June 19, 2019
Nicholson, Weaver win on Current River
Twelve teams fished Saturday’s Current River Smallmouth Association His and Hers tournament at Van Buren, with Nicholson and Weaver taking the top spot. The pair’s winning five-fish stringer weighed in at 9.58 pounds. Second place was earned by Dougherty and Dougherty with 9.08 pounds, while Black and Black took third place with 8.88 pounds...
Twelve teams fished Saturday’s Current River Smallmouth Association His and Hers tournament at Van Buren, with Nicholson and Weaver taking the top spot.
The pair’s winning five-fish stringer weighed in at 9.58 pounds.
Second place was earned by Dougherty and Dougherty with 9.08 pounds, while Black and Black took third place with 8.88 pounds.
Yarber and Otwell teamed up to capture the fourth position with 8.84 pounds, and the top five was rounded out by Rutledge and Jones with 8.57 pounds.
The biggest bass of the day was caught by Kram and Kram and weighed in at 2.97 pounds. Not far behind was a fish caught by Dougherty and Dougherty weighing 2.61 pounds.
The Current River Smallmouth Association’s next event will be a club tournament on Saturday, the first one of the season to be held at Doniphan. The tournament will launch at 7 a.m. at the T.L. Wright ramp in Riverfront Park. The weigh-in will begin at 5 p.m.
Almost Normal
As of this writing (with fingers crossed), both Wappapello and Clearwater lakes are getting close to being back to normal levels. Of course, more rain is on the way, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Wappapello’s level was just a tick above 363 feet and falling about 8 inches per day. The normal summertime level is 360 feet.
Clearwater’s level, which should be at 497.8 feet this time of year, is a foot high at 498.8, and the rate of fall has tapered off sharply.
Fishing at both lakes has been particularly good, with crappie and catfish getting the biggest share of anglers’ attention.
Fishing deeper water has been the ticket for crappie anglers.
Fishing at Duck Creek’s Pool 1 also has been good lately, though the bluegill and redear bite is, as usual, a hit-or-miss prospect. Those fishing spinners and other hard baits have been taking good numbers of bass and pickerel.
Bass Tournaments
If largemouth bass are your preferred target, there are three tournaments this weekend for you to choose from.
The first is the East Ozarks Bass Club’s event Saturday at Wappapello Lake.
Fishing is slated to run from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m., based out of the Chaonia public ramp.
Also on Saturday will be the Wappapello Bass Circuit’s tournament, based out of the Redman Creek ramp.
The take-off is scheduled for 5:30 a.m., with fishing concluding at 3 p.m.
As always with this group, a pre-event meeting at 6 p.m. Friday at the Wappapello VFW will be held to determine boat numbers.
Justun Buchanan is the tournament director and can be reached at 573-429-6312.
The final tournament of the weekend will be one hosted by the Angler’s Choice circuit on Sunday.
Based out of the Chaonia public ramp at Wappapello Lake, fishing is scheduled to run from 5:30 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Ken Owens is the tournament director and he can be reached at 573-820-3715.
NWTF Banquet
The Clearwater Longbeards chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will host its annual hunting heritage banquet Saturday in Piedmont.
The doors will open at 5 p.m. for the event, which will be held at the Trinity Methodist Church off Highway 34, east of town.
All the usual games, raffles and auctions are planned, plus a nice meal.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.nwtf.org/events or by calling Richard Ayers at 573-223-2356.
Tickets cost $45 for a single or $60 for a couple, and JAKES tickets for youngsters cost $20 each.
Sponsorships also are available for $280, and a full table sponsorship can be purchased for $650.
Top Shots
The trap fields at the Poplar Bluff Gun Club were packed Saturday morning when the Poplar Bluff High School trap team hosted an Amateur Trapshooting Association shoot.
The high-gun top shooter was Austin Stoner, who scored 260. He actually tied with Hannah Cash, but won in a head-to-head tiebreaker shoot.
In singles shooting, the high overall shooter was Conner Becker, who scored 98 out of 100. The runner-up was Cash with 97.
In the ladies division, Cindy Riggs took the win with a 94, and in the sub-junior division, Stoner was the winner with a 97.
Austin Dalton was the winner of the junior division with a score of 96, and Wayne Chauncey took the open division with a 93.
The A Class top shooter was Dylan Hale with a 94, while the B Class winner was Trenton Patterson with a 92.
Jayden Dalton captured the C Class win with a 96, and the D Class win went to Colton Martin with 93.
In handicaps shooting, Patterson was the high overall shooter with a score of 94, followed by runner-up Tayler Hillis with a score of 89.
Cash won the ladies division with a score of 88, while Garret Cooper took the sub-junior division with 87.
Madigan Franklin’s score of 87 earned her the win in the junior division, while Daniel Holt took the open division with a score of 85.
In doubles competition, Stoner again was the high overall shooter, scoring 79 clays. Hillis was the runner-up with a score of 77.
Cash’s 75 put her at the top of the ladies division, while Hale’s 74 earned him the open division win.
The Poplar Bluff High School trap team’s next event will be the Scholastic Clay Target Program’s state shoot in early July at Linn Creek.
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