>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
The third tournament of the 2007-08 Heartland Team Series season sponsored by Tracker Marine / Nitro Boats, Super Start Batteries and O'Reilly Auto Parts on Table Rock Lake turned into a front yard wackfest. The event was moved from Bull Shoals Reservoir due to extremely high water levels but Table Rock was at a record level itself.
The water was unusually dirty and the fish were found shallow in a biting mood for the 104 teams. About the only accessible shallow water was in home owner’s lakeside mowed yards. This water was quickly found and exploited by resourceful anglers.
Cloudy, windy weather turned the bass on and for anglers who found gaps in the flooded timber, a spinnerbait bite was the ticket to reaching the check line. The bar was set high as three bags over twenty pounds rocked the scales and nearly 16 pounds was needed to cash out. It was just another day at the office for the salty Midwest anglers vying for a spot in the $130,000 Heartland Super Start Team Series Championship.
Leading the way was the father/son team of Mike and Corey Eutsler. Each has tasted victory with Heartland Trails but not while fishing together. This victory was even sweeter because they set a new mark for a Heartland Team Series 5-fish limit with 23.13 lbs. The heaviest team limit was when Eric and Lloyd Holt dropped a 6-fish limit racking out at 27.66 lbs at Lake of the Ozarks in 2004. This mark will be very difficult to surpass on a 5-fish limit but the Eutslers have set the bar even closer.
The day started inauspicious with Corey sacking a small spotted bass, a solid smallmouth and a 4 pound largemouth. Nice, but nothing to write home about with the caliber of anglers in the tournament. Mike finally got into the act to finish off their limit. With their limit in the box and happily sucking on Oxygenator enhanced water from Nitro Z-9 livewells, they made a move to a new bank.
As fast as they could cull, they replaced their smaller fish with three 5-pound plus largemouths. Throughout the day they totaled up 12 keeper bass.Running from Kimberling City to Shell Knob, Mike and Corey focused on areas they could get to the bank. Slow rolling a 1/2 oz Chompers “Jerry McCutchen” white/chartreuse spinnerbait or a 1/2 oz Picasso white with a single gold blade was the ticket to success with the inner painted blades giving the fish a unique look.
The productive zone was 1 to 4 feet deep and they tried to parallel the bank as much as possible. Shad were up feeding around the mowed areas and wind blowing onto the bank made them all the more productive. The pair placed trailer hooks on their baits to insure positive hookups and used twenty pound Bass Pro Shops XP fluorocarbon line.
Mike Eutsler —Springfield, MO
Corey Eutsler —Harrison, AR
Lake level: 933.25', Falling, 915' normal pool.
Air Temp: 36-53 º Partly Sunny. WSW wind 10-20 mph
Water Temp: 50-53 º
Water Color: Stained Lower Lake, Heavy Stain in Arms
• Fish were shallow in pockets and on secondary points.
• Reaching bank in flooded yards imperative to success.
• Caught bass on a 1/2 oz. white/chartreuse Chompers "Jerry McCutchen" and 1/2 oz. white w/gold blade Picasso spinnerbaits.
Record Setting Spinnerbait bag lifts Team Eutsler to
Mike is sponsored by Cul-M-Rite Scales, Mercury Marine, MotorGuide, Mustad Hooks, Nitro Boats, Bass Pro Shop’s Outdoor World, Rat-L-Trap, Tru-Tungsten, Optimum Baits, ima, Pro Pak, Oxygenator, U2 Livewell Treatment and BassMaxII. Corey is sponsored by Champion Boats and Evinrude Motors.
2nd Place – Kelly Greer, Green Forest, AR and Steve Rider, Harrison, AR
A 21.40 lb limit put the team of Kelly Greer and Steve Rider in 2nd Place. This long time Heartland team has had just about every finish in the Top 10 but an elusive win. They thought their bag might be what they needed to finish off the deal when they hit the scales. It wasn’t meant to be but they pocketed $2100 to take away some of the sting.
Kelly and Steve had a mediocre day during practice but did land one quality fish. They decided to start on that area near the dam and sacked the best two fish of their limit, one being a 5.99 lb kicker. Then came a dry spell. They worked back towards the Kimberling City area, hitting flooded yards and campgrounds without much to show for the effort. They finally pulled into a pocket that gave up four keeper bass of which three were part of the final bag. “While I was boxing a 4 pound fish, Steve threw out and hooked up with another quality fish,” recalled Kelly. “It was about time to go in and I decided to make one more cast while he was culling. I hooked up with another keeper and it was pretty interesting in the last 15 minutes!”
Kelly and Steve threw 3/8 oz War Eagle spinnerbaits in white and shad patterns fished on Falcon rods. They didn’t feel the color or blade combination was too critical but they did need to nearly drag the spinnerbait at the base of big hardwoods. Their bites came from secondary points and pockets in less than 5 feet of water.
3rd Place – Jeff Farley, Ozark, MO and Jimmie Holt, Reeds Spring, MO
Jeff Farley and Jimmie Holt worked a slightly different pattern than the rest of the field by targeting suspended fish away from the bank. They stayed in the Kimberling City area but instead of beating the banks and flooded timber with the rest of the field, they focused on the ditches leading to the back of the pockets. This led to a quality 20.82 lb limit held together by a 6.28 lb largemouth anchor.
As did a majority of the field, they slow rolled a spinnerbait to entice strikes. A Chompers white/chartreuse spinnerbait run through the suspended fish holding in 1 to 5 feet over 15 to 20 feet of water on the outside of the bushes was money for the team. Jeff and Jimmie pocketed $1500 for their work plus another $570 for weighing the 2nd Big Bass of the event.
Jeff is sponsored by Mercury Marine, Pro Craft Boats, Tracker Marine, Chompers, MinnKota, Tim Hughes Custom Baits and PJ’s Lures.
