TBF
WHAT’S MAKING NEWS IN THE BASS FEDERATION
By Dan Johnson
BULL SHOALS BATTLE BREWING
2018 TBF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
T
88
he Bass Federation’s
National Championship
promises to provide
fans and competitors with a
three-day blast of nonstop
bass action as 108 of the
sport’s top anglers battle for
grassroots supremacy.
Set for April 9-14 on Bull
Shoals Lake out of Flippin,
Ark., the event involves an
elite field of 54 boaters and
54 co-anglers, who qualified
through 22 district competi-
tions in TBF’s National
Semi-Finals system.
“Thanks to the success of
the new Semi-Finals pro-
gram, 2018 championship
participants will compete for
an all-time record payout of
nearly $300,000 in cash and
prizes,” says TBF President
and CEO Robert Cartlidge.
“Anglers will practice in
their own boats Monday and
Tuesday [April 9-10], then
transfer their gear to brand-
new, Evinrude-powered
Ranger boats for the final
day of practice,” Cartlidge
continues. “Everyone will fish
out of these state-of-the-art
Rangers on Thursday and
Friday [April 12-13], after
which the field will be cut to
the top boater and co-angler
from each of the TBF’s seven
divisions for Saturday’s final
round [April 14].”
A STORIED HISTORY
Bull Shoals Lake has
been the playing field of
many epic bass tourna-
ments since its creation in
the early 1950s, and for
good reason. The White
River impoundment holds
impressive numbers of
largemouth and smallmouth
bass, plus beefy spotted
bass. It offers anglers nearly
50,000 acres of surface
water plus hundreds of
miles of shoreline, which is
largely undeveloped and
dominated by limestone
bluffs, shelf rock, chunk rock
and gravel.
Potential bass-holding
areas include countless
points, coves, ledges, chan-
nels and other sweet spots.
Though the lake lacks sig-
nificant submerged weed
growth, it holds numerous
artificial fish habitat struc-
tures. High water routinely
adds flooded shoreline
vegetation to the mix,
including buttonbushes
and water willows.
Past championships on
Bull Shoals have produced
exciting action, including
heroic rallies and unexpected
lead changes. Back in March
2009, for instance, West
Virginia Bass Federation
member Robert Harkness
mounted a relentless come-
back to win the champi-
onship.
Harkness climbed from
17th place on day one all
the way to first in the final
round with a 40-pound, 13-
ounce sack over three days.
“I really didn’t think I had
a prayer when I went out
the last morning,” Harkness
admits now. “But Bull
Shoals is a great lake. You
can get five bites, and they
could all be 4 or 5 pounds
apiece, so it’s never over
until it’s over.”
The West Virginia angler
caught bass on everything
from swimbaits fished over
deep timber to grubs in
much shallower water, but
the majority of his fish came
on a Megabass Vision
Oneten jerkbait in staging
areas.
“The water temperature
was in the 50s, and the bass
were prespawn,” he says.
“I’d reel the bait down 6 to 8
Slow and steady was the key to Robert Harkness’ storybook rally at
the 2009 TBF National Championship.
FLWFIshIng.COm I apRIL 2018