Story by Ken Duke | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
To call the Chompers/NPFL Stop #5 on Lake of the Ozarks presented by Bait-Wrx an “interesting” tournament wouldn’t just be an understatement; it would be an injustice.
For one thing, the event did not shape up at all like the competitors or other experts expected. With record warm temperatures in Missouri, this October has not been Octobering like other Octobers of the past. Relatively few bass were in skinny water chasing big gizzard shad. Instead, they were transitioning between the upper end boat docks and the back ends of creeks and cuts. It was hit-or-miss, and judging from the numbers, it was mostly miss.
Of course, the creel rates were not helped by the 15-inch size limit. If it had been 12 inches like most NPFL venues this year, virtually every angler would have limited all three days. Instead, only five anglers managed that — Drew Cook (3rd place), Christian Nash (7th), Isaac Peavyhouse (9th), Bailey Gay (13th) and Kyle Glasgow (14th).
Going into the tournament, 10 anglers had limited every day of the entire 2024 season. Only one came out the other side intact —Peavyhouse. If he can limit all three days at the season finale on Lake Murray in December, he will become the first NPFL angler in history to accomplish the feat.
Speaking of limits and firsts, Nick Brown — the LOZ champion — not only won his first league title, but he also became the first NPFL winner to claim the big trophy without weighing in five bass limits each day. Brown was one fish short of a limit on both Day 1 and Day 3. He’s also the first Texan to win with the NPFL.
And since so many regular limit catchers fell at LOZ and because the champ was able to win without limits each day, you may get the idea that this was a tough tournament.
You’d be right.
The average angler at LOZ brought just 2.32 keepers to the scales each day — the lowest mark in NPFL history if you exclude the 2022 stop on Lake Cumberland, which was shortened to just one day due to adverse weather conditions. So, yes, it was tough out there. Plenty of bass were caught. Numerous anglers reported catching 50 or more per day, but relatively few exceeded the 15-inch size limit. In fact, 74 zeroes were recorded over three days, compared to just 69 limits — by far the worst ratio of any NPFL event excluding the Cumberland tournament.
Outstanding catches were posted each of the three competition days … but not by the same angler. Michael Stout started things off right on Day 1 with 17-12. Nick Brown had the big bag of the tournament on Day 2 with 21-8 and Brandon Perkins (10th) also topped 20 pounds. Drew Cook continued his Day 3 dominance with 19-10. Runner-up Joseph Webster may have been the most consistently successful angler in the field with daily catches of 14-0, 16-2, and 15-6. No one else topped 13 pounds each day.
What about the Progressive Angler of the Year race? How’s that shaping up?
Quite nicely … if you like nail-biting drama. Alabama’s Kyle Welcher led the race going into LOZ by just six points over Georgia’s Drew Cook. And Welcher had a solid tournament; he finished 11th.
But that wasn’t good enough to maintain his lead because Cook was even better, finishing third. The eight-point swing was enough to put Cook on top by two points — 1213 to 1211! With three days of fishing left, less than one bass separates the top two anglers on the circuit. Others may have a shot, too. Issac Peavyhouse is 31 points back, and Joseph Webster trails by 42. They’ll need a lot of help to hoist the gold AOY trophy, but it could happen.
Prepare for even more drama with the season finale on Lake Murray, December 11-13. We’ll have it all right here!
