Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters All American Trail held a Nitro Series one day major tournament at Mark Twain Lake in Monroe City, MO. on June 28, 2008. Sponsored by Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Marine, Toyota Tundra, Mercury Motors, Humminbird, Minn Kota, Golden Eagle Distributors, Pepsi Cola, Missouri Tourism and Monroe City Chamber of Commerce the tournament had 96 anglers competing for the top prizes and a chance to go to the National Championship. With waters 8 feet above normal and rising anglers were still catching plenty of fish during prefish days and during the tournament. The tournament was filmed by the Sportsman Channel Revive the Outdoors with Cody & Cody to be shown at a later date.

John Woods took the first place honors with a total weight of 6.50 lbs. Fishing alone, the Mark Twain champion said he caught most of his fish in the morning slow trolling fishing trees. Woods stated, “I would fish the trees, move back and let the wind move me back into the trees.” He fished with BnM poles out of a Nitro boat, White & Chartreuse Southern Pro jigs tipped with big minnows. Woods also won big fish with a crappie weighing 1.34 lbs. The combo win earned him $5343.00 for his efforts.

A tie for second place occurred between the teams of American Angler, Grizzly Jig team of Wade Mansfield and Reggie Reidenger and the team of Ron Gooding and Myron Echtison whom both had a total weight of 6.16 lbs. Mansfield and Reidinger said they caught a lot of fish but caught bigger fish during the week prior to the tournament. The team fished with a variety of jigs including MidSouth, Grizzly jigs and Southern Pro jigs with the main color being black & chartreuse. The Grizzly jig Mansfield family had three teams finish in the top 10 as Louie Mansfield-Scott Stafford finished 8th with Lance Mansfield-Lewis Smith finishing 7th. Second place earned them $1875.00.

The second place team of Ron Gooding and Myron Echtison also weighted in 6.16 lbs. The team stated they slow trolled faster than normal with 3 inch minnows on double rigs to get a better catch. The team trolled banks covering about 2.5 miles of shoreline. The team used Road Runners with red-orange and purple-chartreuse jigs. The team said all the fish were at 14 foot regardless of the depth of water they were in. They also won $1875.00 for their effort.

Top male-female team went to Joe Meyer and Debbie Sosinski who also finished fourth overall with a weight of 6.00 lbs. Top adult-youth team went to Tony Burnworth and Jakob Burnworth whom finished 10th overall with a weight of 5.68 lbs.

The next scheduled tournament is the Missouri State Championship on Truman Lake August 2 & 3rd. The two day event is open to all anlgers and is 100% guaranteed payback. Only two tournaments remain to qualify for the National Championship held in October in Tavares, FL.

Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters would like to thank local sponsors that include: Monroe City Chamber, Missouri Tourism, Pepsi, Golden Eagle Distributors, The Junction Inn, The Junction Restaurant, Motel at the Lake, Chigger Hill, KWWR 96 radio, 154 Marine, Hickmans Food Center, Tri City Commission, West Perry Boat and Motor, City of Hannibal, Mick’s Bait & Tackle, DaNancy’s Restaurant, Stoutsville Resort & RV Park, Paris National Bank, Black Jack Marina, Breadeaux Pizza, Redmon’s Café, and South Fork Resort.

Special thanks to our National Sponsors that include: Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Boats, Nitro Boats, Toyota Tundra, Mercury Motors, Minn Kota, Humminbird, American Angler, RoadRunner by Blakemore, Mr. Crappie Hooks, Hydro Glow Fish Lights, Grizzly Jig Company, Foodsource, Proplite, Cajun Fryer, Mr. Crappie Wally Marshall Signature Series Crappie Rods, SureLife, Tite Lok, Spike-It, Kodiak Scents, Slider, Bobby Garland, Bugband, KeepAlive, Monster Crappie, Bryant’s Osage Outdoors, Cocoon Live Eye Wear, Net-n-Buddy, Grip N Check, EzRod Organizer, Rocky Top Tackle, Well Mate, The Catch, DotLine, AWD Baits, Frabill, Porcupine Fish Attractor and Coldstream Fisheries.

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