyler – 4th place finish last year.

Troy – 1st

Jacob – 5th

Spencer – I’ve never fished table rock before so this is my only tournament here so far. I set a personal goal of 75+ inches and was happy to exceed that number regardless of placement.

What was the general tackle you used on game day?

Johnathan – Jig head minnow! VMC Sleek Jig head with the new Rapala Crush City Freeloader. They were very picky when it came to color though.

Tyler – Berkley Choppo and The Butcher Glide by Chum Glides.

Troy – Pop-X, Chad Shad, Shakey Head, Buzzbait, Spinnerbait

Jacob – My fish came on a finesse worm on a shakey head.

Spencer – All my fish came on 2 different jigs. One is a black and blue 1/2 ounce crocogator zapper jig and the other a 3/4 ounce Strike King football jig.

How far did you have to travel to find your fish? If you are willing, please give the general area(s) of the lake you fished.

Johnathan – I had a short run across the lake. Went to the steepest point I found in practice. They were busting top water as soon as I got there. The area I fished was between Shell Knob and Campbell Point.

Tyler – Started my morning off by almost catching a limit within sight of the ramp. Then it was full speed covering water one way until the tourney was over. I went a long way.

Troy – I did an 8-mile round trip near Kings River Marina and found fish here and there.

Jacob – About 100 yards from launch, I was in the Baxter area of the lake.

Spencer – The only place I could find a bite all day was docks and sometimes there were some long stretches with none. I only ended up fishing about 10 docks all day and as soon as I ran out of docks in my area I didn’t cull for the last 2 hours.

What depth range were you looking for (what was your water temp/clarity)?

Johnathan – I was fishing anywhere from 20 to 60 ft of water. All of the fish I was targeting were suspended. Throughout the day the water seemed to get a little more stained from all the boat traffic. I consistently saw 78 to 80° water temps.

Tyler – I don’t run electronics on my kayak. But the water temp was probably 76-77 and I was targeting docks and shallow structure

Troy – I tried a jig in 15-20 ft around standing timber for about 10 casts and spent the rest of the day in 0-5ft

Jacob – I was concentrating on what I thought was the 8-15 ft depth range. I don’t use electronics so not sure. Lol

Spencer – No specific depth. I caught some under walkways in a foot of water and some off the ends in 20ft.

Did you lose any fish that would have made a difference or do you have a story to tell about your biggest bass of the day?

Johnathan – I did lose some fish throughout the day. Fortunately, I never got a good look at them so I wasn’t sure if they would have helped or not. The big bass of the day was not expected. It was inside a small creek off a main lake point I was fishing. On FFS I couldn’t tell if it was a big fish or not. As soon as it started pulling drag it felt good. It took a little bit of patience with 8lb test.

Tyler – Lost a big fish first thing in the morning along with getting bites from about 6 other big fish on the glide that just didn’t fully commit to eating it…. Big fish came on the Butcher glide and it was just an awesome experience catching that fish on something I made in a tournament.

Troy – Yes, I lost two. One was an 18+ on a Chad Shad early and the other was a 19.75 with an hour left. I had it on the board and almost cried when it launched itself up and over the gunwale of the Hobie.  I’ll place the net in front of my board from now on.

Jacob – I had one that was probably 18-19 inches get off. It might have tied me with Enke, but he had me out kicked.

Spencer – I only lost 1 fish all day and it got stuck in a brush pile in the thickest and darkest pocket of the dock. Hard saying how big it was.

See any wildlife worth mentioning?

Johnathan – A lot of wake boats and cigarette boats. If you can call that wild life.

Tyler – Not really.

Troy – I experienced an epic shad spawn within a quarter mile of the ramp.

Jacob – No

Spencer – No

What are your tournament fishing plans for 2024?

Johnathan – Moyak. The only focus this year is Moyak. I wanted to fish some BASS events but decided to stay local.

Tyler – Hopefully get the river series AOY again for back-to-back and go for the lake series AOY as well!

Troy – I think I have every weekend except for two booked until November. I’m looking forward to finishing the MoYak Solo series and the Eco Fishing Big Bass 250 on Lake of the Ozarks in late October.

Jacob – Fish out MoYak series.

Spencer – As far as the rest of the 2024 tournament schedule goes for me I plan to fish the rest of MoYak’s main Saturday series tournaments and the Big Bass 250 at the end of the year. Extremely blessed to have done this well so far but I know the work’s not done yet and I’m excited for what’s to come.

Do you have any sponsor or personal shout-outs you’d like to give?

Johnathan – Sara, is always supportive and helpful in my fishing. My biggest fan!  Eco Fishing Shop, I may work full time for them but they really believe in supporting anglers and kayak fishing. I couldn’t do it without them.

Tyler – Eco fishing shop, Vibe kayaks, Chum glides

Troy – My sweet wife, Bekah, Eco Fishing Shop, and our fearless leader, Josh Boothe.

Jacob – Nope

Spencer – Special thank you to MoYak for hosting such great events and Eco Fishing Shop for all their support and help along the way.

Derby Stats
Anglers 66
Fish caught – 328 (FPA – 4.97)
Total limits – 37 (56%)
Margin of victory – .5″
Twenty+ Club – Johnathan Dominguez (22″), Troy Enke (20.75″)
Trash Pot – Eric Easter – 36″ Gar
Smallest Bass Award – Diana Dobbs 7.25″
Air temp at launch – 65
Air temp at takeout – 78
Water temps reported – Mid 70s to Low 80s

Stockton, Missouri – The Eco Fishing Shop – MoYak Kayak Bass Trail Series Stop #3 greeted 65 anglers with bluebird skies and water in the bushes and rising on Stockton Lake. Catching a limit was not a problem for most. With 72% of the field reporting at least five fish and a FPA of 5.6, the late-spring bite was on!  In the top ten, there were seven bags over 80″ and only 3.5″ separating them. Coming off his recent River Series win, Aaron Gardner led the pack at the end of the day with 83.5″. For his efforts, Aaron took home $770!

Trevor Motzkus and Josh Keatts of Team Highly DeBaitable grabbed their first team victory of the year. Their six bass tallied 97.75″ which earned them $400 and two pairs of SolarBat Sunglasses.

 

 

 

Blake Weilant’s 20″ bass was the only 20+ entered which earned him $300!

Here are your top ten for the 2024 MoYak Stop #3 Stockton Lake presented by Eco Fishing Shop.

Aaron Gardner – 83.5″
Spencer O’Neal – 82″
Chad Davison – 82″
Josh Keatts – 81.5″
Mike Dent – 80.75″
Dakota Dunklin – 80.25″
Eric Easter – 80″
Blake Weilant – 79.75″
Tyy Ward – 78″
Daniel AuBuchon – 78″

Let’s take a closer look at the top five finishers and hear how they solved the puzzle on Stockton in their own words:

What was your strategy going into the day?

