Carlile And Nichols Single Pole Their Way To A Hat Trick On Mark Twain – Crappie Masters
Category: article
Aug 6th, 2019 by Keith Worrall
Modified Aug 6th, 2019 at 3:04 PM
Carlile And Nichols Single Pole Their Way To A Hat Trick On Mark Twain
It was beautiful summer weather and an elite field at the Crappie Masters sponsored by The Renewable Fuels Association “Ethanol Fueled With Pride”, American Ethanol, and Bass Pro Shops Mark Twain Lake National Qualifier and Second Leg of the Missouri State Championship August 3rd, and hosted by the Missouri Corn Growers Association at Chigger Hill Bait and Tackle.
With the end of the season near, and very tight Angler Team of the Year and HH Rods and Reels Rookie Team of the Year races coming down to the wire over 140 of the nations best and elite Anglers made their way to Mark Twain Lake in Missouri to try and find the elusive bigger fish that inhabit the waters. Normally a one-pound average would be looked at as a successful day, however the best anglers in the country proved that a one-pound average was good for 21st place. Oklahoma’s Robert Carlile and Craig Nichols who stunned the large crowd with a seven fish limit topping the scales at 9.78 pounds that included the second big fish of the tournament, a 1.74 pound kicker that was good for an additional $432.00 on top of the $4,400.00 for the teams third victory of 2019. Being the team’s first trip to Mark Twain Lake Robert stated he fished every arm and cove on the lake in practice generally averaging around a pound per fish, but as happens at times, Championship Saturday brought out the bigger fish with a minor adjustment, fishing shallower in the water column single poling lime green and chartreuse Jigs and minnows in 6 to 9 foot of water targeting bigger fish 4 to 5 feet deep. Using their Minn Kota Trolling Motor and Electronics they fished a stretch that held those bigger fish most of the day. Carlile and Nichols run a Mercury powered Bass Cat boat. Along with the winning and second big fish money the team also took advantage of the $250.00 Missouri Corn Growers Association/American Ethanol bonus, and the $100.00 Jenko Fishing bonus for using Jenko Fishing products. Robert Carlile and Craig Nichols are sponsored by Lowrance, Bonehead Tackle, Big Bite Baits, Power Crappie, and Huckabee Rods.
It was another top three finish for the reigning Crappie Masters National Champion Matthew Rogers and his father Bruce Rogers, who also fished the area Carlile and Nichols were and also broke nine pounds settling in at an impressive 9.13 pounds on seven fish good for the runner up spot and $2,200.00. The Rogers also single poled minnows using their Mercury powered Phoenix boat, LiveScope, and Minn Kota Trolling Motor targeting fish 10 to 12 foot deep in 14 to 16 feet of water in the Middle Fork area. Matthew and Bruce Rogers are sponsored by Garmin Electronics, Outlaw Rods, and Anglers Port Marine.
Third place went to the Ozark Rods team of David and Kim Cox weighing in 8.44 pounds on seven fish collecting $1,500.00 and a Humminbird Helix5 for being the top placing Male/Female team. The team single poled Ozark Rods in 25 foot of water catching their fish on minnows 12 feet deep crediting their Humminbird Electronics, Minn Kota Trolling Motor, and Mercury powered Ranger Boat in the teams success. One side note, David stated that wife Kim was suffering from tendinitis and was relegated to using just her left hand catching most of the weigh fish suggesting she continue to fish with that hand! Of course all tongue in cheek. David and Kim Cox are sponsored by Ozark Rods, The Original Rod Sox, Midsouth Tackle, and the Missouri Goldfish Hatchery.
Fourth place went to the veteran Missouri team of Jackie Albin and Marty Snider who walked away with $1,250.00 weighing in seven fish that settled out at 8.40 pounds.
Fifth place went to another strong Missouri team, Mark and Aaron Engelhart who weighed in 8.38 pounds of fish garnering the team $1,050.00.
Top Adult/Youth Team honors went to the eventual sixth place Team of T.J. and Alex Palmer who weighed in 8.32 pounds of fish taking home a $100 dollar Everharts Outdoor Store gift card and $900.00.
Big Fish of the tournament honors went to the team of Roger Crowder and Mike Frazier who made the crowd perk up with a 1.85 Mark Twain dandy, in fact that was their first fish of the day. That fish was good for $1,008.00.
In the Jenko Fish Off Challenge the Green Machine team of Jackie and Holly Linton defeated the RFA/American Ethanol team of Terry Richard and Kent Williams to move on to the August 17th finals at Truman Lake against other Jenko Fish Off Winners through the year.
Click HERE to download full tournament result.
Crappie Masters would like to thank Don and Wanda Turner at Chigger Hill Bait and Tackle for their hospitality for being the seminar and weigh in host.
Special thanks to local sponsors that include: Junction Inn Motel, South Fork Resort, The Dry Dock, Cannon Dam Cabins, Mix Country 96, Chigger Hill Bait & Tackle, The Paris National Bank, 154 Marine, and Nemo Bait & Fisheries.
Special thanks to our National Sponsors that include: Renewable Fuels Association, American Ethanol, Bass Pro Shops, Missouri Corn Growers Association, Humminbird, Minn Kota, Ozark Rods, Mercury Motors, Power-Pole, Millennium Marine, Muddy Water Baits, Jenko Fishing, Wyld Gear Coolers, Everharts Outdoor Store, HH Rods and Reels, Off Shore Tackle, Navionics, B’n’M Poles, Bobby Garland Crappie Baits, Midsouth Tackle, American Angler, Crappieholic, Frontier Metal, Valley Fashions, Crappie Now, Slider, Lake Fork Trophy Lures, The Original Rod Sox, Marine Metal Products, Timmy Tom’s Jig Company, Crappie.com, Ardent, Fish-D-Funk, Skipper’s Jigs, Foxy Fishing Gear, ProBuilt Jigs, Sure Life, Pautzke Bait Company, Mossback Fish Habitat, Freaky Frank’s Custom Tackle, Fish N Tools, Quickfire, Monster Crappie Media and Huffman Publishing, and KMMO Brad & Brian in the Outdoors.