Leftridge/Sax Win Season Opener

The Mid States Tournament Association (MSTA) kicked off their 6th year, Sunday April 6th out of Camp Branch Marina at Smithville Lake. 120 anglers met the evening before at Smithville Marine to find out who they would be paired with for this first tournament of the year. As is the case at every pre-tournament meeting, several nice prize drawings including Stratos and Evinrude wear, a custom built rod from the Rod Shop and a Hummingbird 767Combo fish finder valued at $500.00 were given away to those entered into the tournament, courtesy of Hummingbird & Smithville Marine. Smithville Marine, Stratos Boats and Evinrude Motors are the title sponsors of the MSTA circuit, this year the boater and non-boater Championship winners will walk away with new Stratos boats, powered by Evinrude Motors, professionally rigged by Smithville Marine.

The MSTA is a unique tournament circuit; it is basically a pro-am that fishes like a buddy circuit. Boater and non-boaters are paired like a traditional pro-am tournament, but combine their weight for the day. Each in the boat wants the other to catch fish, and it makes for a very relaxing and fun day on the water for both the boater and the non-boater. Don’t miss the next MSTA event, which will be held April 27th.

Fishing at Smithville is tough right now, but is improving steadily. With last weekends Burton’s tournament having a total of 51 boats, and only14 of those teams bringing in a total of 18 bass, today was a drastic improvement with 60 teams fishing on the day and 28 of those teams bringing in a total of 43 keeper (15” length limit) fish to the scales. It was a long winter at Smithville Lake but the surface temperature is rising steadily, and with all the stories you heard today, it was a matter of timing, being in the right place when the fish decided to move up and feed. With the next tournament being held in 3 weeks, the timing should be perfect, it could very well turn into a “slugfest”.

Winners of the tournament today were the team of Keith Leftridge and Brian Sax. This team brought 3 fish to the scales that weighed 12.52 lbs. Included in their sack was Keith’s boater big fish of the day, a 6.28 lb. toad. Keith caught the big fish on a Picasso chartreuse spinnerbait with Colorado blades in 5 foot of water. The teams other two fish came in 2 foot of water, on a new proto-type jerkbait from Spro called the “McStick” which was created with the help of fellow Spro pro-staff member Mike McClelland. The jerkbait fish were caught on the new Falcon Cara Reaction rod called the T-7, it has a slower action, which helps land the fish when throwing treble hooks, this rod was spooled with 6 lb. Sunline fluorocarbon which is virtually invisible.

Keith and Brian caught all of their fish in a 30-minute period, from 10:30 to 11:00 and reported not having another bite the rest of the day. And talk about timing, Keith just purchased his new Skeeter boat from Smithville Marine the week prior to this event and cashed in on $500 from Smithville Marine for purchasing his boat there and another $2,000 in Skeeter “reel Money” which more than doubled his regular earnings for the day. Keith walked away with a total of $4,500 on the day, all for a $145 entry fee. Brian took home $625 on the non-boater side for first place. As you can see, it pays to purchase a boat from Smithville Marine! Smithville Marine, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Motors, Big Bite Baits, Falcon Rods, Flying Fisherman Sunglasses, Picasso, Spro, Shoreline Collision Repair, Sunline and Tru-tungsten sponsor Keith.

Second place went to the team of Eddie Yocum and Matt Buso; this team was one of the three teams that managed three keeper fish on the day, with a total weight of 8.36 lbs. Eddie and Matt stayed in the dirtier water North of “W” Highway bridge and caught all three of their keepers on “Burtons Special Spinnerbaits”, white with gold Colorado blades. This team reported catching their fish in 1 to 2 foot of water on an all day bite. Eddie won $900 for second place and Matt took home $400. Eddie was also the highest finisher to run a Stratos boat from Smithville Marine and took home an additional $375, just for running a “Smithville Marine” boat!

The last team to bring in three fish on the day was the team of Dave Peacock and John Wagoner. This team placed third on the day with 3 fish that tipped the scales to 8.08 lbs.

John caught their first fish early in the day on a Brush hog and Dave caught their other two fish late in the day of jerkbaits. All of their bites came in shallow water. Dave won $600 for third place and John took home $265.

Non-boater big fish of the day went to Jim Terrell with a 5.48 lb. fish that not only was big bass on the non-boater side, but also landed he and boater Chris Self in the number 6 position on the day. Jim caught this fish about ½ way back in a cove on a Wooly Hog Tail in 5 foot of water. Jim won $270 for his big bass of the day on the non-boater side.

For complete tournament details, visit the MSTA Website.