Aaron – I didn’t have much strategy going into the day as I had zero prefishing. Watching the water level all week was the deciding factor in my game plan. I knew if it was high enough, bushes would come into play and I would concentrate my day flipping my heart away.

Spencer – My plan going into the day was flipping flooded bushes all day. The water level was about 4ft high and I’ve fished Stockton plenty during the spawn so I had an idea of where to go.

Chad – I was hoping for an early topwater bite and then planned to throw a wacky stickworm the rest of the day since that was my best bite in practice.

Josh – I have never had much success at Stockton so I decided to go somewhere completely new,  I went to a ramp that I had scoped out in the past and knew the area held good fish.  I had about a 2-2.5 mile run to get to the creek that I wanted to fish, I started just outside the creek throwing buzz baits, whopper ploppers, and a popper without a sniff.  After 45 min of that, I decided to switch to a spinner bait, I was throwing it as far as I could into the bushes and slow rolling it back to the boat.  Later in the afternoon, I started throwing a glide in the cleaner water, the first follower ate the follow-up wack-o from AAFC Bait Co, next cast I had another one so I threw that the rest of the afternoon. I was able to cull up 2 times in the last hour.

Mike – I had heard the water was up so I went in with the state of mind to target fish in bushes

Were you able to prefish and did you find anything that helped you on game day?

Aaron – No prefish

Spencer – I’ve been tied up with work so prefishing wasn’t an option for me.  I decided to pick an area that I knew a lot of people wouldn’t hit and I’ve had success at in the past.

Chad – Yes, I did practice the day before for about 6-7 hours, but didn’t get on the water until the sun was up.   I was able to locate an area that had fish, and found a shallow bite, so I had a basic gameplan.

Josh – No prefishing

Mike – I did not prefish at all I rarely ever prefish I got down to Stockton about 9 pm Friday night .

What was your best finish on Stockton before this?

Aaron – This is my best finish on Stockton so far. My first winter series there I think managed a 5th or 6th. All other times I was mid-pack.

Spencer – This tournament was the complete opposite of how I did last year.  Only had 53 inches and it was all I could find by the dam, finished close to last in the standings.

Chad – Tied for 1st in 2021, but lost the tie-breaker, so 2nd I guess.

Josh – 23rd the last two years

Mike – I believe it was 16th place last year

What was the general tackle you used on game day?

Aaron – I caught my first couple of fish on a white fluke. A couple on the tube but my main hitter was a baby brush hog with the tail dipped in chartreuse.

Spencer –Bone strike king popper in the morning, weightless Yamamoto Senko all day, Ned rig with a Missle Baits Ned bomb in the afternoon.

Chad – Ended up catching 3 of my best 5 on a popper, and 2 on a texas rigged beaver.

Josh – War Eagle Screamin Eagle Spinnerbait and a Junebug Wack-O from AAFC Bait Co.

Mike – Finesse worm fluke and senko on a bed head wacky.

How far did you have to travel to find your fish? If you are willing, please give the general area(s) of the lake you fished.

Aaron – I didn’t have to travel far. Maybe about a mile all day going back and forth on 2 different stretches. I stayed in view of my truck most of the day. I was around the Cedar Park area. I was fortunate to be able to stay in the same creek all day.

Spencer – I found my fish all fairly close to my launch up a river arm. Caught fish anywhere from the backs of creeks to the main lake and in-between.

Chad – Stayed within a mile of the ramp and fished lower lake.

Josh – I fished E of Ruark Bluff, had about a 2 mile run to the mouth of the creek arm and fished that whole creek most of the day until late when I went to the main lake area and fished some bluffs.

Mike – I traveled about a mile to get to my spot i was fishing around Mutton Creek

What depth range were you looking for (what was your water temp/clarity)?

Aaron – After the first few fish, I decided to keep my water 5 foot or less. If I went any deeper, I wasn’t getting bit or it would be little guys. I actually shut my sonar off all day as I usually do when I’m dirt shallow so I didn’t see the water temp but once. I think it was low 70s and had about 2-foot visibility.

Spencer – All of my bites came from about 1-8ft of water and my visibility had some stain to it, probably around 2ft of visibility. I was pretty surprised by how warm the water had gotten as the day went on. The warmest area being around 78 degrees.

Chad – Water temp was lower 70’s and about 4’ of visibility.   Popper fish were over 10’-15’ of water.   Beaver fish were less than 5’ deep.

Josh – Less than 10ft all day

Mike – I was looking for depth of 10 to zero feet water temp was 67 visibility was 4 feet

Did you lose any fish that would have made a difference or do you have a story to tell about your biggest bass of the day?

Aaron – I did lose one fish that might have given me another half inch or so but I only seen it for a split second. I had blue gill beds under me and it seemed like every indention in the bush line behind them held a fish. My better fish came around those beds.

Spencer – Caught a 19″ post spawner in the morning on a Senko and had to get in the bushes to dig it out. Also had what I believe to be about a 16-inch fish come off at the boat on a Ned rig that would’ve possibly put me in 1st with an hour to go.

Chad – I did not lose any fish that would have helped.   I caught my last upgrade with 6min to go in the event, and that last cull is what bumped me up to 3rd.

Josh – Pretty clean all day, did lose the tension cap on my spinning reel so I ended the day throwing a weightless wack-O on a baitcaster the last 2 hrs.  Shimano SLX MGL 70 is amazing

Mike – I had a fish over 20 come up out of a tree thought it ate my senko but it missed it outside of that I fished clean

See any wildlife worth mentioning?

Aaron – No abnormal sightings of wildlife. But I will say after all these years I still find it neat to watch the bucks protect their fry. It’s awesome to watch nature in its prime, following their instincts. The carp were absolutely insane, they were all but flopping on the bank trying to get their spawn on.

Spencer – No report

Chad – Not that I can recall

Josh – Not much wildlife this time, but the most amazing sunrise ever

Mike – Couple turtles

What are your tournament fishing plans for 2024?

Aaron – My plan for the rest of the year is to keep plugging away at the MoYak Lake series and river series. Also, try to jump into as many AAKS as time allows. Also, jump into Sunday series and midweeks too.

Spencer – As far as the rest of the 2024 tournament season goes I plan to fish the rest of the main series Saturday events. It’ll be a good learning experience seeing as I haven’t fished hardly any of the remaining lakes for this year but it’ll be a good time regardless of how I finish.

Chad – Focusing on MOYak Trail, Onlines, and AAKS.

Josh – Moyak lake and river series.

Mike – Really unknown at this point. My sister was killed in a hit-and-run walking home from the gas station on St Patrick’s Day since then I was going to quit fishing and sell my kayak the reason I didn’t sign up for Truman Moyak is the all American was going to be my last tournament but I’ll just let time decide on what the year holds.

