OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (Oct. 29, 2018) – Boater Mike Feldermann of Galena, Illinois, caught a three-day cumulative total of 15 bass weighing 45 pounds, 4 ounces, to win the Bass Fishing League (BFL) Regional championship tournament on Lake of the Ozarks. Feldermann earned $66,200 for his efforts, including a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard and automatic entry into the 2019 BFL All-American Championship.
“I knew going into this tournament that Lake of the Ozarks is a topwater lake,” said Felderman, who earned his 10th win in BFL competition. “But I also knew, from years of fishing, that you can get your feelings hurt on any topwater bite. Between not getting bites and losing them, it can go bad fairly quickly.”
Feldermann said he ended up fishing the Osage arm during the event, working through a 10-mile stretch of major creek arms and shallow main-river pockets.
“It was rainy and overcast when the tournament started. I couldn’t catch anything off of wood,” said Feldermann. “I ended up catching all of my keepers from suspended docks in 2 to 7 feet of water.”
The Illinois boater said he caught all of his keepers on his spinnerbait, noting that his limits consisted of three good-sized fish and two 15-inchers each day.
“The spinnerbait was homemade and had a small Colorado blade,” said Feldermann. “It gets down in the water column faster and it’s less affected by the wind, so my casts were more accurate. Another key was the 5:1 gear ratio on my [Shimano Calais] reel. In these events, it’s easy to get revved up and fish faster, but the ratio helped offset that.”
The top six boaters that qualified for the 2019 BFL All-American were:
1st: Mike Feldermann, Galena, Ill., 15 bass, 45-4, $66,200
2nd: Wade Ramsey, Choctaw, Okla., 15 bass, 43-11, $10,000
3rd: Jeremy Johnson, Henryetta, Okla., 15 bass, 41-14, $5,000
4th: Brad Leifermann, Andover, Minn., 13 bass, 41-3, $3,100
5th: Shawn Gordon, Russellville, Ark., 14 bass, 40-9, $2,000
6th: Dennis Berhorst, Holts Summit, Mo., 15 bass, 40-8, $1,800
Rounding out the top-10 boaters were:
7th: Rob Leidholdt, Milton, Wis., 15 bass, 38-4, $1,600
8th: Joseph Norris, Bossier City, La., 14 bass, 36-14, $1,400
9th: Jaret Rushing, Hampton, Ark., 13 bass, 35-8, $1,200
10th: Randy Ramsey Jr., Chicago, Ill., 12 bass, 34-8, $1,000
Dewey Larson of Fayetteville, Arkansas, won the Co-angler Division and a new Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard with a three-day cumulative catch of 11 bass weighing 28 pounds, 1 ounce.
The top six co-anglers that qualified for the 2019 BFL All-American were:
1st: Dewey Larson, Fayetteville, Ark., 11 bass, 28-1, $45,100
2nd: Matt Finkeldei, Davenport, Iowa, 11 bass, 28-0, $5,050
3rd: Alan Bernicky, Joliet, Ill., 12 bass, 27-11, $2,500
4th: Jimmy Green, Tulsa, Okla., 10 bass, 24-13, $1,500
5th: Brandon Ackerson, Afton, Okla., 10 bass, 22-10, $1,000
6th: Eugene Moore III, Little Rock, Ark., six bass, 21-10, $900
Rounding out the top-10 co-anglers were:
7th: Bryan Schuster, Oklahoma City, Okla., eight bass, 21-2, $800
8th: Ben Faucheaux, Natchitoches, La., 10 bass, 18-5, $700
9th: Bill Wiles, Arcadia, Okla., six bass, 17-0, $600
10th: Cannon Rush, Grand Prairie, Texas, eight bass, 16-4, $500
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The T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks presented by Mercury was hosted by the Tri-County Lodging Association.