OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – Chevy pro Dion Hibdon of Sunrise Beach, Missouri, weighed a two-day total of 10 bass totaling 31 pounds, 2 ounces to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Ozark Division Super Tournament on Lake of the Ozarks Sunday. For his victory, Hibdon earned $8,131.
“I caught most of my fish skipping my bait up under boat docks, around brush,” said Hibdon, a 19-year Walmart FLW Tour pro. “I just started picking apart docks. About 90-percent of my fish came on a jig with a Luck-E-Strike Guido’s Secret Bug on the back of it, or a Texas-rigged Luck-E-Strike creature bait. I just had to get on the right docks and fish slow and pay attention to get the bait way up under them. I caught fish from 1½ to 8 feet of water.”
The 2000 Forrest Wood Cup champion also said that in addition to his two main baits, he fished a Luck-E-Strike Salty Razor Worm on a shaky-head rig and also caught one keeper with a Heddon Zara Spook. Hibdon said that he was fishing up the lake in muddier water and used a variety of darker colors for his baits.
“If you look at the top-20 finishers there, most of them are the best fishermen on Lake of the Ozarks,” said Hibdon. “I’m very proud to come out on top. I’m a fisherman, and I’m going to try as hard to win 50 cents as I would an FLW Tour event.”
Rounding out the top 10 pros:
2nd: Brian Thompson, Springfield, Mo., nine bass, 28-15, $2,915
3rd: Dennis Berhorst, Holts Summit, Mo., nine bass, 28-0, $1,945
4th: Jim Stamper, Montreal, Mo., 10 bass, 27-14, $1,361
5th: Lance Williams, Billings, Mo., 10 bass, 27-8, $1,166
6th: Roger Fitzpatrick, Eldon, Mo., eight bass, 25-8, $1,069
7th: Steve Ruff, Wentzville, Mo., eight bass, 25-0, $972
8th: Larry Caldwell, St. Peters, Mo., nine bass, 22-8, $875
9th: B.J. Miller, Adams, Neb., 10 bass, 22-5, $777
10th: Nalon Jones, Marshfield, Mo., eight bass, 22-3, $680
Complete results can be found by clicking here.
Larson wins co-angler title
Dewey Larson of Fayetteville, Arkansas, weighed in a two-day total of eight bass totaling 18 pounds, 13 ounces to win $2,916 in the co-angler division Sunday.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers:
2nd: Brian Hansen, Fenton, Mo., six bass, 16-10, $1,458
3rd: John Buchanan, Jefferson City, Mo., eight bass, 15-9, $971
4th: Earl Malone, Wichita, Kan., four bass, 13-13, $680
5th: Brent Haas, Warrenton, Mo., five bass, 11-11, $583
6th: Tad Huff, Harrison, Ark., five bass, 10-15, $535
7th: Will Spurgeon, Jefferson City, Mo., five bass, 9-3, $486
8th: Chris Klenke Sr., Wildwood, Mo., five bass, 9-3, $437
9th: Stewart Bigelow, Columbia, Mo., four bass, 9-2, $389
10th: Chris Klenke, Labadie, Mo., five bass, 8-14, $340
Complete co-angler results can be found by clicking here.
The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 16-18 Regional Championship on Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper, Texas. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
The BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 120 tournaments throughout the season, five in each division. The top 40 boaters and co-anglers from each division qualify for a regional tournament and compete to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy. Top winners in the BFL can move up to the Rayovac FLW Series or even the Walmart FLW Tour.
About FLW
FLW is the industry’s premier tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money nationwide in 2014 over the course of 229 tournaments across five tournament circuits, four of which provide an avenue to the sport’s richest payday and most coveted championship trophy – the Forrest Wood Cup. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW" television show and is broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoors-sports television show in the world. For more information about FLW visit FLWOutdoors.com and look for FLW on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.