Smith by an Ounce on Grand

Delong nets co-angler title in Ozark event

Jeffrey Smith of Knob Noster, Missouri, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 17 pounds, 6 ounces, Saturday to win the FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Ozark Division tournament on Grand Lake presented by Navionics. For his victory, Smith took home $4,235.

“In the morning I ran to a backwater pocket on the north end that was littered with riprap,” says Smith, who earned the second win of his FLW career. “There was a low bridge, but with my new aluminum Ranger I was able to raise the trolling motor and get under it. No one else could get back to where the rain had pushed the fish to.

“In the backwater I caught three of my limit fish – including a 5-pounder – flipping a Black Neon-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver,” Smith continues. “They were in about a foot of water along scattered wood, logs and laydowns.”

At 8 a.m., Smith ran to his second area – a ledge off of a point in a Honey Creek cove – to focus on postspawn bass.

“I filled my limit with a shaky head paired with a green-pumpkin Zoom worm,” says Smith. “I fished in 12 feet of water and ran the bait slow along the bottom. I ended up with five bites all day and they paid off.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Jeffrey Smith, Knob Noster, Mo., five bass, 17-6, $4,235

2^nd:         Benjamin King, Garnett, Kan., five bass, 17-5, $2,118

3^rd:          Tim Fleetwood, Forsyth, Mo., five bass, 16-15, $1,713

4^th:          Matthew Roberts, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 16-12, $988

5^th:          Nick Lebrun, Bossier City, La., five bass, 16-10, $847

6^th:          Brad Koehler, Coweta, Okla., five bass, 15-14, $776

7^th:          Thomas Canady, Bartlesville, Okla., five bass, 15-9, $670

7^th:          Wes Endicott, Joplin, Mo., five bass, 15-9, $670

9^th:          Ben Verhoef, Osage Beach, Mo., five bass, 15-7, $565

10^th:        Preston Frazell, Cleveland, Okla., five bass, 15-1, $494

Complete results can be found here.  

James Rogers of Springdale, Arkansas, caught a 5-pound, 13-ounce bass – the biggest of the tournament in the pro division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $590.

Delong wins co-angler title

Phillip Delong of Stillwater, Oklahoma, weighed in five bass totaling 16 pounds, 1 ounce, Saturday to win the co-angler division and earn $2,118.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Phillip Delong, Stillwater, Okla., five bass, 16-1, $2,118

2^nd:         Denise Dill, Laurie, Mo., five bass, 12-15, $1,059

3^rd:          Aaron Strohkirch, Camdenton, Mo., five bass, 12-9, $706

4^th:          Johnny Ward Jr., Waynesville, Mo., four bass, 12-3, $494

5^th:          Rich Purington, Plattsmouth, Neb., five bass, 11-2, $406

5^th:          Richard Bower III, Jefferson City, Mo., five bass, 11-2, $406

7^th:          Reggie Britt, Prairie Village, Kan., four bass, 10-3, $353

8^th:          Randy Staton, Muskogee, Okla., four bass, 9-15, $318

9^th:          Cody Millican, Highlandville, Mo., five bass, 9-13, $282

10^th:        Dan Goetz, Columbia, Ill., three bass, 9-6, $234

10^th:        Grant Nisbet, St. Louis, Mo., two bass, 9-6, $529

Nisbet caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division, a fish weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces and earned the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $295.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 27-29 Regional Championship on Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Arkansas. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.