Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters held a Tracker Series Divisional tournament at Lake Rathbun in Centerville, Iowa on June 7, 2008. Sponsored by Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Marine, Toyota Tundra, Mercury Motors, Humminbird and Minn Kota the tournament was a challenge as high winds of over 20 mph were consistent through out the day. Pre fishing winds up to 40 mph had many anglers looking for a bite.

The Missouri team of Brian Carter and Chris Sonnenburg were able to weigh in an impressive seven fish total of 8.09 lbs. to take first place. The team won big fish with a 1.82 lb. crappie. They stated they caught females in 2 to 3 foot waters between 6-8 in the morning before the bite got tough. The team used mostly white jigs tipped with minnows on BnM poles. The team earned over 1200.00 for their efforts.

Second place went to Bend City Marine team of Richard Moore and Randy Castle of Iowa. The team weighed in 7.62 lbs. The team also stated the morning bite was good and got slower as the day went on. The team fished brush in 3-4 foot waters corking with minnows on BnM poles. They earned $600.00 for their second place finish.

Third place was won by local father son team of Mark Mussman and Jake Mussman with a total of 7.27 lbs. The fished purple & chartruese jigs on BnM poles. The stated they fished the mouth of the river and fished seemed to be moving lot. The team earned $500.00 for their effort. Fourth place went William Nau and James Nau with 7.09 lbs. Fifth place went to James Schaben and Don Dakin with 6.62 lbs. Top adult youth team was David and Damon Willis with 3.37 lbs. Top mal female team was Jerry Weaver and Mary Weaver with 4.94 lbs.

The Lake Rathbun tournament will become a one day major national qualifier in 2009 with a guaranteed payback of $12,000.00 minimum so be sure to mark the date for the event. The new Honey Creek Resort State Park is opening in August and is going to be a great place to visit and experience Lake Rathbun and is the likely host of the 2009 major event.

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