A whopping 84 teams fished last weekend’s Wappapello Bass Circuit tournament, and at the end of the day, the team of Manion and Jennings bested the field.
The duo came to the weigh-in with a total stringer weight of 16.64 pounds and earned a cool $1,600 paycheck for their efforts.
Second place went to Brotherton and Henson with 15.07 pounds, worth $900. They also had the day’s second-largest bass, weighing in at 6.34 pounds, which netted them an additional $300.
Third place was earned by Cheatam and Royer with 13.25 pounds, good for $600, while fourth place went to Pierce and Moore with 12.84 pounds. Their winnings amounted to $450.
Rounding out the top five was the team of Petsch and Armbruster with 12.78 pounds, good for a $400 paycheck.
The biggest bass of the day was caught by Hampton and Carnahan and weighed 6.36 pounds, earning the pair $530.
The Wappapello Bass Circuit will fish again on June 26.
Both of Poplar Bluff’s trap teams competed last weekend at the Scholastic Clay Target Program Regionals in Sparta, Illinois.
On the Poplar Bluff High School team, Eli DePew earned second place in the Senior/JV division, while Jacob Jones shot his first 25 straight score.
On the PB Youth Shooters team, the third place Intermediate Entry squad award went to Sam Johnson, Cody Grobe, Noah Innes, James Gambill and Truston Alexander.
Individually, several awards were earned.
Lillie Johnson took first place in the Rookie Ladies division, and Sam Johnson earned first place in the Intermediate Entry division.
Anthony Cason took the top spot in the Senior/JV division, and third place Intermediate Advanced went to Logan Hart.
Tayler Hillis earned the win in the Ladies Collegiate division, while Hannah Cash took second place.
Besides the awards earned, several shooters attained their personal bests and were awarded patches.
Anthony Cason, Logan Hart and Sam Johnson earned their first 50 straight, while Cole VanMatre, Abby Prewitt and Cody Grobe all marked their first 25 straight.
It looks as if most area waters finally have fallen back to normal levels, or at least pretty close.
Wappapello Lake, as of Wednesday morning, was sitting around 361.16 feet and slowly falling, while at Clearwater Lake, the level was about a half foothigh at 498.56 feet.
The Black River was down to 4.19 feet and falling slowly, while the St. Francis River level was at 4.71 feet and also dropping.
The Current River at van Buren was at 4.45 feet and is expected to drop just a few more inches over the next several days, while at Doniphan, the water level was 1.82 feet.
With good water conditions, fishing should be pretty good.
With a full moon right now and water temperatures just about right, there should be a bluegill spawn taking place, and fishing for them over the next few days could be really productive.
The Mark Twain National Forest’s Poplar Bluff Ranger District will open all the side roads along Cane Ridge beginning June 1. They’ve been closed for a few months to allow turkey hens to nest undisturbed and to create better turkey hunting experiences.
The reopening will make access to a lot more ground easier for squirrel hunters.
The Butler County Coon Club will host a UKC show and hunt Saturday at its headquarters off County Road 608, south of Poplar Bluff.
The show is set to begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by the hunt at 8.
For more information, contact Terry Uhl at 573-714-1624.