Sykora wins Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League event on Lake of the Ozarks

Boater Marcus Sykora of Osage Beach, Mo., earned $6,000 March 4 as winner of the BFL Ozark Division event on Lake of the Ozarks. Angler: Marcus Sykora.

March 4, 2006 • MLF • Archives

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – Boater Marcus Sykora of Osage Beach, Mo., earned $6,000 Saturday as winner of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League Ozark Division event on Lake of the Ozarks. The tournament was the first of five regular-season Ozark Division events and featured a full field of 200 boaters vying for the win, which earned Sykora 200 points in the Boater Division.

Sykora’s winning catch of five bass weighed 19 pounds, 2 ounces. He threw a bone-colored stickbait on a shallow flat to catch his bass.

Rounding out the top five boaters are Doyle Isom Jr. of Bourbon, Mo. (five bass, 18 pounds, 2 ounces, $3,000); Lawrence Bean of Union, Mo. (five bass, 17 pounds, 6 ounces, $2,000); Tim Fleetwood of Forsyth, Mo. (five bass, 16 pounds, 10 ounces, $1,300) and Tim Taylor of Nixa, Mo. (five bass, 16 pounds, 10 ounces, $1,300).

Isom earned an additional $500 as winner of the Ranger Cup award.

Greg West of Lake Ozark, Mo., took Boater Division big-bass award honors, earning $1,000 for a 6-pound, 6-ounce bass.

Tim Busey of Rogers, Ark., bested 200 Co-angler Division competitors to earn $3,000 as the co-angler winner, thanks to four bass weighing 15 pounds, 14 ounces that he caught on a Smithwick Rogue and a brown jig. One of his bass weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounces, good for the big-bass award in the Co-angler Division and an extra $500.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jamie Fisher of Battlefield, Mo. (five bass, 10 pounds, 6 ounces, $1,500); Mark Madison of Valparaiso, Neb. (three bass, 9 pounds, 1 ounce, $1,000) Jeffrey Risinger of Bridgeton, Mo., (three bass, 8 pounds, 12 ounces, $700) and Ron Mclain of Blue Springs, Mo. (four bass, 8 pounds, 3 ounces, $600).

Ozark Division anglers will next visit Table Rock Lake in Kimberling City, Mo., April 1 for their second regular-season event, followed by an event on Grand Lake in Grove, Okla., May 20. The division’s fourth qualifying event will be held at Lake Truman in Clinton, Mo., July 22. A two-day Super Tournament, the division’s fifth and final event, will be held on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach Sept. 16-17. For more information or to enter a tournament, call (270) 252-1000 or browse FLWOutdoors.com.

Following the regular season, the Ozark Division boater with the most points who advances farthest in the Wal-Mart BFL All-American will earn $10,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion. The co-angler points champion who advances farthest will earn $5,000 as the Yamaha “Be the Best” points champion in the Co-angler Division.

Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points going to the winner, 199 for second, 198 for third, and so on except for Super Tournaments, which award 300 points to the winner, 299 for second, 298 for third, and so on. The top 40 Ozark Division boaters and co-anglers will advance to the Fort Madison Regional Championship near Fort Madison, Iowa, Oct. 5-7 and will compete against anglers from the Great Lakes, Illini and Michigan divisions for an All-American slot. The top 40 anglers from each division may also advance to the Stren Series in 2007.

With a total purse of $1 million and a potential $140,000 cash prize going to the winning boater and $70,000 going to the winning co-angler, the All-American is one of the most prestigious and lucrative events in bass fishing.

The $8.8 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League features 28 divisions nationwide. In BFL competition, boaters and co-anglers are randomly paired, with boaters supplying the boat and fishing against other boaters and co-anglers fishing from the back deck against other co-anglers.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, as well as the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.