OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (March 31, 2008) - Boater Doug Schilling of Clinton, Mo., won the Bass Fishing League Ozark Division bass fishing tournament on Lake of the Ozarks Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 17 pounds, 15 ounces. The victory earned Schilling $4,835 and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Lake Ouachita Regional Championship in Mount Ida, Ark., Oct. 23-25, where he could ultimately win a new 198VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.
Schilling caught his bass on main-lake and secondary points throwing a Storm Wiggle Wart crankbait.
Rounding out the top five boaters are Tom Murphy of Richland, Mo. (five bass, 15-09, $2,844); Joe Terry of Jefferson City, Mo. (five bass, 15-01, $1,898); Shannon Beckmann of Stover, Mo. (five bass, 14-13, $1,327) and Greg West of Lake Ozark, Mo. (five bass, 14-02, $1,138). Ronnie Kane of Gardner, Kansas, took home the Boater Division Snickers Big Bass award, earning $920 for a 6-pound, 2-ounce bass he caught on a Zoom Speed Craw.
Blase Frick of St. Louis, Mo., earned $2,844 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 12 pounds, 15 ounces that he caught pitching a Texas-rigged Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Kory Mitchell of Springfield, Mo. (four bass, 11-04, $1,422); Don Meyerett of Castle Rock, Colo. (five bass, 11-01, $948); Mark Madison of Valparaiso, Neb. (two bass, 10-14, $664) and David Stokes of St. Louis, Mo. (three bass, 9-15, $569).
Madison earned $460 as the co-angler Big Bass winner after catching a 6-pound, 9-ounce bass he caught on a crankbait in 2 to 10 feet of water. Ozark Division anglers will visit Table Rock Lake in Branson West, Mo., April 19 for their second regular-season event, followed by an event on Truman Lake in Clinton, Mo., May 10. The division's fourth qualifying event will be held on Grand Lake in Grove, Okla., June 21. A two-day Super Tournament, the division's fifth and final event, will be held on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Mo., Sept. 27-28.