Do you have any sponsor or personal shout-outs you’d like to give?

Aaron – I do want to thank all my sponsors for everything they do to keep myself and others on the water. Makes life a lot easier when your gear keeps up with the amount of days we spend on the water. Also my fellow Eco guys. We have a blast at camps and we’re always willing to lend each other a hand. This is only my second year competing and I owe a lot to some of them for having my back.

Spencer – I want to thank Eco Fishing Shop for the continued support and congratulations to the rest of the winners for this event. I’d also like to thank MOYAK and Joshua Boothe for hosting these great events.

Chad – Old Town, H2 Bait Design, Everharts Outdoors, Cashion Rods, Council Bluff Crankbaits, Dungarees Carhartt, and Apex Tackle Co.    Shout out to Josh for all his work, Troy for all his behind-the-scenes work to support the series, and Dominguez for doing pics, social, and podcasts.  It is all much appreciated!

Josh – As always the Eco Fishing BW132 handled the long runs like a champ. Bait WRX for all the tackle and AAFC for the Wack-O and all my other plastics.

Mike – Id like to thank you and Josh for all the hard work you guys put in and Jonathan Dominguez for getting us a podcast and lake information always a great watch.

Derby Stats
Anglers 65
Fish caught – 365 (FPA – 5.6)
Total limits – 47 (72%)
Margin of victory – 1.5″
Twenty+ Club – Blake Weilant (20″)
Trash Pot – Lando Mitchell – 20.25″ Catfish
Smallest Bass Award – William Abell 8″
Air temp at launch – 61
Air temp at takeout – 78
Water temps reported – Low to Mid 70s

Forsyth, Missouri – With amazing September weather, 4.73 Fish Per Angler, 60% of the field with a limit, and Patrick Bowman’s 21.5″ Big Bass, we finally had a great all-around tournament in 2023. Bull Shoals showed out for Stop #6 of the 2023 MoYak Fishing Series Kayak Bass Trail sponsored by Old Town Kayaks.

After the dust settled, Troy Enke, with 90″, narrowly edged Lance Burris’ last-hour comeback by 3.25″.

Rookie Zachary Woolverton secured yet another top-ten finish and has a 13-point lead in the AOY race. His efforts set the stage for a battle at our final event on Lake of the Ozarks.  Chad Davison and Lance Burris will try to chase the rookie down on their home lake in October.  On the team side, Dorman Hughey and Troy Enke rode Dorman’s pattern to a decisive win over Team Glide or Die (Jake Pruett and Tyler Cokely).

Here are your top ten for the 2023 MoYak Stop #6 Bull Shoals presented by Everhart’s Outdoors.

Troy Enke – 90″
Lance Burris – 86.75″
Cole Armer – 83.25″
Lyle Dube – 82.5″
Pat Lassek – 82.25″
Zachary Woolverton – 81.75″
Jerry Cornelius – 80.25″
Josh Keatts – 79.5″
Michael Sandlin – 78.5″
Patrick Bowman – 78.25″

Let’s take a closer look at the top five finishers and hear how they solved the puzzle on Wappapello in their own words:

What was your strategy going into the day?

• Troy – Just hope for a limit after hearing all the negative dock talk leading up to the event.
• Lance – Just start covering water till I started to put something together.
• Cole – My plan was to cover water and fish channel swings, then fish brush piles in the afternoon.
• Lyle – My strategy going into the day was to stick with a summer pattern, although the water temps seemed to have dropped pretty dramatically, Fishing steeper rocky main lake banks.
• Pat – I was hoping for a mid-80s temp on tourney day…well, I got it but the fish weren’t biting.

Were you able to prefish and did you find anything that helped you on game day?

• Troy – No, I went in blind and leaned on my team partner’s advice.
• Lance – Did not get time to prefish.
• Cole – I didn’t get any time to prefish.
• Lyle – I practiced Friday but very little. I was pretty sure I knew where I wanted to spend my time and didn’t want to beat it up much. Caught a few fish and that definitely gave me confidence for tourney day.
• Pat – I had a good prefishing day before.

What was the general tackle you used on game day?

• Troy – Popper with a feathered treble on the back, Mid-sized Plopper in T-1000 color, Spro Bronzeye Frog, and Jackhammer.  Abu-Garcia BlackMax bait casters, 13 Fishing Blackout 7′ M/H rods, TrikFish 20lb Camo Mono (30lb braid on the frog rod).
• Lance – Kistler 7’3″ mh paired with their 8.1:1 Chromium reel throwing a black and gold CrockOgator buzzbait and a white spook.
• Cole – Mid-size whopper plopper and a small Yo-zuri popper.
• Lyle – Throughout the day I mixed in a few different baits to see what I could make work but a 1/2 OZ Jig on a 7’ 6” casting set got all my bites except for one.
• Pat – Jig and plastic worm.

How far did you have to travel to find your fish?

• Troy – I began catching fish around 7 a.m. around a mile from the ramp. I covered 8 miles during the day and only had three bites after noon but all were over 15″ and all on the frog on shady bluff banks.
• Lance – Caught my fish within a quarter mile of the ramp and covered about 5 miles.
• Cole – I traveled about 2.5 miles from the ramp.
• Lyle – I did not travel very far at all to find my fish. Never went more than a mile from the ramp I used.
• Pat – I had about a 30 min pedal to my spot which didn’t matter cause it was still dark for 20 more minutes… During this time, I got hung up twice.

What depth range were you looking for (what was your water temp/clarity)?

• Troy – I was looking for an all-day topwater bite but I didn’t get one till around 11 a.m. Water temp in the 60’s to start then mid-70s the further down the lake I went. Clarity seemed to change from inches to several feet every 1/4 mile.
• Lance – Found everything 2-3′ deep by the bank or in the center of the channel blowing up on shad. The water temp was 70 and 6″ to 4′ of clarity.
• Cole – I ended up catching them in the very backs of pockets, everything being in less than 4ft. Water visibility was 4-5ft and water temp was 80 degrees.
• Lyle – I was looking for deep banks. Really just pitching the jig up and working it down maybe 12’ before pulling it back. The water was not clear at all. Maybe a foot of visibility, which is comfortable for me.
• Pat – 3′ to 6′

Was there anything else special about the day?

• Troy – I was excited to see grass growing so far down the lake. I hope it holds! I caught two limits of fish over 15″ from 7-11 a.m.
• Lance – Half of my limit came from random blowups throughout the day.
• Cole – I found a very unique bite. The bass were corralling tiny minnows in the backs of pockets, and the only thing I could get bit on was the popper that looked almost exactly like one of those minnows struggling on the surface. After I figured out that was what was going on, I ran about 8 pockets and caught fish in all of them.
• Lyle – The only thing really special about my day kind of plays in the next question. The special thing was the amount of bites I was able to get. I did not fish clean through the morning.
• Pat – Figured out the smallmouth moved in and the largemouth wouldn’t bite that well… I didn’t get my first fish til around 8. I knew the morning bite was done, so I just stuck it out and fished buck brush in 3-6 feet of water with a jig and plastic worm and was able to scrape together a limit of mostly smallmouth.

