The Oklahoma Bass Federation Top 6 and Team tournaments were held on the Arkansas River in Muskogee, Oklahoma September 17 and 18. The weather predictions indicated rain while the river was at a moderate flood stage. The two day practice mirrored the predictions but as the tournaments started on Saturday things changed. The river current was almost nonexistence in many parts of the system and the predicted moderate temperature was far from accurate. The anglers were treated with a clear blue sky, no wind and a high humidity. Regardless of the conditions, many of the anglers mastered the conditions and brought in large limits of bass. The limits for this event were a 12 inches on spotted/Kentucky bass and 14 inches on largemouth and smallmouth bass with a five fish limit.
Day One
The first day of the tournament 11 limits of bass were brought to the scales. The leading two person team of Jason Powers and Justin Parchman, His and Her Club, brought in a limit tipping the scales at 12.42 pounds to lead the field. Greg and Cass Blaylock, Central Bass Club, led their team with an 11.74 pound limit for second while Wyatt Ryan and Keltyn Hendrix, Ada Bass Club, followed in third with a limit weighing 11.29 pounds. John Pritchett and Mark Jones, Claremore Bass Club, brought a limit weighing 11.13 pounds anchored by a 3.93 pound lunker for fourth place. Fifth place went to Jackie Husmann and Jeremy VanTuyl, Ponca City Bassmasters, with a 10.83# limit with a 4.56# anchor. Following at sixth was Greg Ingram and Dan Beach, Claremore Bass Club, with 10.76#. Chickasha ran the table on the first day weighing three limits, all in the 10# class. Tate Musae and Jesse Sexton’s limit weighed 10.74# for a seventh place while Doug Schaekel and John Scott, 10.34#, nosed out Greg Sebold and Greg Ledford by .01# at 10.33# for eighth and ninth, respectively. Brannon Whipple and Kyle Tudor, NEO Bass Club, at 10.24# was tenth with their 4.14# big bass. John Garcia and Keith Whitmire, Bedlam Bass Club, with 9.95# was eleventh place and rounding out the top 12 was Michael Morris and Blake Whelchel, Ada, with a 8.78# imit.
The leading club after the first day was Chickasha with a total of 31.41 pounds and three limits. Claremore followed in second with two limits weighing 30.67#. Following in third with 27.83#, the only other team to garner three limits was Ada, while Central followed at 24.97# for fourth. NEO was in fifth with 20.57#. Big Bass for day one went to Brian Hurst, catcher, and Kenny O,Malley, netter, as they nosed out Don Linder, Ponca City, by .03#, 4.67# to 4.64#.
Day Two
The final day of the tournament was more like the weather we expected, overcast skies, rain and moderate current conditions. Although it looked more like a “good fishing” day, the field was limited to only 7 limits. Jason and Justin, His and Hers, snagged their second limit for the weekend and their second first place finish with a 13.54# stringer. John Pritchett and Mark Jones, Claremore, moved up from fourth the first day to second with their second limit weighing 13.14#. Greg Seblod and Greg Ledford was third with 12.43# while Chickasha team mates, Tate Musae and Jesse Sexton, took fouth with their second limit for the weekend at 12.20#. Gene Vogt and Donnie Combrink, Ponca City Bassmasters, was fifth with 10.34# followed by Brian Hurst and Kenny O’Malley, Claremore, with 10.13#. Mike and Sandy Wisdom, His and Hers, brought in a limit weighing 9.87# for seventh followed in eighth by John Garcia and Keith Whitmire, Bedlam, with their second limit for the tournament weighing 9.71#. Dean Matts and Mike Sanders, Central Bass Club, also boasted their second limit of the weekend to take ninth for the day followed by Johnny Babb and Chris Tarron, Ada, had 7.90# at tenth. Rounding out the top 12 were two Ponca City teams. Jackie Husmann and Jeremy VanTuyl, with a 7.75# limit for the day for eleventh while Jody and Jeff Linder, Ponca City, weighed the other daily limit at 7.32#. Big Bass for day two was a 5.18# lunker boasted by Jason and Lynn Conaway, Chickasha. Greg Seblod and Greg Ledford, along with Gene Vogt and Donnie Combrink, both brought in a 5.03# lunker for a tie for second.
Final Results
The 2016 Champion team was the Chickasha Bass Club that made a first for the OBF State Top 6 event; they weighed in the same total both days, 31.41#, to bring their total to 62.82#. Chickasha was lead by Tate Musae and Jesse Sexton, 22.94#, followed by Greg Sebold and Greg Ledford, only .18#, with 22.76#. Doug Schaekel and John Scott contributed a total of 8 fish to round out the team total with 17.12#. The State Runner-up was Claremore had a total weight of 59.6#. John Pritchett and Mark Jones lead the team with 24.27#. Rounding out the second place team was Brian Hurst and Kenny O’Malley (18.91#) and Greg Ingram and Dan Beach (16.42#). Third place went to His and Hers at 45.59#, nosing out Ada by less than pound. The His and Hers team consisted of Jason Powers and Justin Parchman, Mike and Sandy Wisdom, and John and Chris Lee. Ada’s 44.63# total was followed in fifth be Central at 42.20# while Bedlam rounded out the top 6 teams with 36.79#. Ponca City, 32.40#, and NEO, 26.64#, completed the standings.
The individual two person teams crowned the champions for our second State Team Championship. Jason Powers and Justin Parchman not only won the honor but led with top stringers both days. Their 25.96# total was only 1.69# ahead of John Pritchett and Mark Jones at 24.27#. Third and fourth places came from the Chickasha champions with Tate Musae and Jesse Seston, 22.94#, at third followed by Greg Sebold and Greg Ledford, 22.76# at fourth. John Garcia and Keith Whitmire was fifth and Brian Hurst and Kenny O’Malley competing the top 6 teams.
The tournament was once again successful due to the help of the many volunteers. We were also thankful to the Greater Muskogee Chamber of Commerce and the Knight’s Inn for sponsoring the event. There was 167 fish brought to scales with 166 returned to the Three Forks Harbor.
