Oklahoma and Arkansas Advance Anglers to Nationals

The Oklahoma TBF played host to the first TBF National Semifinal contest for District 6 on the Arkansas River in Muskogee, Okla. The new TBF National Semi-Finals program pits top grassroots anglers from each state in a “close to home” weekend event with neighboring states for significant cash prizes and advancements.

In District 6, top TBF anglers from Oklahoma and Arkansas competed September 23 for the chance to advance to the 2017 Federation National Championship and to win enough cash to travel to the 2017 spring event.  Anglers qualify for the semi-finals in one of two ways.  Active state clubs in good standing can send their top two anglers directly to the semi-final event, in addition, the top 10% of state event participation or a minimum of 12 anglers per state qualify, whichever is greater.

The new format pays back 100% of the entry fees, 75% to the top 20% of the field, 10% to the state federations and 15% to the TBF Federation National Championship.  In the new NSF rules, a co-angler can also move up as a boater if his/her weight totals more than the state boater’s weight.

A total of $10,120 in cash and prizes, National Semi-Final qualifying jerseys, trophies, champion titles and slots in the national championship were awarded in the boater and co-angler divisions.  The top five boaters and co-anglers in the 26 boat field divvied up $5,850 in total cash payback, not including the $500 Ranger Cup award and the $1,000 Evinrude E-tec award for the top boater running a 2012 or newer Evinrude.

After two days of competition, the District 6 National Semi-Final Champion titles would go to the boater from Arkansas, Josh Ray, who received a $1,700 cash prize and the $1,000 Evinrude E-tec award.  The co-angler champion was Sandy Hooker from Oklahoma who received $850 from his two days of work.

Jackie Husmann nabbed the $500 Ranger Cup award for being the highest Ranger Cup qualified angler along with his $900 second place overall purse.  The Oklahoma TBF made the final sweep taking home bragging rights and the first District 6 State Pride Award with 65.93 total pounds.

The Arkansas River proved tough this time of year.  Two Oklahoma anglers, Jackie Husmann and Stewart Ryan, found a pattern and responded with the only five fish limits on day one. Husmann took the first day lead with 12.20 pounds followed closely by Ryan with 11.96 pounds. Josh Ray had four fish weighing 7.65 pounds to hold down third and lead the Arkansas boaters.

Overcast skies greeted anglers on the final day as Josh Ray responded to land the biggest stringer of the tournament at 15.05 pounds and a winning tournament total of 22.73 pounds.  First day leader, Jackie Husmann, Oklahoma, brought in his second limit of 9.40 pounds, the only angler to record limits both days.  The anglers fished almost 40 miles apart but both put it together to earn slots in the 2017 TBF National Championship representing the Arkansas and Oklahoma boaters, respectively.

Josh Ray used about 45 gallons of gas to fish the lower Kerr Reservoir pool approximately 30 miles from the launch site.  Although this was Ray’s first trip to the Arkansas River he was able find areas with water willows in practice, and then set way points using his Lowrance HDS 12 to return to them on tournament days.  He also used the power of his 112 Minn Kota trolling motor to hold despite the current as he presented frog and swim jigs.

The co-angler race was also close after day one as Kyle Tudor from Oklahoma brought four fish to the scales for a leading weight of 8.37 pounds.  Sandy Hooker also from Oklahoma followed close behind with three fish at 8.21 pounds, anchored by a 4.66 pound lunker.

On the final day Hooker brought three fish to the scales for 6.26 pounds to make his winning tournament total 14.47 pounds.  Tudor’s big bass tipped the scales at 4.76 pounds, but with only one fish it wasn’t enough to hold on to his day one lead.  Robert Scott’s 7.12 pounds on the first day held out to top the Arkansas co-anglers; he will advance with Hooker to the 2017 TBF National Championship in the co-angler division.

The top boater and top co-angler from each state advancing to the 2017 Federation National Championship are as follows; (boater, co-angler) Oklahoma: Jackie Husmann, Sandy Hooker; Arkansas: Josh Ray, Robert Scott.

The event was sponsored by the Greater Muskogee Chamber of Commerce, The Muskogee Basin, Three Forks Marina, and the Knight’s Inn Motel.

For full tournament photos and info CLICK HERE.

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.

FINAL RESULTS

The final Oklahoma Bass Federation qualifying tournament was held on the Arkansas River at the Three Forks Marina in Muskogee, OK on April 30 and May 1.  As it has been the norm this year, the weather was a big factor.  Thursday practice day was clear skies and not much wind.  Friday, as predicted, brought strong North winds, and during our pairing meeting, a downpour.  The heavy rain Friday night resulted in a rise of about 5 to 6 feet on the river to start the Saturday competition.  However, as usual, our fishermen still found the secret to bring in good stringers of bass.

Day 1

The day started with high water levels, swift currents and muddy creeks.  However, Stewart Ryan, Ada, brought one of the largest stingers of the year with a 5 fish limit weighing 19.23# with a 4.89 pounder to anchor his limit.  Mike Morris, Ada, was second with 5 fish weighing 15.19 pounds.  A pair of Bedlam anglers followed at 3^rd and 4^th with Jack Garrett’s limit weighing 13.47# anchored by the big bass for the day at 5.11# for 3^rd and Shane Blocker with a limit weighing 13.30# taking 4th.  Brandon Moss, Ada, had a limit weighing 12.35# for 5^th, while Darrel Dye, Ponca City followed at 6^th with 4 fish tipping the scales at 10.84#.  The only other 10 plus stinger was Ron Fuller’s, NEO, 5 fish limit at 10.23# for 7^th place.  Rounding out the top 10 was Sandy Hooker, Ponca City, at 8^th with a 9.84 limit, Dean Matts, Central, followed with a limit weighing 9.24# for 9^th and Mike Morgan, Ada, 10^th with 4 fish weighing 8.05#.  John Garcia, Bedlam, and Shawn Lewis, Ponca City, were the only others to bring a 5 fish limit to the scales for 11 with 8.05 and 12 place at 7.62, respectively.

