Willet/Buso Flip For the Win

The third event of the Mid States Tournament Association (MSTA) season saw 106 anglers (53 boaters and 53 co-anglers) turn out to brave the heat and high skies. And they were duly rewarded because fishing at Smithville is really good right now.

Although we are not seeing the big bags that were so common last year, we are seeing a lot of 5 fish limits being brought to the scales. We had a 23 lb. plus bag brought in at the second MSTA event but other than that, the weights have really been way below normal compared to last year. The nice thing is the reports of all of the 14-½ fish being caught; look for those fish to be keepers in the very near future. The next MSTA event will be held July 13th, call Smithville Marine to get signed up for this next event.

First place went to the team of Wes Willet and his non-boater partner Matt Buso, although this team only brought 4 fish to the scales, Matt’s 4.48 non-boater big bass sealed the victory for the team. Their total weight of 13.76 lbs. Earned Wes $1,300.00 for first place and another $500.00 courtesy of the Smithville Marine bonus bucks program since he fished out of his Stratos boat that he purchased from Smithville Marine.

Matt won $425.00 for first place on the non-boater side. With the lake being just over a foot and a half high this team concentrated their efforts in the flooded grass through out the lake. They caught fish in both the clean and dirty water catching their fish on Senko’s and craws flipped to the edges of the grass. This team reported catching over 25 fish on the day with several just shy of the 15” length limit.

Second place went to Steve Stroud and Will Abernathy with a five fish limit that weighed 12.60 lbs. This team also caught fish on Senko’s, but they caught all of their fish on hard wood laydowns. Steve won $765.00 on the boater side and Will took home $335.00 on the non-boater side.

Third place went to Chris Self and John Beus with 4 fish that weighed 12.38 lbs. Chris reported losing a 3 lb. Plus fish in the last 5 minutes of the tournament that cost them the win. Chris and John also concentrated on fishing the flooded grass, or the “Slop” as Chris calls it. They caught flipping Big Bite Yo-Mammas on Falcon Cara T-7 rods, Chris reported that using the Falcon T-7 gave him the extra sensitivity needed for connecting on the light biting fish. Chris took home $635.00 on the boater side and John won $265.00 on the non-boater side.

Tom Carlin who finished just out of the money in 12th place still won $250.00 courtesy of the Smithville Marine bonus bucks program. Tom was the highest finisher to run a non-Stratos boat purchased from Smithville Marine.

Mike Payne took home boater big bass money of $520.00 for his 4.54 lb. Bass.

Matt Buso won non-boater big with a 4.48 lb. Fish - $260.00.

A pre-tournament meeting was held Saturday evening before the tournament to pair boaters and non-boaters. Several nice prizes were drawn to those that attended the pre-tournament meeting, as is the case at every meeting. Shane Voyles was the lucky winner of a Hummingbird 767 valued at $500.00 courtesy of Hummingbird and Smithville Marine, a custom rod from the Rod Shop was given out courtesy of The Rod Shop, a $100.00 cash certificate courtesy of Allstates Insurance and several other nice prizes courtesy of Smithville Marine were given away. Several different models of Stratos boats were at the Lake on Sunday and those that took advantage of test drives took home some nice prizes as well, courtesy of Smithville Marine and Stratos Boats.

Smithville Marine, Stratos boats and Evinrude Motors are the title sponsors of the 2008 MSTA circuit. Anglers can cash in with extra incentives at each tournament via the Smithville Marine bonus bucks program and the Stratos 2X Program. Smithville Marine has been serving the Midwest for over 25 years, don’t miss out on your chance to cash in at the next tournament! Visit SmithvilleMarine.com call
816-532-4000 for more information.