OKLAHOMA BASS FEDERATION

The Oklahoma Bass Federation held its final State Qualifying Tournament on Eufaula Lake, May 16th and 17th.  The event was the last of our tournaments leading to qualification for the TBF District 6 National Semi-Finals to be held on Eufaula Lake, June 20th and 21st.  The weatherman, once again, predicted 80% rain starting on Friday and continuing until the final day but as usual they were not close to the reality of the weekend.  The only rain and wind were from about noon on Friday until 8 pm.  The competition days were free of rain but a little wind on Sunday.  The lake was murky starting on our practice day and by Sunday it looked more like the Red Sea.  Regardless of the weather it took 18 plus pounds to win each day and at least 10 pounds to get into the money.

DAY ONE

The day started with overcast skies and the possibility of mild rain but little or no wind.  Donnie Combrink and Curtiss Plunkett, Ponca City Hookers, registered their first win in a state tournament with the biggest stringer of the day and the weekend.  Their limit of five fish tipped the scales at 18.63# with Donnie’s 6.01 largemouth and Curtiss’ 4.92# smallmouth.  Second place went to the father/son team of Stewart and Wyatt Ryan, Ada Bass Club, with the only 14# stringer for the weekend with a total of 14.17# that included a 4.83# lunker.  Brandon West and Chris Angier, Bedlam Bass Club, had a limit weighing 13.63# to take third place nosing out Larry Carter and Alex Saiz, Ada Bass Club, by only 0.09#.  Larry and Alex took fourth with 13.54# with the only 5 pounder of the day at 5.55#.   The only 12# stringer was brought to the scales by Keltyn Hendrix and Bradley Sullivan, Ada Bass Club, it tipped the scales at 12.50# to take fifth place.  There were four limits in the 11# range.  Brian Browning and Shane Egger, Ponca City Bassmasters, led that group to take sixth with a limit weighing 11.87#.  Seventh place went to Jeremiah Petricek and Kyle Warden, Bedlam Bass Club, with 11.74# while Marc and Julie Downs, Bedlam Bass Club, took eighth with 11.65#.  Rounding out the 11# stringers were Brandon Beck and Jake Beam, Ponca City Bassmaster, with 11.28# weigh to take ninth.  Tenth went to Dean Matts and Wayne Osborn, Central Oklahoma Bassmasters, with 10.33# while Jack Garrett, Ada Bass Club, took eleventh with 10.27#.  Two Ponca City teams took twelfth and thirteenth places, separated by on 0.05#.  Troney Langston and George Sawyer had a limit at 9.79# for twelfth pushing Jody and Don Linder to thirteenth with 9.74#.  Jason and Lynn Conaway, Chickasha Bassmasters, placed fourteenth with 9.14# while Larry Wilson and Tracey Saunders, Bedlam Bass Club, rounded out the top fifteen places with a limit weighing 8.76#.  There were two other limits, one by Jason and Issac Liar, Bedlam Bass Club, and the other by Johnny Babb and Allen Musser, Ada Bass Club.  The big bass for the day was register by Jeremy Vantuyl, Ponca City Hookers, with a 6.09# lunker.

DAY TWO

The anglers were greeted with clearing skies and a mild wind which would increase from the North later in the day.  Brandon Beck and Jake Beam solved the mystery of where the fish were to move from their day one ninth position to take the top prize on day two.  Brandon and Jake had a limit weighing 18.34# that included the big bass of the day at 4.80#.  Keltyn Hendrix and Bradley Sullivan took second with 13.76# moving up from fifth on day one.  Dean Matts and Wayne Osborn had the only other stringer greater than 10# taking third with 13.69# anchored by a 4.63# lunker.  There were a crowd in the 9 # to 10# group with 8 anglers being separated by only 1.1 pounds.  Johnny Babb and Allen Musser   topped the group with 10.64# taking fourth place nosing out nosing out Jason and Lynn Conaway by only 0.04#.  Jason and Lynn had 10.60# for fifth place.  Sixth and seventh was also decided by a difference of only 0.04#.  David Thomason and Mark Stricklin, Ada Bass Club, was sixth with 10.44# while the father/son team of Nate and Jake Davidson, Northeastern OK Bassmasters, had 10.40# for seventh place.  The final 10# stringer was recorded by Marc and Julie Downs with 10.09# to take eighth.  Ninth went to Jody and Don Linder with a 9.92# while Stewart and Wyatt Ryan was tenth weighing a 9.76# limit.  Larry Carter and Alex Saiz anchored the 9-10# group with 9.54# to take eleventh place.   There were three other limits brought to the scales.  Twelfth went to John Garcia and Brett Taylor, Bedlam Bass Club, with 7.49# followed by Larry Wilson and Tracey Saunders, 7.15# at thirteenth.  Day one leaders, Donnie Combrink and Curtiss Plunkett, moved to fourteenth with 6.26#.

