The Mississippi River Anglers Association conducted its sixth and final 2018 Summer Trail Tournament last Saturday August 25th at Lake Chicot with 31 boats fishing in the tournament. After the 6 plus inches of rain that fell the week before on Sunday and Monday, the lake had come up about 2 feet, but the water stayed clear and the lake was on a slow fall at tournament time. We were also dealing with a full moon on Saturday, this event always plays a role in the outcome. Out of the 31 boats fishing in the tournament Saturday, only 10 four bass limits we’re brought to the scale, the lowest number of limits we’d had brought in for the hole year. This indicated it was a tuff day fishing for most of us, but as always, somebody caught a good bag.
Saturday on Lake Chicot , first place went to a local team fishing there first tournament with us, Ronnie Atkins and William Harper, their 4 bass limit weighed in at a nice 15.64 lbs., coming in second place was a team from Greenville, Charlie Jennings and Pete Cora, their 4 bass limit weighed in at 13.85 lbs., and with this top finish Charlie and Pete won the Angler of the Year race, congratulations, third place went to a team from Grenada, Tim McDaniel and Logan McDaniel, however Johnathan Sulton substituted for Logan and their 4 bass limits weighed in at 13.62 lbs., coming in fourth place was a team from Jackson, Chris Coy and Rudy Vanderford, their 4 bass limit went 12.42 lbs., coming in fifth place was another local team fishing there first tournament with us, Jimmy Farrar and Grady Rinehart, there 4 bass limit weighed in at 11.07lbs., coming in sixth place was a team form Moorhead and Greenville, Austin Jones and myself, our 4 bass limit weighed in at 10.90 lbs. and coming in seventh place and getting the last check was another local team fishing there first tournament with us, Steve Crain and Don Holeman, they had 3 bass that weighed 10.56lbs, including the tournament lunker of 5.24lbs. Congratulation to all the money winners, great job by everyone.
MRAA 2018 Summer Trail Results Lake Chicot 8/25/2018:
| Place | Angler 1 | Angler 2 | # Fish | Pounds | Winnings | ||||
| 1 | Ronnie Atkins | William Harper | 4 | 15.64 | $1,350.00 | ||||
| 2 | Charlie Jennings | Pete Cora | 4 | 13.85 | $675.00 | ||||
| 3 | Tim McDaniel | Logan McDaniel | 4 | 13.62 | $400.00 | ||||
| 4 | Chris Coy | Rudy Vanderford | 4 | 12.42 | $325.00 | ||||
| 5 | Jimmy Farrar | Grady Rinehart | 4 | 11.07 | $240.00 | ||||
| 6 | Austin Jones | Terry Bates | 4 | 10.90 | $160.00 | ||||
| 7 | Steve Crain | Don Holeman | 3 | 10.56 | $640.00* | ||||
| 8 | Scott Mitchell | Jay Mitchell | 4 | 10.17 | |||||
| 9 | John Polasini | Reeves Polasini | 4 | 9.64 | |||||
| 10 | Jerry Wayne McLendon | Robby Hughes | 3 | 9.61 | |||||
| 11 | Randy Bolden Jr. | Jeff Lindsey | 4 | 9.55 | |||||
| 12 | Chris Williams | Buddy Tutor | 4 | 8.65 | |||||
| 13 | Steve Tullos | David Skeeter | 3 | 6.56 | |||||
| 14 | David Sykes | Bobby Ingram | 3 | 6.33 | |||||
| 15 | Charles Hughes | Mike Jordan | 3 | 6.21 | |||||