Did you lose any fish that would have made a difference or do you have a story to tell about your biggest bass of the day?

• Troy – I fished clean for once and it paid off.  My biggest demolished my frog next to a bluff transition. It all happened so fast that I didn’t have time to get nervous and it jumped next to the boat and then came off in the net after a five-second fight.
• Lance – Didn’t lose anything, fished pretty clean. The biggest bass of the day came with 20 minutes remaining, blowing up on shad.
• Cole – I lost one good one that would have culled me up another inch or two. The fish jumped right next to the kayak and went higher than my head. Most acrobatic fish I’ve seen…
• Lyle – Lost 3 fish I’m certain would have helped. It was extremely frustrating but I kept pitching.
• Pat – I missed one nice one on a buzz bait in the morning, and that was it. Around mid-day, I was fortunate enough to get a 19.50″ largie to bite.

See any wildlife worth mentioning?

• Troy – A couple of beavers and several deer.
• Lance – Saw a wild Dorman in his natural environment.
• Cole – Saw two nice bucks crossing the road on my way to the ramp.
• Lyle – No report.
• Pat – No report.
• Zachary – No report.

Compared to Beaver, Table Rock, Taneycomo, and Norfork, where would you rank Bull Shoals in the White River chain?

• Troy – I’d place it third behind Taney and Table Rock.
• Lance – I would rank Bull Shoals as the top Lake for catching fish there any time of the year with Taneycomo only coming in second because of the size of the bass in that lake.
• Cole – I love Table Rock, but with all the attention and pressure it’s getting right now, I think Bull Shoals might fly under the radar as the best lake on the chain. Taneycomo is a different animal…
• Lyle – Bull Shoals is the only lake on the river chain that I’ve fished yet. I’ve had a really great time on the two visits I’ve had and it is beautiful. I look forward to fishing all the lakes in the chain though! I get to fish Table Rock in two weeks!
• Pat – No report.

What does the rest of your season look like?

• Troy – I have two MoYak events and the Big Bass 250/Mo Kayak B.A.S.S. Nation event on LOZ then maybe some Moyak winter events.
• Lance – I’ve got 5 tournaments remaining, the river championship, Bassmaster Susquehanna event, Moyak LOZ, Moyak Championship, and Big Bass 250.
• Cole – This was probably the last event of the season for me, I’ve got a one-year-old son and another on the way so I’m gonna be busy with dad duty. But I always enjoy fishing with MOYAK when I get the opportunity!
• Lyle – The rest of my first season is getting short! I’m currently looking at two more events in the next two weekends! A local Kansas City event, the Jackson County Kayak Bass Tournament, and then the KAMO classic on Table Rock.
• Pat – No report.

Do you have any sponsor or personal shout-outs you’d like to give?

• Troy – Huge shout-out to Dorman Hughey for putting me on the pattern he found. Thanks to my wife and family, Eco Fishing Shop, and Z-PRO Lithium!
• Lance – Shoutout to Kistler, their products never fail me. Crock O Gator, EcoFishingShop, Robohawk, Bonafide Kayaks, YakAttack, Ole Blue Tackle, ABC Mowers.
• Cole – Just a major shout out to my beautiful wife for taking care of our son while I got to go fish!
• Lyle – I have no sponsors but shout out to my wife Lauren because she lets me get out and learn this stuff and she has been super supportive of all the traveling and being away! She’s the best. And shout out to my brother Adrian! He’s my guy in this and we’ve been having a blast!
• Pat – None.

Derby Stats
Anglers 62
Fish caught – 293
Total limits – 37 (60%)
Margin of victory – 3.75″
Twenty+ Club – Patrick Bowman (21.25″) Zach Armstrong (20.25″)
Trash Pot – Josiah Rangel – 14″ Walleye
Smallest Bass Award – Chris Moyher 7.25″
Air temp at launch – 65
Air temp at takeout – 82
Water temps reported – Mid 60s to mid 80s

Lake Wappapello, Missouri – Stop #5 of the 2023 MoYak Fishing Series Kayak Bass Trail sponsored by Old Town Kayaks saw just 43 anglers on a steamy Saturday in August. Heat indices over 120 degrees tested even the toughest of our club during the week leading up to the event and they didn’t get much relief on game day.  If the heat didn’t get you the bugs did as the local Dollar General reported record sales of mosquito repellant and sunscreen.

The fish-per-angler ratio of 3.70 was the lowest we’ve seen in any trail series tournament to date.  To make matters worse, less than half the field caught a limit and we only saw one bass over 19.25″.

Robert Swearngin came away with the victory by catching 88.5″, beating out Josh Keatts by 3.75″.  The ROY year race got even tighter as rookie sensation Zachary Woolverton’s 11th place finish helped close the gap on Chad Davison who managed Big Bass honors again by catching a 21.5″ Wappapello unicorn.  On the team side, Slap that bass, consisting of Robert Swearngin and Perry Burton came away as victors.

Here are your top ten for the 2023 MoYak Stop #5 Wappapello presented by Everhart’s Outdoors.

Robert Swearngin – 88.5″
Josh Keatts – 84.75″
Lance Burris – 80″
Micah Funderburgh – 76.5″
Joe Hayes – 74″
Anthony Brown – 73.5″
Eric Easter – 72.25″
Troy Enke – 70″
Jacob Johnson – 68.25″
Mike Dent – 67.75″

Let’s take a closer look at the top five finishers and hear how they solved the puzzle on Wappapello in their own words:

What was your strategy going into the day?

• Robert – I wanted to focus on staying with my game plan.  I knew I could catch numbers of fish flipping bushes; however, the quality wasn’t there.  I knew if I stuck to my game plan, I could put together a solid bag. I also knew it would be a mental game with the intense heat.
• Josh – Normally I cover lots of water when I fish, this trip was different. I had found a small run of fish and I knew I’d have to go through them a few times to pick up a limit.
• Lance – Just go fish and get a limit.
• Micah – In practice, they were chewing a black and blue chatterbait shallow near channel swing banks. But that was not the case in the tournament so I ended up go with the wacky rig.
• Joe – Literally get 5 bites and don’t miss… That was it

Were you able to prefish and did you find anything that helped you on game day?