SUMMARY

The total fish caught during the weekend was 185 and the total weight was 392.63#.  There were 95 fish averaging 2.25 per pound on day one while 92 fish at 1.94 pounds per day on day two.  Of the 185 fish weighed in 98.9% were returned to the lake alive.  Keltyn Hendrix and Bradley Sullivan were the big money winners placing both days to pocket $525.  Donnie Combrink and Curtiss Plunkett along with Brandon Beck and Jake Beam each took first place prizes of $500.  Stewart and Wyatt Ryan registered $450 with a $100 Ranger Cup bonus to go with their day one second place finish finishes.  Johnny Babb and Allen Musser combined their fourth-place finish and a Ranger Cup bonus to total payback of $350.  Brandon West Chris Angier, along with Dean Matt and Wayne Osborn, received $300 for their third place each day, respectively.  Larry Carter and Alex Saiz received $250 while Jody Linder and Don Linder received both day Ranger Cup payments totaling $200.   Jason and Lynn Conaway got $175 for their fifth-place finish on day 2.  Brian Browning and Shane Egger took sixth place money, $150, for day one while David Thomason and Mark Stricklin the day two sixth place reward.  Marc and Julie Downs were in the money both days with $75 each day for a total of $150.  Jeremiah Petricek and Kyle Warden took the $100 day one seventh place payout while Nate and Jake Davidson garnered the day 2 seventh place money.

During our SQT events along with other participations by our members during the last 12 months, we have qualified 24 boaters and 24 co-anglers to the TBF National Semi-Finals.  Each club that participated in our SQT tournaments will be allowed to enter additional boaters and co-anglers depending on the number of their active members. The TBF District 6 will be hosted by the OBF and the City of Eufaula.  The event is scheduled for June 20th and 21st with off limits on June 15th and 16th and practice on 17th,18th, and 19th.  The event will be held at the South Point and both the start and weigh in each day will be at that site.  Eufaula Cove will be off-limits.

OKLAHOMA BASS FEDERATION

The Oklahoma Bass Federation had scheduled their final two National Semi-Finals qualifying tournaments on Grand Lake, however, since Grand was at the 751 ft elevation early in the week still rising, the fifth and sixth tournaments were moved to Lake Eufaula.  We had fished Eufaula two weeks earlier when it was 2 ft. above normal and it was predicted to be 6 ft. above during the weekend.  Although we were able to use all the ramps, the water was so high that you could not walk out to the courtesy docks at most ramps since the walkways were under water.  The weatherman was predicting rain and, also, it did not arrive until Saturday in a fashion that limited most of anglers only a partial day of fishing due to lightning and heavy rain.  Even with all the obstacles, the anglers took to the water at 6:00 am each day and met the challenges of the lake.

DAY ONE

The Saturday tournament started at 6:00 am with moderate winds and overcast skies.  For many anglers the event ended around noon due to extreme weather conditions.  Most anglers put safety ahead of competing for a better daily finish.  Only a few of the teams solved the difficult problem of water and weather conditions to capture excellent catches.  Johnny Babb and Chris Tarron (Ada) brought the largest stringer of the weekend to the scales weighing 17.75#.  The limit included the big bass for the day at 3.5#. The father/son team of Jody and Don Linder (Ponca City) took second place with a limit weighing 12.69#.  Third place went to the only other limit over 10 pounds in which Kyle Tudor and Nate Davidson (NEO) with a catch weighing 11.81#. 

