ProAm Bass Fishing Pro Division Tournament Recap Table rock lake april 08

The lake crested at a record height of 933.25 feet a day prior to the event but the fish were still very catchable. A spinnerbait was the bait of choice for a majority of the field and those fishermen in the minority likely found their bag to be rather light at the end of the day. The cold front made the anglers dig out winter gear to stay warm but they were treated with white hot bass action.
Local guide Rick LaPoint blasted the field out of the water with a career best 25.18 lbs. This bag was also one of the top limits of fish ever to be brought to the Heartland scales.

Rick keyed on the Indian Point area of the lake because the water clarity was slightly better than what was found up lake near Kimberling City. During practice, Rick was able to land a couple giants near Kimberling City but found the average size of bass to be a better down lake in the cleaner water.
Rick sifted through ten bass to reach his final weight. This included the 3rd Big Bass of the day, a solid 6.80 lbs. With the approaching full moon, Rick felt the females were up in shallow water looking for nesting areas. With Table Rock Lake at record flood levels, nearly every bank could be a spawning bank but the crafty guide found ways to reach the shallow water where the bass were biting.

There was likely enough limbs in his boat to start a small fire but Rick had to force his way into small gaps to reach shallow water on the back side of bushes. He also targeted isolated boat ramps and roads which lead into the lake. “It was a 50/50 shot at catching a fish if you could just reach the bank,” relayed Rick.

A 3/8 oz War Eagle white/chartreuse spinnerbait with painted blades was the money bait for Rick as he fished around flooded bushes. The largemouths seemed to be keyed in on big hardwoods while the smallmouths and spotted bass were roaming out between the willow bushes. His Heartland victory was worth $2356 with the 3rd Big Bass money. Rick is sponsored by Ranger Boats, Yamaha, TC Custom Cranks, Hummin’Bird, Razor Rods, Hamby’s, Loc-R-Bar and Center City Marine.

2nd Place – Brad Butler, Blue Eye, MO
Brad Butler fished the lower end of the lake to sack a career best 22.00 lbs but it just wasn’t his day to take home the gold. Brad culled through 8 keeper bites to amass his head turning limit and a Chompers “Jerry McCutchen” 1/2 oz chartreuse/white spinnerbait was the deal. Brad picked fish off from mowed yards in pockets as well as flooded bushes on main lake points leading to spawning pockets.

Some fish were holding near the bank but Brad also caught some fish suspended around the outside bushes. All of his fish were in the 3 to 5 foot range and Brad slow rolled the blade to present his bait at that level, be it near the bank or over deeper water.

The key to his bite was to run a pattern on new water and focus on where the wind was blowing into the bank. He pocketed $1,400 for 2nd Place plus the Tracker Trophy incentive money worth another $1,100 for running a Nitro 929.

Brad is sponsored by Nitro Boats, Mercury Marine, KAST, Foggy River Realty, Ozark Bait & Tackle and Chompers.

3rd Place – Charlie Campbell, Forsyth, MO
If Fishing Hall of Fame inductee Charlie Campbell had been able to entice one more bite like the rest of the fish he brought to the scales, it would have made for one interesting finish. Charlie only brought 4 fish to the trailer but they weighed a phenomenal 20.16 lbs! His largemouth kicker weighed 6.53 lbs but what was amazing was his other three fish were all toad smallmouths.

Charlie threw his namesake 3/4 oz CC spinnerbait in chartreuse/white with a chartreuse plastic trailer. The fish moved off the bank because of the cold weather dropping the water temperature but Charlie quickly relocated them in 8-10 feet of water while slow rolling the blade. He was awarded $1,000 for his finish and Charlie is sponsored by Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World and Tracker Marine.

Chris Jackson Wins Amateur Division...

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