• Robert – Yes.  I had been keeping an eye on the lake levels for about 10 days prior to the tournament and had noticed that they had been falling 6-8 inches per day.  I was able to fish a little bit Thursday evening.  When I saw the water temperature and the reality of how quickly the lake was falling, I knew I would have to find something offshore in order to find quality fish.  I found a ledge where my graph absolutely lit up with fish and the thermocline broke down a bit allowing them to go a bit deeper. I also found a giant rock pile well over a half mile offshore that was lit up as well.  Fortunately, I didn’t need to hit it on tournament day.
• Josh – I pre-fished for a total of 4 hours. In the last hour of that time I found the pattern I used all tournament day.
• Lance – I did get to practice and all I got out of it was two places to not fish and there might be a topwater bite.
• Micah – I was able to prefish and the only thing that helped me on tournament day was finding a good area. The bait/pattern that was money in prefishing fell flat on tournament day.
• Joe – Being the closest lake we fish to me (just over 2 hours) I was able to come down a couple of weeks before the event and fish a section of the river that looked nice for a few hours. Didn’t blow them away but caught enough to think I might go there on tournament day. And we came down Thursday night before the tourney so I also fished Friday morning with zero success at a different spot. Ended up going back to the river

Had you ever fished Wappapello before this tournament, if so, how’d you do?

• Robert – Never been there.
• Josh – No never been there
• Lance – Never seen the lake before.
• Micah – Nope
• Joe – Other than the one prefish a couple of weeks prior to the tournament, I had fished it once before and caught nothing.

What was the general tackle you used on game day?

• Robert – Big ugly crankbait and a big ugly jig.
• Josh – Everything was caught on a white spinner bait with silver and gold blades and a white chatter bait with gold blade
• Lance – 7’ Kistler Helium medium heavy casting rod with 8:1 Kistler Chromium reel with 40# braid. Crockogator1/2 oz head knocker buzzbait all day
• Micah – Spinning tackle Buzzbait and wacky rig fished like a fluke ended up being what they wanted.
• Joe – Square bills, Texas rigged lizard, Senko, and Crock o Gator buzzbait

How far did you have to travel to find your fish?

• Robert – I stayed within ½ mile of where I launched.
• Josh –200yrds from the ramp and they were all in a 400-yard stretch
• Lance – Covered about 7 miles of banks.
• Micah – In practice, I put in about 14 miles in the yak to find about a mile stretch that I liked for the tournament.
• Joe – Not terribly far. But I never really sat in one spot long so I imagine I put a few miles in.

What depth range were you looking for (what was your water temp/clarity)?

• Robert – Most of my fish came 8′-12′ deep.  Water temp was 88 in the morning and 93 by the afternoon with about a foot of visibility.
• Josh – I was fishing the flooded bushes, clarity was pretty minimal and water temps started at 86 and jumped to 93 by the end of the day
• Lance – Focused on 2-6′ of water on channel swings with clay mud banks clarity was probably 1-2′ and 85-90 degrees.
• Micah – Less than 6 feet, water temp was stupid hot and varied in clarity.
• Joe – I’m a shallow water guy so I didn’t stray far from my strengths. Clarity….. We’re talking clarity? Lol that place is a mud hole maybe 6 inches at best most of the time. Temps started around 86 and made it to the low 90s later.

What did you do to keep yourself hydrated?

• Robert – I went through 6 big bottles of water and limited myself to only 2 Monster energy drinks that day.  A little ice from the cooler put in my hat felt good too
• Josh – Water and Gatorade packets, I also like to keep frozen bottles so I can put them in between my life jacket and chest when I get real hot
• Lance – I drank 15 oz of Monster coffee, 16 oz of chocolate milk (with my donuts), and 3- 28 oz bottles of Gatorade.
• Micah – Drank a bunch of Gatorade.
• Joe – This is always a problem for me. I rarely ever stop to eat or drink on tournament days. I remembered that I packed a water and a dew around noon. Drank them both and got back to it.

Anything else special about the day?

• Robert – Boat traffic; most people curse it, however on a bite like that, the fish always seemed to fire up after a big boat went by.
• Josh – My daughter’s name is Asher, so I knew I had to check it out during prefish. It led to some good fishing, I guess I owe my wife a thank you for picking her name.
• Lance – I woke up an hour late putting me at the ramp right when everyone else was took off.
• Micah – The mosquitoes were terrible for everyone.
• Joe – Not getting any diseases after going through that mosquito nonsense feels pretty special.

Big Bass Story?

• Robert – My biggest bass was a 19″er That was about the sickest thing I’ve seen in a while.  Poor thing probably didn’t weigh 2 pounds.
• Josh – No big bass to speak of, haven’t been able to find one all year.
• Lance –  Chad barely beat my 19.25″ out for big bass so I had second big bass.
• Micah – My biggest was 19″ and it hit a buzzbait about 5in from the kayak so, that was a rush for sure!
• Joe – My two biggest fish came early and not terribly far from each other. It was an area that looked and set up perfect but I didn’t get a bite there in my trip before so I almost skipped it. Glad I didn’t.

See any wildlife worth mentioning?

• Robert – Some people say it was a beaver, but I swear it was a gator….
• Josh – 5 ft nope rope that was as big around as a baseball bat
• Lance – Three danger noodles were out and about.
• Micah – Lots of mosquitoes.
• Joe – Not really.

Lose any fish that would have made a difference?

• Robert – I fished fairly clean.  I only missed 1 or 2 bites.
• Josh – Not really
• Lance – I lost two bass in the 16-17″ range that would have given me a decent shot at 2nd
• Micah – I lost 2 fish in the last 10 min that would have made 3rd place a tight race. I had a trailer hook on the spinnerbait I was throwing and it seemed to be messing up the hookset rather than helping.
• Joe – Just a gar that might’ve been a decent trash fish. The bastard stole one of my favorite balsa square bills though so I wasn’t too thrilled about it.

If you had a choice to fish Wappapello or Mark Twain which would you choose and why?

• Robert – Mark Twain – In my opinion, it fishes a lot like Truman (Which I like) and not as swampy.
• Josh – Mark Twain, bc I’ve never been there either
• Lance – Mark Twain because I haven’t tried it yet and I seem to get lucky on sucky lakes like Table Rock.
• Micah – Both are 4 hours+ from my house and not terribly great lakes so I don’t feel like there is a good answer. From what I have heard I’d probably go Wappapello but in the spring or fall, all the locals were saying it wasn’t a very good hot water lake and I agree.
• Joe – Never been to Twain, and certainly don’t love the wap but if it’s on the schedule I’m game to give anything a go.

Derby Stats
Anglers 43
Fish caught – 159
Total limits – 21 (49%)
Margin of victory – 3.75″
Trash Pot – Robert Swearngin (18.5″ Drum)
Smallest Bass Award – Johnathan Dominguez 7.75″
Air temp at launch – 80
Air temp at takeout – 95
Water temps reported – Mid to High 90’s

Truman Reservoir, Missouri – Stop #4 of the 2023 MoYak Fishing Series Kayak Bass Trail sponsored by Old Town Kayaks welcomed 85 anglers to an unusually low Truman Lake. Fluctuating lake levels on Truman are just part of figuring out the puzzle for these Ozarks flood control lakes. In 2021 we had three feet more water with the lake at nearly 708′ and in 2022 there was a 11.5′-foot rise compared to Saturday’s 705′.

