MOUNT IDA, Ark. (Feb. 19, 2018) – Boater Teddy Bogard of Rison, Arkansas, caught five bass weighing 16 pounds, 14 ounces, Saturday to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Arkie Division season-opening tournament on Lake Ouachita. For his efforts, Bogard took home $4,444. Bogard said he fished in the backs of pockets on the upper end of the lake. He focused on ditches that were 6- to 7-feet deep and used a Red Craw-colored ¾-ounce Rat-L-Trap to build his limit.
“The ditches had flats on both sides that were 2- to 3-feet down,” said Bogard, who earned his second career win in BFL competition. “I worked around standing timber and caught 10 or 11 keepers by the end of the day.”
Bogard said his limit was capped off by a fish that came late in the day.
“I had a small ditch that took me 20 minutes to idle in to,” said Bogard. “I went in there, caught a 4½ -pounder, and immediately had to idle back out and head in – that was my anchor fish.”
The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:
1st: Teddy Bogard, Rison, Ark., five bass, 16-14, $4,444
2nd: Larry Gragg, Pine Bluff, Ark., four bass, 16-7, $3,022
3rd: Doug Thompson, Mabelvale, Ark., five bass, 15-3, $1,513
4th: Quincy Houchin, Mabelvale, Ark., five bass, 14-10, $919
4th: Steve Howard, Conway, Ark., five bass, 14-10, $919
6th: Timmy Poe, Bryant, Ark., five bass, 14-8, $778
7th: Wayne Dixon, Morrilton, Ark., five bass, 14-0, $707
8th: Spencer Shuffield, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 13-12, $637
9th: Fred Martin, North Little Rock, Ark., five bass, 13-2, $502
9th: Rick Ellis, Cabot, Ark., five bass, 13-2, $502
9th: Jamey Black, Sheridan, Ark., five bass, 13-2, $502
Gragg caught a bass weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $600. Dusty Rhoades of Gravelly, Arkansas, won the Co-angler Division and $2,522 Saturday after catching four bass weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers were:
1st: Dusty Rhoades, Gravelly, Ark., four bass, 11-7, $2,522
2nd: Matt Mitchell, Hot Springs, Ark., five bass, 10-12, $1,061
3rd: John McCullar, Benton, Ark., three bass, 10-11, $707
4th: Jason Broomfield, Waldron, Ark., four bass, 9-6, $545
5th: Darrell Joslin, Benton, Ark., two bass, 8-15, $424
6th: Bryan Barnard, Harrison, Ark., three bass, 8-11, $389
7th: Spencer Clark, Maryland Heights, Mo., five bass, 8-6, $354
8th: Travis Mosley, Bowling Green, Ky., two bass, 7-12, $318
9th: Matt France, Cabot, Ark., five bass, 7-9, $283
10th: Nicholas Bergt, Atlanta, Texas, two bass, 7-3, $248
Rhoades also caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division – a 6-pound, 14-ounce fish. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $300.