Day 2

The second day looked promising with no rain in sight and the river down to about 1 to 2 feet over normal.  However, the current was still strong and the fish discovered there were anglers trying to move them from their places of residence to the Three Forks Marina weighin site.  Only three anglers broke the 10 # mark on the final day.  Stewart Ryan, Ada, again led the tournament with a limit weighing 13.81#.  Following in second was Brian Browning, Bedlam, with the second with one of the only four limits of the day tipping the scales at 11.51#.  Chuck Nelson, Ada, had 4 bass weighing 11.21# to capture the number 3 spot followed by Jake Beam, Ponca City, with a limit of 5 for 9.75# finishing at fourth place.  Brannon Whipple, NEO, took 5th place with 4 fish weighing 9.30#.  Clayton Coppin, NEO, was 6 th place at 8.92# followed by Shane Blocker, Bedlam, at 7 th with only 2 fish weighing 7.46# with the big bass of the day at 5.25#.  The top 10 included Brandon Beck, Ada, at 6.38 at 8 th,  Jody Linder, Ponca City, with 6.00# at 9 th and Mike Morgan, Ada, duplicated his 10 th place finish the first day with 5.95#.  Wes Carey, NEO, was 11 th with 5.54# and rounding out the top 12 was the fourth limit by Jeff Linder at 5.09#.

Final 2016 Results

The final State Qualifying Tournament schedule has been completed.  This year’s events had a dual purpose to select our final Central Division Team and determine the qualifiers that will fish the 2016 TBF National Semi-Finals tournament.  The Central Divisional will be held on Truman Lake out of Bucksaw Marine the last week in June while the NSF will be held on the Arkansas River/Three Forks Marina September 24 and 25.  The top 2 anglers from our Divisional will qualify for the 2017 TBF National  Championship, number 1 as the boater and 2 as the co-angler.  The top boater and co-angler in the NSF  will join the Divisional qualifiers for an elimination round at the 2017 TBF Nationals.  (Note: If there are 50 or more OBF contestants in the NSF we will be able to qualify two boaters and two co-anglers to the TBF Nationals.)

This year’s final results were the closest race between the top 14 spots than any of the previous 36 years history of the Divisional format.  Stewart Ryan, again, took the State Championship with 396 points.  Mike Morris was the State Runner-up with 385 points, both fish with the Ada club.  Now the ties.  We had two way ties for 3 and 4 with 384, 5 and 6 with 377 points, 7 and 8 with 366, 13 and 14 with 362 points, and a three way tie at 10, 11, and 12 with 363 points.  The tie breaker is the total number of fish weighed in for the four days used to reach the anglers total points.  The second tie breaker is the number of live fish brought to the scales and finally, the third being the total weight for the four days.

Ron Fuller nosed out Jody Linder with 19 fish verse 17 to garner 3 place and placing Jody at 4^th.  Dean Matts, the only angler to finish with 4 limits/20 fish, bettered Brandon Moss’s 15 for the 5^th place slot.  Brandon thus became the final boater on the Divisional team with his 6^th place finish.  Donnie Combrink, our first former Junior angler contestant to make our Team, took the 7^th place with 370 points.  Mike Morgan and Brannon Whipple not only tied in points, they also were deadlocked on fish weigh-in as well as the number of fish alive, 16.  The final tie breaker showed Mike weighing in 34.87# to take 8^th verses 32.62# for Brannon for 9^th.  The three way tie at 10 thru 12 was Kyle Tudor, Don Linder, and Shane Blocker.  Tenth pace went to Don with 16 fish followed by Kyle weighing in 15 fish for 11^th.  Shane Blocker rounding out the Top 12 with his 12 fish total.  The other tie at 13 and 14 was between Jeff Linder and Brandon Beck.  Jeff got the 13 spot with 18 fish and Brandon notched the 14^th place with 14 fish.  Rounding out the top 15, with his second place finish the final day, was Brian Browning, Bedlam, with 258 points.

The team that will represent you at the Divisional June 19-24, 2016 will consist of 4 first timers, 3 for the second, 2 for the fourth, 2 with 22, and 2 with over 30 state team appearances.  Dean and Don will fish in the last of the Divisional tournaments while having fished the first in 1981 on Toledo Bend.  Stewart and Jody have represented us over 20 times while Jeff and Ron have had 4 trips.  All others are going for their 1^st or 2^nd trips.  This team will also have one of the youngest to make the team and the oldest.  Donnie Combrink, 18, is second youngest to make our team.  Wyatt Ryan who made the team two years ago at 18 was 2 months younger at the time than Donnie’s present age.  The other part of history for these two is that Donnie comes from our Junior program and Wyatt was part of our High School/SAF program.  On the other side, Don is the oldest to make the Team.  This will be the second time that three from the same family have made the team, Jody, Jeff and Don.