The fish-per-angler ratio of 4.38 was an improvement over the steady decline we saw from 2020 (4.9 FPA) to 2022 (3.7 FPA). There were seven more limits uploaded than in 2022 with 58% of the field submitting a limit of bass this time around. Just like Stockton earlier this month, the competition was tough with only 10.5″ separating the top 20! However, Stockton wins the race when it comes to the number of fish caught in June with nearly 100 more bass taken during our derby a few weeks ago.

Jared Fosnow continued his dominance over Truman by taking the crown. Fosnow secured an 84.5″ bag, narrowly edging out his closest competitor, Mason Brock who nearly went back-to-back! The ROY year race continues to tighten as rookie sensations Zachary Woolverton and Pat Lassek each clawed their way to another top-ten finish. Chad Davison wrestled a 20.25″ bass out of a stump field to take home Big Bass honors along with a $600 check.

On the team side, Everharts A-Team, consisting of Chad Davison and Chris Robbs, secured a back-to-back victory with a combined total of 97″. With this win, they take a 27-point lead in the Team AOY (Angler of the Year) race into stop #5 at Wappapello in August.

Here are your top ten for the 2023 MoYak Stop #4 Truman presented by Everhart’s Outdoors.

Jared Fosnow – 84.75″
Mason Brock – 81.75″
Zachary Woolverton – 81.5″
Robert Swearngin – 80.75″
Aaron Shimmel – 78.75″
Pat Lassek – 78.75″
Tyy Ward – 78.5″
Chad Davison – 78.25″
Jake Pruett – 78″
Chris Gilbert – 77.75″

Team Winners
Everharts A-Team (Chad Davison & Chris Robbs) 97″ (Best 3 from each angler)

Let’s take a closer look at the top six finishers and hear how they solved the puzzle on Truman in their own words:

What was your strategy going into the day?

• Jared – Throwing topwater as long as I could then switch to looking for suspended fish along with hitting brush piles and beds.
• Mason – Rely on what I found in practice.
• Zachary – I started by working a bluff point with submerged timber and I hoped to find fish shallow early and then slow it down and just pitch trees all day long.
• Robert – Not to run around, stay on the main lake.  I found some fish while prefishing and I planned on staying on them all day.  I went old school and used a big purple paddle tail worm Texas rigged 95% of the day.
• Aaron – Keep it simple and stick to the plan.
• Pat – My strategy was to get a limit early no matter what the size and try to upgrade thru the day.. I seem to fish better once I have 5 out of the way.

Were you able to prefish and did you find anything that helped you on game day?

• Jared – Due to a lower back injury I elected to not prefish for this one.
• Mason – Yes, found bass relating to Bream on key banks.
• Zachary – Nope
• Robert – Yes, I was able to prefish on Thursday.  I was told that the river arms were dead.  I was able to confirm that.  I moved to the Osage Bluff/Fairfield area and located some fish and lots of baitfish.
• Aaron – No prefishing, just showed up to fish.
• Pat –  I pre fished my all american spot, which was terrible

What was your best finish on Truman before this?

• Jared – This was my first MOYAK tournament on Truman Lake. But this made my 4th kayak win this year here and I think 7th Truman win in a kayak.
• Mason – 30th of 179 in the last classic. Big bass in June, Moyak 2021
• Zachary – This was my first.
• Robert – This was my first Kayak tournament on Truman.  I have won several club events and have a couple top 5 finishes in the Fish For Sight tournament years ago.
• Aaron – 79th in the 2023 AAKS. This was my fourth time ever fishing Truman.
• Pat – my best finish at Truman was 2nd in the inaugural All-American classic 2020.

What was the general tackle you used?

• Jared – Crock-O-Gator head knocker buzzbait, ARK 110 suspending jerkbait, Crock-O-Gator 6” Junior COG worm on a drop shot, Crock-O-Gator 7.25” COG worm on a 5/16 Shaker Pro jig head, All on ARK rods with Daiwa Tatula reels spooled with Seaguar line.
• Mason – Finesse jig
• Zachary – 5in Spark Shad by mega bass, 6″ Senko pb and j, Strike king white Buzzbait, Bass pro tungsten Jig pb and j
• Robert – Big purple paddle tail worm with a 3/16 weight
• Aaron – 4 of 5 keepers were caught cranking, the other was on a whopper plopper.
• Pat – I was able to get a dinky limit in an hr fishing shallow using a Rapala brat, then, a wacky worm and a jig.

How far did you have to travel to find your fish – General area of the lake you chose?

• Jared – I covered several miles but most of it for nothing as once you found one fish there were usually several others with it.
• Mason – Small creek, 2 miles from the ramp
• Zachary – I fished toward the north end of the lake fishing the cleaner waters instead of the muddy waters at the south end. I traveled the duration of the morning 30min launch time to get to the point I wanted to start at.
• Robert – I stayed fairly close to where I launched.  I fished between Osage Bluff and Fairfield all day.
• Aaron – Launched from Bucksaw Marina.
• Pat –  I went to an area mid-lake about 20 min pedal from my launch I’ve never fished before and was able to find a few small fish where I decided to fish tourney day, which I had to myself

What depth range were you looking for (what was your water temp/clarity)?

• Jared – Shallow early in less than 5’. Then moved out to 10’-14’ casting to suspended fish. But all the better fish ended up being in 18’-24’ and right on the bottom.
• Mason – 4-8ft
• Zachary – The morning was super shallow around 4 to 5ft in the timber and right off the bluff walls then transitioned to deep low and slow all day with jigs and worms around 12 to 15ft.
• Robert – I was fishing for suspended fish that were 5′-8′ deep.  They could be over 15′ deep or 45′ deep, or anywhere in between.
• Aaron – Initially, Top Water. then 0-8 ft.
• Pat – 10-15′ range off points and timber bluff walls.

Did the weather affect your bite?

• Jared – I don’t think it affected the bite but did affect the way I was hoping to get to fish for them. I really like throwing topwater to cover water. So I was wanting to see the thunderstorm they were calling for. Rain and heavy winds can make for a killer topwater bite on Truman this time of year.
• Mason – Something changed from practice to tournament. Practice day was an early morning bite. On tournament day, they bit better late, very late in the day.
• Zachary – The afternoon storm looked threatening but it pushed out and didn’t cause any problems then the wind picked up which made it difficult to fish without being blown into trees.
• Robert – Yes, it became cloudy during the middle of the day.  I think that caused my fish to scatter and not hold so tightly to the trees.
• Aaron – The Wind picked when I got my second 18″er.
• Pat – Once the sun came out I was able to upgrade a few times.

Anything else special about the day?

