Thirty-two teams fished last weekend’s Angler’s Choice tournament at Wappapello Lake, which was rescheduled from early May.
The team of Justin Mosier and Matt Allison took the win with a stringer weight of 16.55 pounds, aided by the day’s big bass, weighing 6.42 pounds.
Second place was earned by James Goodpasture and Scott Fischer with 14.67 pounds, and third place went to Randy Pierce and Keith Carroll with 13.12 pounds.
Warren Manion and Colton Jennings captured the fourth spot with a weight of 12.93 pounds, and the top five was rounded out by Paul Henderson and his son, Kason Henderson, who brought 12.9 pounds to the scales.
The Angler’s Choice circuit will hold one final tournament this year, on Oct. 12.
River Results
Fourteen teams fished Saturday’s Current River Smallmouth Association tournament at Doniphan, with Barnes and Sullivan earning the win. They had a total weight of 11.80 pounds.
Second place went to Kram and Caringer with 10.90 pounds, and third was earned by Rector and Yarber with 10.87 pounds.
Taking the fourth spot was Williams and Hoffman with 10.84 pounds, while fifth place went to Henderson and Henderson with 10.63 pounds.
The big bass of the day, weighing 2.95 pounds, was caught by Kram and Caringer, while the second-largest bass, weighing 2.81 pounds, was hauled in by Black and Black.
Coon Club
The Butler County Coon Club held a PKC hunt last Thursday, with Eric Hebert and his dog Casey earning the win.
The club also hosted a UKC show and hunt on Saturday. The bench show’s grand show champion was Katie, handled by Martin Hardy.
Chrome, handled by Joe Newell, earned show champion honors, while Taylor, handled by Newell, was the best of show winner.
There were no winners in the night hunt.
The club’s next event will be a UKC hunt on Oct. 18.
Average Season
Teal season in Southeast Missouri has been pretty much average, according to biologist Luke Wehmhoff at the Otter Slough Conservation Area.
The daily bird-per-hunter average, he reported, “bounces between 2 bph and 0.5 bph. It’s all over the place, depending on who’s hunting and where they go.”
Bird numbers, according to local conservation agents, aren’t particularly high, but any small change in the weather could make a big difference.
The season closes Sunday, and with a cold front expected to push through, it could be one of the best days of the season.
Bass Circuit Classic
Coming up this weekend, the Wappapello Bass Circuit will host its annual Classic event on both Saturday and Sunday, based out of the Redman Creek ramp.
Fishing on Saturday will kick off at 6:30 a.m. and conclude at 3 p.m. On Sunday, fishing again will start at 6:30 a.m. but will end at 2 p.m.
More than $30,000 was awarded at least year’s Classic, and this year’s event is expected to be similar.
Like every other Bass Circuit tournament, a pre-event meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at the Wappapello VFW off Highway D to assign boat numbers.
For more information, contact tournament director Justun Buchanan at 573-429-6312.
Hunter Education Class
If you still need to complete your hunter education certification before purchasing your hunting permits, the only skills class to be held in Poplar Bluff this fall will be held Monday evening.
The class will run from 5:30-9:30 p.m. at the Poplar Bluff Junior High School gymnasium.
You must be at least 11 years old to attend the class, and you must bring proof of completion of the knowledge portion of the course. That can be done either through the online class or by completing the chapter review pages in the hunter education handbook and bringing them to the skills class.
Hunter education handbooks, for those who choose to go that route, are available at permit vendors free of charge.
To register for the skills class, go to the Department of Conservation’s website at mdc.mo.gov and click on the link about halfway down the right side of the page.