Troy McAfee and Jack Rutledge proved the value of longtime experience on the water by winning Saturday’s Current River Smallmouth Association’s Classic tournament at Doniphan.
The pair had a winning weight of 10.30 pounds, and they got a boost by catching the second-largest bass of the day, weighing 2.85 pounds.
Taking second place was Joachim and Joachim with 9.91 pounds. Their effort was boosted by the big fish of the day, which weighed in at 3.30 pounds.
Earning the third spot was the team of Neal and Neal with 8.36 pounds, and fourth place went to Hampton and Towner with 7.84 pounds.
Anglers of the Year, Hoffman and Williams, finished in fifth place with a stringer weight of 6.72 pounds.
The Classic event wrapped up the Current River Smallmouth Association’s 2019 season, and the 2020 season should begin in early June.
The Angler’s Choice circuit also wrapped up its 2019 tournament season Saturday, with 26 teams taking part in the finale on Wappapello Lake.
Justin Mosier and Matt Allison topped the field, hauling in 17.95 pounds to the weigh-in. They also caught the second-largest bass of the day, which weighed 5.75 pounds. For their efforts, the pair earned a cool $1,500 in cash.
Don Hampton and Ron Carnahan earned the second spot with 14.88 pounds, and they were aided by the day’s big fish, weighing 5.88 pounds. Their take-home pay was $1,170.
Taking the third spot was Paul Henderson and his son, Kason Henderson, with a total weight of 14.29 pounds, good for a $495 payday.
Fourth place went to Jamie Toon and Bryan House with 13.86 pounds, and they earned $270.
The top five was rounded out by James Goodpasture and Scott Fischer with 13.71 pounds.
Unless the organization schedules a winter event or two, it should begin another tournament season again in late March.
You’d think the cooler weather we’ve been experiencing would make for better fishing, but it doesn’t seem so,
“It’s not really very good right now,” said Charlie Brotherton at Sundowner Marine on the lower end of Wappapello Lake.
Brotherton believes the lake may be turning over because there seems to be a lot of stuff floating on the surface and there’s the typical turnover smell of sulphur in the air.
“It’ll pick up, but I’m not excited about fishing right now,” he said.
In a couple of weeks, he said, conditions should be much better.
Bowhunters in Missouri appear to have had a banner weekend, boosting the total archery kill significantly since Friday. In fact, many local counties have more than doubled their harvest totals in the last few days.
Two things likely are the culprit for the sudden boon: more hunters are in the woods because of the cooler weather, and deer movement has picked up considerably.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the statewide harvest is up to 15,591. At this point last year, hunters had taken 15,648 deer, so they’ve finally caught up after lagging significantly behind the first few weeks of this season.
In Butler County, bowhunters have taken 137 deer so far, and in Stoddard County, they’ve tagged 196.
Dunklin County archers have killed 24 deer, and those in Wayne County have taken 276.
In Carter County, the tally is 184 deer, and in Ripley County, 146 deer have been killed.
Looking ahead to the weekend, the weather looks to be a bit warm, with small chances of rain. Those aren’t ideal conditions, but hunters will have to make the best of it.
Unlike the deer harvest, Missouri’s fall firearms turkey hunters just aren’t finding much success.
Just past the halfway point of the October-long season, hunters have killed a mere 1,026 birds statewide.
Locally, two have been taken in Butler County, two in Carter County, one in Ripley County, 14 in Stoddard County and nine in Wayne County.
The Butler County Coon Club will host a UKC show and hunt on Friday at its headquarters off County Road 607.
The bench show is slated to begin at 6 p.m., followed by the hunt at 7.
Between the events, club members will meet to discuss the future of the club, which has seen declining participation in recent years.
All club members are urged to attend the meeting.
If you have questions, give Kevin Payne a call at 573-281-6580 or Terry Uhl at 573-714-1624.
Another event on the weekend schedule is a tournament hosted by the Wappapello Crappie Club.
The event will be held Sunday, with fishing from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Questions about the event can be referred to Kelli Channell at 573-820-3742 of Charlie at Sundowner Marine, 573-222-8622.
If you plan to be out and about in the Wappapello Lake area this weekend, you’ll want to take note of a managed deer hunt taking place in a few areas at the lake.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Missouri Department of Conservation, Wake Foundation and National Wild Turkey Federation are teaming together to host a mobility-impaired deer hunt. What makes this hunt a little different is the use of centerfire rifles, so you’ll want to be careful if you’re in the area.
Five different location around Wappapello have been selected as hunt areas, including the dam area, Asher Creek, Wet Fork, Johnson Tract and the Chollo Holly Management Area.
Those areas will remain open to the public during the Saturday and Sunday hunt, but others are asked to take precautions and wear hunter orange clothing when nearby.
Two roads, however, will be closed for the weekend: Corps Road 33 and the Johnson Tract Trail.
If you have questions, give the staff at the Wappapello Lake Project Office a call at 573-222-8562.