• Jared – Beautiful sunrise with us starting early for this one.
• Mason – Fish bit all day long. Was one for the memory bank that I will never forget! The last 3 casts of the day moved me from a 15th place finish, to a 5th place finish, then to a 2nd place finish.
• Zachary – No report.
• Robert – No report.
• Aaron – No report.
• Pat – Luckily I had a spare pedal drive because broke a fin rod off in practice.

Big Bass Story?

• Jared – My biggest was only 18 3/4” and was a pretty boring catch. It hit a COG worm on the first hop after dragging it past her. It felt just like the other 15”-16” fish I had been catching as it must have just swam towards the kayak.
• Mason – 3rd to last cast, flipped my jig on a shallow wind-blown tree. Couldn’t have fallen more than 4-5 inches and she picked up the jig. Ended up being a 19-inch last-minute kicker!
• Zachary – My big bass of the day came on a buzzbait. I saw the fish crash on baitfish right off the shore and I threw what I had in my hand at the time that being a buzzbait and as soon as it passed where he was the fish came up and swiped it under.
• Robert – I lucked out and caught a 19″ at 1:55 which made all of the difference in my day.
• Aaron – My biggest came after I’d just gotten back in my kayak from a brief (super refreshing) swimming excursion.
• Pat – No report.

See any wildlife worth mentioning?

• Jared – Had a beaver come up and slap its tail at me. A 29”-30” flathead and lots of “Mr. No Shoulders” snakes!!!
• Mason – No report.
• Zachary – No report.
• Robert – Had some trash pandas (raccoons) follow me down the bank for about an hour.
• Aaron – Raccoon
• Pat – No report.

Lose any bigguns?

• Jared – Nothing of any real size. I fished pretty clean other than two fish in the 16”-17” range.
• Mason – Thank goodness, no.
• Zachary – Early that morning the bass where chasing shad around me and I saw some nice fish blowing up 4 and 5in shad. I did have a couple of really nice blow-ups and some that completely blew my spark shad out of the water but I didn’t hook into that fish.
• Robert –  Luckily no!
• Aaron – No, But did have two mid sized rip the cord and eject off my catch board.
• Pat – I missed a nice upgrade late that jumped me off a stump working my way back to my ramp.

Do you plan to fish the remaining MoYak schedule?

• Jared – I am going to try to after seeing the updated AOY points and that I am sitting in 18th even with missing the Table Rock event. I think I will try to make the rest of the schedule to try to make my first Taney20 next spring. I would really like to make the top 10 in AOY points to be able to represent MOYAK again on the team side of the AAKC!!!
• Mason – Yes sir, excited for the rest of the events!
• Zachary – Yes, possibly missing Lake Wappapello due to the distance needed to travel.
• Robert – For sure!
• Aaron – Absolutely! So fun.
• Pat – I’m hoping to fish a couple more events.

Derby Stats
Anglers 85
Fish caught – 373
Total limits – 49 (58%)
Margin of victory – 2.75″
Trash Pot – Kolton Dauber (23″ Blue Cat)
Smallest Bass Award – Zach Armstrong, Lando Mitchel 9.25″
Air temp at launch – 75
Air temp at takeout – 89
Water temps reported – Mid to High 80’s

Stockton Lake, Missouri – In a thrilling showdown on a warm Saturday in early June, the MoYak Fishing Series Kayak Bass Trail sponsored by Old Town Kayaks held its third stop of the season on Stockton Lake. The event saw a record-breaking turnout of 88 anglers, who battled it out to secure their spot in the prestigious tournament. With an impressive fish-per-angler ratio of 5.52 and a remarkable 67% of the field submitting a limit of bass, it was fierce competition from start to finish. In fact, only 8.5″ separated the top 20!

At the end of the day, it was Mason Brock who emerged as the victor, claiming his first win with MoYak. Brock secured an 84.75″ bag, narrowly edging out his closest competitor, Chris Robbs, by 2.75″. Rounding out the top five were three rookies who are all in contention for the ROY title; Lando Mitchell, Zach Woolverton, and Pat Lassek.

On the team side, Everharts A-Team, consisting of Chad Davison and Chris Robbs, secured an impressive victory with a combined total of 99.5″. Their triumph not only solidified their dominance in the event but also gave them a substantial lead in the Team AOY (Angler of the Year) race as they head into the fourth stop of the season on Truman at the end of the month.

Mason Brock, the eventual winner, had planned to target schooling fish on or around main lake points. However, he quickly adjusted his strategy when he found that the fish were scattered. Brock capitalized on his adaptability and caught fish around points using a shaky head, drop shot, and finesse jig.

Chris Robbs, who finished in second place, employed a methodical approach, covering water and targeting post-spawn bass transitioning into their summer homes. Despite the tough pre-fishing conditions, Robbs slowed down his presentation and relied on a mix of topwater lures, crankbaits, and soft plastics.

Lando Mitchell, the third-place finisher, initially planned to throw topwater lures early and transition to crankbaits or chatterbaits. However, his strategy did not pan out as expected. Mitchell primarily relied on Texas-rigged worms throughout the day, with his final two fish coming from a bluff wall.

Zachary Woolverton, who finished fourth, had a comprehensive game plan that involved starting with topwater lures and gradually slowing down his presentation as the day progressed. Despite the challenges of the morning, Woolverton found success using an underspin with a 4-inch swimbait, a worm, a jig, and a chad shad.

Pat Lassek, who secured fifth place, employed a similar strategy, using topwater and moving baits early in the day and transitioning to a slower presentation once the sun was high. He targeted rock walls and points in the 8-12 ft range and managed to cull multiple times throughout the day.

Here are your top ten for the 2023 MoYak Stop #3 Stockton presented by Everhart’s Outdoors.

Mason Brock – 84.75″
Chris Robbs – 82″
Lando Mitchell – 81″
Zachary Woolverton – 80″
Pat Lassek – 80″
Joe Hayes – 79.75″
Brian Hillman – 79.75″
Trevor Motzkus – 79″
Cody Huffman – 79″
Johnathan Dominguez – 78.5″

Team Winners
Everharts A-Team (Chad Davison & Chris Robbs) 99.5 (Best 3 from each angler)

Let’s take a closer look at the top five finishers and hear how they navigated the challenging conditions on Stockton Lake in their own words:

What was your strategy going into the day?

• Mason – Looking for schooling fish on or around main lake points. Plan didn’t fully come into play. Schooling fish weren’t there. But they were scattered around the points.
• Chris – My strategy was to fish methodically and cover water. I figured the majority of fish were post spawn and moving into their summer homes.
• Lando – My strategy going in was to throw top water early and then transition to a crank bait, chatter bait, or something along those lines that was moving. That’s not what worked at all.
• Zachary – My plan was to start with top water throwing a spook and buzzbait shallow to find a fast limit hopefully then as the sun and heat started I would slow down cover water and look for upgrades throughout the day using a worm, jig, and a 4in swimbait on an underspin. I also threw the chad shad more as a searching bait to see if I could get followers or find some big fish then get the bite with another bait.
• Pat – Topwater and moving baits early then dragging something slow after the sun got high.

