Four guys
who were desperate to fish in a Club environment
conceived Tri County Bass club in 1989 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The
founders were Dave Jones, Gary Marker
(deceased), Ken Chamberlain, and John Drury. The early
meetings were held at the Fort Leonard Wood Rod & Gun Club.
The first Club tournament was held in February
1990, out of PB-2 ramp on Lake of the Ozarks. We have been going strong since then.
Tri County Bass Club is a low-expense/low-payout
Club. We are more concerned about
promoting an atmosphere of fun, camaraderie, and
sportsmanship. We also share information on
our sport, and provide an opportunity for those
not fortunate enough to own a boat to enjoy
fishing in a monthly tournament.
The Club fishes a draw format where boaters are
paired with non-boaters for each tournament.
We have tournaments scheduled in every month
except January. Each season concludes
with a two-day Championship tournament during
October. Following that we have an all-expense paid annual awards banquet for the members and
their families. In November of each year we
start a new season.
The first event that the club held was to
support the Post Red Cross by have a 24-hour
fishing marathon on Blood Lake on post. The point of the
event was to have two fishermen in a boat on the lake and count the number of fish caught and
survey the fish by size weight and type. All of
this was done
for donations to the Red Cross.
In November of 1997, the Club sent a 6-man team
to compete in the Central States Top Six
tournament at Table Rock Lake. Champion Boats
sponsored this team format tournament. Teams
from Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma
participated. After two days of stiff
competition, the
Tri County team walked away with every
award except big bass on day #1.
Each year the Club tournaments are rotated
throughout the following lakes: Lake of the
Ozarks, Truman Lake, Pomme de Terre Lake, Stockton
Lake, and one of the southern lakes: Table Rock, Bull Shoals, or Norfork.
In the early years of the Club, there were
annual awards for Club Champion, Angler of the
Year, Big Bass of the Year and Rookie of the Year. In
the later years we added awards for Heavy
Stringer and Sportsman of the year.
A history of the award winners is provided in
the following tables.
1990
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
Buck Buchanan
Big Bass of the
Year
Ken Chamberlain
Rookie of the
Year
1991
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
Joe Garner
Big Bass of the
Year (5.98 Lbs) Ozark Chuck
Wright
Rookie of the
Year
1992
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
Don Plane
Big Bass of the
Year (6.35 Lbs) Truman Marc
Succi
Rookie of the
Year
Bill Getz
Heavy Stringer
(16.09 Lbs) Truman Don
Plane
1993
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
David Jones
Big Bass of the
Year (6.44 Lbs) Ozark Dan
Skaggs
Rookie of the
Year
Mike Judah
1994
Awards
Winner
Club
Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
Dave Jones
Big Bass of the
Year (9.32 Lbs) Stockton Dave
Jones
Rookie of the
Year
Scott Chase
Heavy Stringer
(23.50 Lbs) Stockton Dave
Jones
(Add in 1995 as a
Club Award)
1995
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
Dave Jones
Big Bass of the
Year (6.72 Lbs) Pomme Mike Frey
Rookie of the
Year
Marcus Sykora
Heavy Stringer
(15.69 Lbs) Pomme Russell
Drury
1996
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
Russell Drury
Angler of the
Year
John Drury
Big Bass of the
Year (6.28 Lbs) Pomme John
Drury
Rookie of the
Year
Richard Ziegenbein
Heavy Stringer
(19.19 Lbs) Pomme Harry
Isner
1997
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
Joe Garner
Big Bass of the
Year (6.02 Lbs) Pomme Ed
Burnett
Rookie of the
Year
Ray Prewett
Heavy Stringer
(22.12 Lbs) Ozark Joe
Garner
1998
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
Jack Curtis
Big Bass of the
Year (7.86 Lbs) Stockton Joe
Garner
Rookie of the
Year
Randy Prewett
Heavy Stringer
(19.24 Lbs) Pomme Jack
Curtis
1999
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
Dave Jones
Big Bass of the
Year (5.96 Lbs) Table Rock Sandy
Willard
Rookie of the
Year
Michael Thompson
Heavy Stringer
(17.30Lbs) Truman John
Drury
2000
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
Dean Robinson
Rookie of the
Year
John Drury Jr.
Heavy Stringer
(19.10Lbs) Truman Ray
Prewett
Big Bass of the
Year (5.88 Lbs) Pomme Dan Weber
Sportsman of the
Year (Add in 2000 as a Ray Prewett
Club Award)
2001
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
Bill Getz
Rookie of the
Year
John Greenwald
Heavy Stringer
(12.12Lbs) Truman Joe
Garner
Big Bass of the
Year (6.48 Lbs) Truman Ray
Prewett
Sportsman of the
Year
Jerry Patton
2002
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
Mike Judah
Rookie of the
Year
Ed Burnette
Heavy Stringer
David Jones
Big Bass of the
Year (6.04 Lbs) Pomme Dave
Jones
Sportsman of the
Year
Bob Shafer
2003
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
David Jones
Rookie of the
Year
Bill Koerber
Heavy Stringer
(16.12Lbs) Stockton John
Drury Jr.
Big Bass of the
Year (4.76 Lbs) Stockton Dave
Jones
Sportsman of the
Year
Bill Getz
2004
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
John Drury
Angler of the
Year
Dave Jones
Rookie of the
Year
Bill Koerber
Heavy Stringer
(16.12Lbs) Ozark Eric
Webster
Big Bass of the
Year (4.79 Lbs) Pomme John
Drury
Sportsman of the
Year
Bill Koerber
2005
Awards
Winner
Club Champion
Ed Fisher
Angler of the
Year
John Drury
Rookie of the
Year
Kirby Snyder
Heavy Stringer
(15.70Lbs) Ozark Ed
Fisher
Big Bass of the
Year (6.29 Lbs) Ozark Bill
Koerber
