Pro division winner jeff gatton truman lake

A strong front rolled through the area Saturday night and 20 mile per hour Sunday winds washed out the best laid plans. Even though the lake was over 20 feet high, post-front conditions played to the structure fishermen’s hands and heavy Truman bass were still needed to reach the top of the pay scale. Being patient enough to get those bites was excruciating.

The Angler of the Year race will come down to the final event at Grand Lake, Oklahoma. Tim Sainato has taken a slim lead over Scott Pauley, Jason Baxter and Ed Phillips. The race is closer than it appears as one day of points will be dropped to determine the final standings. There is the possibility of an angler mired down in the pack to drop a zero and move right to the top. Not only will anglers be jockeying for a berth in the Heartland Pro-Am Championship, critical AOY points will be dropped in the livewell right up to the last cast at Grand Lake.

No practice, no problem. Jeff Gatton was unable to hit the lake prior to the event due to work commitments but already had an idea of what to do. “I just went off of what I did last year when the water was high.” Jeff was patient enough to stick with a pattern that provided a mere six bites all day and only five were long enough to go in the box. Those precious bites were the five that he needed to pass the field and walk away with his first Heartland Title.
Jeff pulled a Carolina rigged green pumpkin Zoom brush hog in 18 to 20 feet of water and also pitched the same bait on a Texas rig in 5 to 10 feet of water. He only had one bite every one to two hours but it was worth it.

Jeff boxed 17.25 lbs which included the Big Bass of the day at 5.92 lbs. The key to working the Carolina rig through the flooded bushes was a 3/4 oz Tru-Tungsten Peter T Carolina rig weight,the long, cylindrical weight slid through the cover with ease. Additionally, the special shape of the Denny Brauer flippin weight on his Texas rig helped with hooksets. He also used a Tru-Tungsten Force Bead behind his weights to add a little extra sound as the weight was worked slowly through the bushes. Jeff’s Heartland victory was worth $2000 plus another $580 for the big fish. Jeff is sponsored by Bass Pro Shops and Tru-Tungsten.

2nd Place – Brad Butler, Blue Eye, MO
Brad Butler dropped 15.76 lbs on the scales to settle in at 2nd Place. This was his second 2nd Place finish this year during the Heartland Pro-Am to go with his matching finish at Table Rock Lake in April. The Pro-Am point leaders better watch the standing closely as each angler’s lowest event is dropped from the standings and Brad’s points might be right up at the top currently.

Brad had a less than memorable practice and wasn’t optimistic about his chances during the tournament. He had little to go on, but sometimes small clues can turn into a big pay check. Brad worked a watermelon candy Carolina rigged brush hog and focused on points with fewer bushes. With the wind blowing hard, Brad looked to sit on the back side of the point and thought the fish were eating shad as they came over the point. Brad also loaded up on the paychecks. In addition to $1300 for 2nd Place, he pocketed $1100 Bass Pro Shops Tournament Rewards incentive as the highest Nitro boat owner, $100 Solar Bat and $100 Car Star incentives to push his winnings to $2600. He is sponsored by Nitro Boats, Mercury Marine, KAST, Foggy River Realty, Ozark Bait & Tackle and Chompers.