Were you able to prefish and did you find anything that helped you on game day?

• Mason – I wasn’t able to prefish.
• Chris – I was able to pre fish Friday. It helped a little bit. Prefishing was tough for me so I kind of knew I was going to have to slow down to get some bites and that I was going to need to learn on the fly.
• Lando – I did not get to pre fish. I’m actually new to Missouri all together. I did map studies on the lake and saw the lake for the first time at my launch.
• Zachary – Nope
• Pat – I fished a couple hrs Friday and found an area that I felt I could get a very small limit pretty quick.. I wasn’t very confident.

What was your best finish on Stockton before this?

• Mason – Took a few checks in small bass boat tournaments before getting into the kayak world. 4th in the Moyak winter series.
• Chris – 3rd
• Lando – As I stated before I’m new here. Still in my first year of living in Missouri so I’m still meeting people and learning everything I can about the area and culture.
• Zachary – This is my rookie season but I did fish Stockton Lake only last year and took 9th just out of the money.
• Pat – First time fishing Stockton.

What was the general tackle you used?

• Mason – Shaky Head, drop shot, finesse jig
• Chris – Mixed bag. Topwater, crankbaits, and soft plastics.
• Lando – Soft plastics have always been a big part of my arsenal. All but one of my catches came on Texas Rigged worms. That one other smallmouth was caught on a Cranky Yanky Jig.
• Zachary – I did not catch any top water fish and hadn’t figured much out until about 9 am when the worm and jig bite picked up in the timber and tree tops. I didn’t have much figured out. I used an underspin with a 4in swimbait, a 6th sense crankbait, a Senko worm, a pb and j jig, and a chad shad to catch my fish.
• Pat – My main baits were spinnerbait and frog fishing shallow

How far did you have to travel to find your fish – General area of the lake you chose?

• Mason – Pretty much started fishing the main lake from my ramp around mid-lake and heading north. I did point hop for roughly 4-4.5 miles.
• Chris – Upper end. Started fishing near the launch and covered a lot of water from there.
• Lando – From my map study I thought I was gonna make a long run right off the bat. Once I launched I looked around a bit and decided to stay where I was at. I stayed there most the morning and ended up not going more than 10 minutes from where I started.
• Zachary – North end on the east side. I did travel in the morning quite a ways to find some fish. They weren’t where I planned on them being and they weren’t feeding like I had hoped so most of my morning was wasted looking for fish. I had to push further toward the main lake and less into the cove. Also, deeper structure was key.
• Pat – Saturday I was able to get a small limit in 30 minutes only about a 15-minute peddle from my launch…

What depth range were you looking for (what was your water temp/clarity)?

• Mason – Every fish but one came from 4-6ft deep. 80° water temp, roughly. 15ft visibility.
• Chris – 1-10ft, 78-81 degrees, 1-2ft visibility.
• Lando – To start off I targeted 10′ and under. As the day got further along I slowly moved deeper. To end the day I moved over to a bluff wall where I caught my last two fish. I tried to make sure I was in somewhat stained water all day. I also avoided a couple of pockets that were quite a bit warmer than the points I had been getting bites on earlier in the day.
• Zachary – Water temp was 79 to 80 degrees and easily 6 to 8ft water clarity. I was fishing in 8 to 10ft water.
• Pat – Once the sun came out, I started to fish painstakingly slow in the 8-12 ft range on rock walls and points to cull a few more times.

Did the weather affect your bite?

• Mason – I don’t feel it did. Boat traffic and fishing pressure from bass boats did though.
• Chris – I think the heat and bluebird skies made the bite a little tougher.
• Lando – Early in the week I thought things were gonna be a lot different weather-wise. As the week went on what I was going to throw changed. Once I was out there I just followed the fish out deeper as the day went on.
• Zachary – Not really. It was hot and I think that made the bite a little slower than I anticipated.
• Pat – Had to slow down after the sun came out.

Anything else special about the day?

• Mason – Thankful to be able to have fished clean!
• Chris – Just a beautiful day on the water.
• Lando – The thing that stood out most to me was that I only ever saw one other competitor. I saw him when I launched and when I loaded back up. I thought for sure that morning I had made a mistake in my research.
• Zachary – I was cruising through a cove when I saw a nice bass guarding some fry. I threw in a swimbait and it swiped at it and missed the hooks. As I went for another cast I got a phone call asking how the tournament was going and it wound up spooking the bass and I was very upset. I went around and fished the rest of cove and made my way back to the spot. To my luck and surprise the bass was still there I threw the chad shad in and right as it went by the fry the bass attacked it and I landed my biggest fish of the day. A solid 18in bass which enviably pushed me into the top 5.
• Pat – After I got my limit I just covered a lot of water and I was fortunate to upgrade the rest of day. I think I culled 12 times

Big Bass Story?

• Mason – About 2 hours left, scanning with my live scope. I saw 2 fish in about 18ft of water. I casted across a point to them. It landed just passed the fish. Immediately my jig became hung in the rocks. Trying to pull it out it wouldn’t budge. Finally I wrapped the line around my hand to pull it out or break it. It came loss. Unwrapping my hand the line was slack. Reeling the slack out, it became heavy and pulling back. Ended up being my 20.5 inch big fish. Talk about lucky!
• Chris – Big drum story 🙂
• Lando – No report
• Zachary – No report
• Pat – No report

See any wildlife worth mentioning?

• Mason – Several Bald Eagles, love watching them!
• Chris – Bald eagle
• Lando – No report
• Zachary – No report
• Pat – No report

Lose any bigguns?

• Mason – This time, thankfully no!
• Chris – Fished clean! Very important with this bunch!
• Lando – No report
• Zachary – No report
• Pat – No report

Do you plan to fish the remaining MoYak schedule?

• Mason – I plan to fish everything from here on out. As long as work allows.
• Chris – Absolutely!
• Lando – I do plan to fish all of this year’s events. I’m a rookie this year for Mo-Yak and I would love to end up on top for the Rookie of the Year points!
• Zachary – Yes! Shooting for rookie of the year and possibly a shot at angler of the year. I don’t think I will be able to achieve that one quite yet though.
• Pat – I’m hoping to make some more events

Derby Stats
Anglers 88 (New Stockton Record)
Fish caught – 486
Total limits – 59 (67%)
Margin of victory – 2.75″
Trash Pot – Aaron Gardner (20″ Flathead)
Smallest Bass Award – William Abell 7″
Air temp at launch – 75
Air temp at takeout – 89
Water temps reported – Mid to High 80’s