| 16 | Reid Stewart | Brad Hayes | 3 | 5.80 | |||||
| 17 | Joey Beevers | Bobby Burton | 3 | 5.70 | |||||
| 18 | Andy Graves | Jason Lunceford | 2 | 4.83 | |||||
| 19 | Eddie Gibson | Quentel Gibson | 2 | 4.59 | |||||
| 20 | Clifton Ray | Parker Frew | 2 | 4.47 | |||||
| 21 | Lawson Davis | Matt Bateman | 2 | 3.86 | |||||
| 22 | Newton Ford | Johnathan Kent | 1 | 3.69 | |||||
| 23 | Kenny Amos | Kendal Amos | 1 | 2.51 | |||||
| 24 | Allen Powell | Jackie Robinson | 0 | ||||||
| 24 | Daniel Clark | Thad Shelby | 0 | ||||||
| 24 | David Reed | Jake Reed | 0 | ||||||
| 24 | Tad Keller | Michael Hayes | 0 | ||||||
| 24 | Keith Kendall | Brian Kendall | 0 | ||||||
| 24 | Billy Hopkins | Taylor Flemming | 0 | ||||||
| 24 | Wilbert Jackson | Amy Jackson | 0 | ||||||
| 24 | Calvin Lusby | Joe Rainwater | 0 | ||||||
| William Jones | Michael Buvid | ||||||||
| Matt Bellipanni | Colby Howard | ||||||||
| Matt Mullins | Hunter Christmas | ||||||||
| Joey Tatum | Ronnie Ray | ||||||||
| Brad Threet | Darren Rone | ||||||||
| Jimmy Brumfield | Keith Brumfield | ||||||||
| Anthony Wilson | Elijah Allen | ||||||||
| Matthew Bates | Brandon Williams | ||||||||
| Phillip Wasson | Charles Signa | ||||||||
| Gene Jones | Taff Hitt | ||||||||
| Jay Pickle | Pat Pickle | ||||||||
| Chance Meredith | Carson Meredith | ||||||||
| Terry McWilliams | Justin Thomas | ||||||||
| Johnathan Sulton | Colby Sulton | ||||||||
| John King | Kevin King | ||||||||
| Glen Brooks | |||||||||
| Alen Bagby | Tac Caruthers | ||||||||
| Mike Ainsworth | Josh Goodman | ||||||||
| Todd Lott | Jim Goodman |
*=Lunker
The MRAA another successful Summer Trail season in 2018 averaging 31 boats per tournament for the year. And as I stated above, since this was the last MRAA 2018 Summer Trail Tournament for 2018, the AOY race was decide. Going into Saturday Tournament there were three teams that had a chance to win the AYO title. Chris Williams and Buddy Tutor were leading by 3 points over Joey Beevers and Bobby Burton and 4 points over Charlie Jennings and Pete Corn. In the end Charlie and Pete managed to catch a good limit on Saturday and come from behind to win their third MRAA Summer Trail AYO title, fantastic job guys! Along with winning the title, Charlie and Pete will have all their 2019 MRAA Summer Trail Tournament paid for. On the points standing listed below are the teams that have already qualified for the 2019 Championship in red, everyone else need to see what you need to fish in the winter trial to make next springs championship.
The first 2018-19 MRAA Winter Trail Tournament will be at Eagle Lake on October 6th, launching form the public ramp. Everyone that paid a membership fee for the Summer Trail, that membership fee will still be good for the upcoming Winter Trail season.
I would like to thank all you fishermen and sponsors for supporting the Mississippi River Angler Association in 2018. Fishermen remember without the help from these sponsors below, our trail would not be what it is, so please support them too.
