BRANSON WEST, Mo. (April 16, 2007) - Boater Dennis Berhorst of Holts Summit, Mo., won the Bass Fishing League Ozark Division bass fishing tournament on Table Rock Lake Saturday with a five-bass catch weighing 23 pounds, 6 ounces. The victory earned Berhorst $4,177 plus a $737 Ranger bonus and placed him one step closer to qualifying for the Mississippi River Regional Championship in Fort Madison, Iowa, Oct. 4-6, where he could ultimately win a new 519VX Ranger boat and a Chevy truck. Rounding out the top five boaters are Mark Martin of Ozark, Mo., (five bass, 17-3, $2,458); Kenneth Garrison of Branson, Mo., (five bass, 17-2, $1,640); Andrew Renkoski of Purdy, Mo., (five bass, 16-15, $1,147) and Russ Franklin of Ash Grove, Mo., (five bass, 16-13, $942).
Berhorst took home the Boater Division Big Bass award, earning $750 for a 7-pound, 4-ounce bass.
Dustin Back of Galena, Mo., earned $2,453 as the co-angler winner Saturday thanks to five bass weighing 15 pounds, 3 ounces that he caught while fishing a green pumpkin finesse worm.
Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Robert Gideon of Preston, Mo., (five bass, 13-13, $1,226); Stewart Bigelow of Columbia, Mo., (five bass, 13-12, $816); John Buchanan of Jefferson City, Mo., (five bass, 13-9, $572) and Daniel Russell of Branson, Mo., (five bass, 13-3, $491).
James Kochanowski of Lansing, Kan., and James Leach of Independence, Mo., each earned $185 as the co-angler Big Bass winners after catching matching 6-pound, 5-ounce bass.
The Ozark Division's next event will be May 5 on Table Rock Lake in Branson West, Mo., followed by a tournament June 30 on Truman Lake in Clinton, Mo. The final event of the regular season will be a two-day Super Tournament held Sept. 15-16 on Lake of the Ozarks in Lake of the Ozarks State Park, Mo.