Chaonia Landing 7:00 to 3:00
3/19/2022
Final Results
(click Images for larger view)
1st Thad McGregor & Michael Williams
2nd Clay Francis & Todd Boyd
3/19/22 Anglers’ Choice Wappapello Lake Level 355.6 Air Temp 43-63 Winds light NNW 10-15 Water Temp low 50s Reported by Ron Niswonger
The 2022 Season of Anglers’ Choice kicked off Saturday morning out of host marina Chaonia Landing. The lake level was just over winter pool of 354.9 feet, and the creeks were muddy. The main lake was stained and upriver was clearing. Thirty-five teams participated and the weather was cloudy in the morning with clear skies by weigh-in. There was quite a bit of current on the river due to the Corps continuing to draw the lake down to the winter pool target. Typically, on Wappapello a person can tell if the river bite is on by watching which direction most of the tournament field take as they exit Chaonia Landing. Sometimes most of the field will head up the river if the river bite is good. If not, the majority will head down the lake. On Saturday it was even with about half the field running upriver and the rest going down the lake. At the end of the day the winning three teams happened to find their fish upriver.
Thad McGregor and Michael Williams from Wappapello took first place with a five fish limit weighing 22.09 pounds. “We started upriver and stayed there all day,” said McGregor. “We fished one ¼ mile stretch all day because of cranking battery issues, so we didn’t have our big motor or any electronics all day.” “We caught fish all day on fast and slow baits. We didn’t really have a pattern,” he added.
The first-place team took home $2045.00 plus trophies for their 22.lb sack. They also weighed in the big bass of the tournament. It weighed 7.7 pounds and was worth $350.00 plus trophies.
Clay Francis and Todd Boyd from Park Hills/Farmington area finished in second place. “We found our fish up the river and caught them pretty much all day,” said Francis. “It was just one of those days when everything goes right,” he said. “We caught all our fish on moving baits. We could not get bit fishing slow.” The second-place team took home $1080.00 plus trophies for their pound five fish limit that weighed 21.96 pounds.
The familiar father/son team, Paul and Kason Henderson finished in third place. “We went upriver and fished one area all day,” said Paul Henderson. “We found them in about eight to ten feet of water and fished really slow. We caught them pretty good in the morning and thought the sun would help us, but it didn’t. Their 20.72-pound five fish limit earned them $760.00 plus trophies.
Fourth place went to Ron Carnahan and Don Hampton. “We stayed upriver all day and caught all of our fish on crankbaits,” said Carnahan. “Our fish was anywhere from two feet to ten feet deep.” They weighed in 108.01 pounds and took home $440.00. Randy Pierce and Keith Carroll earned fifth place honors by virtue of their 17.59-pound five fish limit that was good for $280.00
Warren Manion and Billy Deblois captured sixth place with their 15.51-pound limit of fish and took home $180.00 for their trouble.
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