Kimberling City, MO—It is no wonder why Zachary King considers Table Rock one of his favorite lakes in the country.
For the second straight day, King weighed in a 14-pound-plus limit (14-14) to take the lead in the BASS Federation Nation Central Divisional with 29 pounds, 3 ounces. The 31-year-old owner and operator of King's Wrecker Service in Clarksville, Ark., lives about 2 1/2 hours from Table Rock and usually fishes the lake two to three times a year.
"I don't fish here a lot," said King. "I don't just come up here and play fish. Every time I come up here to fish it is for a tournament. This is one of my favorite lakes in the country because it is my style of fishing. I fish really fast and that is how you catch them here."
Competing in his ninth divisional, King has done a lot of running and gunning the last two days. "I'm fishing pretty close but I am probably running 60 miles a day," said King.
The Cabin Creek Bassmasters club member has made some adjustments this week to stay on his fish. "I was catching some fish moving slow baits and then I changed up the last day of practice," he said. "I am fishing some moving baits now but today I had to mix it up a little bit. I caught some moving slow baits and then some working hard baits."
Two competitions are rolled up into one tournament as the divisional contestants vie for individual and team honors. Twelve-man teams from eight states are battling for the top prize of the tournament, a Skeeter bass boat/Yamaha outboard rig worth $40,000. Oklahoma is still the leading team with an accumulative weight of 176 pounds, 7 ounces while Arkansas holds second with 158-9.
The Central Divisional anglers also have a shot at qualifying for the BASS Federation Nation Championship since each team's top finisher earns a berth to the ultimate event for amateur bass anglers. King's state teammates have to overtake the tournament leader to qualify for the championship. Other state leaders are Travis Tunnell (Kansas), Jaime Laiche (Louisiana), Randy Ladner (Mississippi), Greg Cooper (Missouri), Kenny Wasmund (Nebraska), Kyle Tudor (Oklahoma) and Tom Jessop (Texas).
Tomorrow's final weigh-in will determine the winners in the individual and team competitions and the Junior Bassmasters Central Divisional. The weigh-in begins at 2 p.m. CDST at Ahoy's at Kimberling Inn.