MRAA 2018 Summer Trail Final Points Standings after 6 tournaments:
| Place | Angler 1 | Angler 2 | Points | # Fished |
| 1 | Charlie Jennings | Pete Cora | 637.89 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 2 | Chris Williams | Buddy Tutor | 627.60 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 3 | Tim McDaniel | Logan McDaniel | 620.56 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 4 | Joey Beevers | Bobby Burton | 616.36 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 5 | Charles Hughes | Mike Jordan | 595.73 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 6 | David Reed | Jake Reed | 590.68 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 7 | Allen Powell | Jackie Robinson | 590.14 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 8 | Jerry Wayne McLendon | Robby Hughes | 580.54 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 9 | David Sykes | Bobby Ingram | 580.25 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 10 | Randy Bolden Jr. | Jeff Lindsey | 577.54 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 11 | Clifton Ray | Parker Frew | 562.14 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 12 | Lawson Davis | Matt Bateman | 559.82 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 13 | Newton Ford | Johnathan Kent | 558.12 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 14 | Austin Jones | Terry Bates | 534.93 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 15 | John Polasini | Reeves Polasini | 531.15 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 16 | Keith Kendall | Brian Kendall | 530.40 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 17 | Kenny Amos | Kendal Amos | 494.70 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 18 | Reid Stewart | Brad Hayes | 477.37 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 19 | Matt Mullins | Hunter Christmas | 472.58 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 20 | Andy Graves | Jason Lunceford | 469.62 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 21 | Steve Tullos | David Skeeter | 459.42 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 22 | Phillip Wasson | Charles Signa | 435.33 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 23 | Joey Tatum | Ronnie Ray | 430.46 | Qualied for 2019 Championship |
| 24 | William Jones | Michael Buvid | 427.79 | four tournaments(need 2 winter trails) |
| 25 | Tad Keller | Michael Hayes | 416.44 | five tournament(need 1 winter trail) |
| 26 | Scott Mitchell | Jay Mitchell | 405.98 | four tournaments(need 2 winter trails) |
| 27 | Chris Coy | Rudy Vanderford | 396.48 | four tournaments(need 2 winter trails) |
| 28 | Matthew Bates | Brandon Williams | 387.73 | four tournaments(need 2 winter trails) |
| 30 | Billy Hopkins | Taylor Flemming | 385.05 | four tournaments(need 2 winter trails) |
| 29 | Eddie Gibson | Quentel Gibson | 370.93 | four tournaments(need 2 winter trails) |
| 31 | Chance Meredith | Carson Meredith | 289.59 | four tournaments(need 2 winter trails) |
| 32 | Daniel Clark | Thad Shelby | 260.70 | three tournaments(need 3 winter trails) |
| 34 | Brad Threet | Darren Rone | 212.87 | two tournaments(need 4 winte trails) |
| 35 | Jay Pickle | Pat Pickle | 188.13 | two tournaments(need 4 winte trails) |
| 33 | Gene Jones | Taff Hitt | 168.53 | two tournaments(need 4 winte trails) |
| 36 | John King | Kevin King | 107.20 | one tournament(need 5 winter trails) |
| 37 | Matt Bellipanni | Colby Howard | 106.08 | one tournament(need 5 winter trails) |
| 38 | Glen Brooks | 89.00 | one tournament(need 5 winter trails) | |
| 39 | Mike Ainsworth | Josh Goodman | 84.09 | one tournament(need 5 winter trails) |
| 40 | Terry McWilliams | Justin Thomas | 80.86 | one tournament(need 5 winter trails) |
| 41 | Alen Bagby | Tac Caruthers | 79.97 | one tournament(need 5 winter trails) |
| 42 | Todd Lott | Jim Goodman | 78.78 | one tournament(need 5 winter trails) |
| 43 | Jimmy Brumfield | Keith Brumfield | 77.50 | one tournament(need 5 winter trails) |
| 44 | Anthony Wilson | Elijah Allen | 76.28 | one tournament(need 5 winter trails) |
| 45 | Johnathan Sulton | Colby Sulton | 70.00 | one tournament(need 5 winter trails) |
| 46 | Ronnie Atkins | William Harper | 0.00 | |
| 47 | Jimmy Farrar | Grady Rinehart | 0.00 | |
| 48 | Steve Crain | Don Holeman | 0.00 | |
| 49 | Wilbert Jackson | Amy Jackson | 0.00 | |
| 50 | Calvin Lusby | Joe Rainwater | 0.00 |