Marc and Julie Downs took fourth place with an 8.75# stringer nosing out the other father son team of Stewart and Wyatt Ryan (Ada) by only 0.5# who weighed in an 8.25# limit to take fifth.   Three teams had 7# stringers with Donnie Combrink (PC Hooker) and Brandon Beck (Ada) having the largest with 7.88# taking sixth nosing out Bobby Walker and Ray Spears (Ponca City) by on 0.19# who had 7.69# to register a seventh-place finish.  The other seven pounds stringer was Jack Garrett and Charles Mayberry (Ada) getting eight with 7.25#.  Dean Matts and Scott Callaway (Central) took ninth with a limit weighing 5.32#.  Tenth and eleventh was a tie with both teams having 4.75#.  Brandon West and Chris Angier (Bedlam) had the tie breaker having 4 fish to take tenth while Shawn Lewis and Curtiss Plunkett (Ponca City) had only 3 fish for eleventh.  The other 4# stringer was the last of the limits weighing 4.05# caught by Ben Burk and Mike McGregor (Bedlam) to get twelfth place. Rounding out the top 15 places were Ron Boyd and Steve Carlon (Bedlam) at thirteenth while Brett Taylor (Bedlam) took fourteenth.  The team of Denton Long and Casey Vaughn (NEO) took the fifteenth slot.

DAY TWO

The second day greeted the anglers with partly cloudy skies and not enough wind to effect fishing.  During the day the skies cleared and caused the fishing pattern to change completely.  Many of the anglers adjusted and the result was 8 stringers over 9 pounds.  Jackie Husmann and Sandy Hooker (PC Hookers) took top honors with a 15.13# limit that included the big bass, and only 4 pounder during the weekend, with a lunker weighing 4.19#.  Dean Matts and Scott Callaway moved up from their ninth-place finish on Saturday to take second with 14.56# with a big bass weighing 3.81# to anchor their limit.  Shawn Lewis and Curtiss Plunkett made their first entry into the top three spots during our series of tournaments taking third with a limit of 12.94# with a lunker weighing 3.81#.  Jody and Don Linder, the only team to place in one of the top slots both days, took fourth with a 10.13# limit.  Gene Vogt and Dan Hart (PC Hookers) moved into fifth with 9.75# to nose out by Ron Boyd and Steve Caron who weighed in a limit at 9.25# t take sixth place.  Keltyn Hendrix and Bradly Sullivan (Ada) was seventh with 9.19# while Bobby Walker and Ray Spears were only 0.13# behind with 9.06# setting at eighth.  Johnny Babb and Chris Tarron finished ninth with four fish weighing 8.32# while Kyle Tudor and Nate Davidson took the tenth spot with a limit weighing 7.23#.  Stewart and Wyatt Ryan led the eleventh to fifteenth places. Stewart and Wyatt had 7.19# to take eleventh while Donnie Combrink and Brandon Beck, only 0.19# behind at 7.00#, took twelfth.  Brandon West and Chris Angier garnered thirteenth with 6.82# while Jack Garrett and Charles Mayberry was fourteenth with 6.00#.  The fifteenth place was taken by Marc and Julie Downs with a limit weighing 5.56#.

SUMMARY

Generally, total catch the second day of tournament fishing is less than the first.  This year the reverse proved to contradict the norm.  Saturday there were 67 fish caught while Sunday there were 95 fish weighed in, that would be a 42% increase.  The total number of fish was 162 while we released 95% of fish caught.  The average weight of the fish caught was 1.69# on day one to 1.66# on day two.  The average weight per team on day one was 3.90# while the second day the average was 5.44#.  The difference in this weekend was that only one team placed in the top 5 both days, therefore we had a wider distribution of pay-back.  The team of Johnny Babb and Chris Tarron along with Jackie Husmann and Sandy Hooker team each earned $625 with the $525 for first place finishes and an additional $100 for Ranger Cup.  Jody and Don Linder had a second and fourth place finish with a $500 purse.  Kyle Tudor and Nate Davidson along with Shawn Lewis and Curtiss Plunkett each had third place finishes to collect $250 each.  Marc and Julie rounded out the payout group placing fourth on day one to collect $200.  The blind draw for the $100 bonus was taken by Ron Boyd and Carlon on day one and Stewart and Wyatt on day two.

The top 10% of our anglers, based on the total number of those participating in our six qualifying tournaments.  There will be 21 boaters and 21 co-anglers qualified from our tournaments along with 3 boaters and 3 co-anglers from our participating clubs.  The anglers advancing will fish in the District 6 TBF National Semi-Finals tournament on Millwood Lake in Southwestern Arkansas on June 15 and 16.  The leading boater and leading co-angler from Oklahoma will advance to the 2020 TBF National Championship with a chance to move on to the 2020 BFL All-American and a shot at the FLW Cup.

District 6 is composed of the top anglers from Arkansas and Oklahoma.  The 2020 National Semi-Finals will be hosted by the Oklahoma Bass Federation on Lake Eufaula in June 2020.  For information on our tournament schedule of other information send questions to Don Linder on linderde@sbcglobal.net.

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