OSAGE BEACH, Mo. Boater Roger Fitzpatrick of Eldon brought a two-day total of 10 bass to the scale weighing 36 pounds, 3 ounces, to win the two-day T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Ozark Division presented by Bassing Bob super-tournament on Lake of the Ozarks on Sunday. For his victory, Fitzpatrick earned $6,891.
"My home is in the Gravois arm, so I like to fish on the north shore," said Fitzpatrick, who earned his seventh career BFL victory. "I had two different patterns going - I'd fish docks in the morning with a black and blue jig, then later in the day I'd move out to the ledges.
"The deeper ledge fish were the key," Fitzpatrick said. "They were bigger, but they didn't bite in the morning - it had to be later in the day. It also takes heavy boat traffic for me to catch them, so I had to be patient and not go to the ledge fish too soon. Those morning docks ended up giving me some very key fish."
Fitzpatrick said his key bait was a black-and-blue-colored Omega Pro Mega Structure jig tipped with a BioSpawn VileBug, as he weighed in nine of his 10 keepers on the jig. He also weighed in one keeper on a white Berkley Choppo that came on a seawall.
Lawson Hibdon, of Versailles, came in second in the tournament. Hibdon's two-day total of 10 bass weighing in at 31 pounds, 9 ounces earned him $3,345.
The 2019 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing - the BFL All-American.
The 2020 BFL All-American will be held April 30-May 2 at Lake Hartwell in Anderson, South Carolina, and is hosted by Visit Anderson. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.