Ostmann bags 54-12 for Co-angler Win
Ohio co-angler strings together three great days for redemption on Chickamauga
Scott Ostmann’s last tournament on Chickamauga wasn’t what he knew he was capable of. He found out just what he could really do on Chick this week with a 54-12 three-day total in the Costa FLW Series Southeastern Division event, presented by T-H Marine, and a huge dose of redemption on a lake that beat him up in 2017.
“I fished two days, and I had one fish for 5 pounds, and it killed me because I knew I could do so much better down here,” he says of his last derby on Chick.
Since then, Ostmann has made a couple fun-fishing trips back to the stupendous Tennessee reservoir and found increasing success.
“I made two trips since then: a spring trip last year and a fall trip for frogging,” he adds. “That spring trip last year we had a great time flipping, so I was nervous coming down here. I was all set up to flip wood the whole time so I was nervous about starting out.”
Those nerves stemmed from the fact that water levels on Chick were down close to eight feet below summer pool to start the tournament and all the cover Ostmann hoped to flip was well out of the water. Instead, he turned primarily to an umbrella rig to do his damage.
Ostmann runs an online tackle store with his brother called wedofishing.com. As he tells it, the umbrella rigs with which he won on Chick were from an original inventory of umbrella rigs that probably aren’t even in production anymore.
“My brother and I started that business about eight years ago, and we bought a stockpile of these things from a company that probably doesn’t make them anymore, then of course the Alabama rig craze hit,” Ostmann recalls. “We don’t fish them in Ohio, so this tournament, I grabbed a handful of them and brought them down.
“It’s heavy duty. They’re really heavy. Heavy wire, heavy gauge on the swivels. They have all the blades on the inside and not on the arm, so it’s like a cluster of blades, so I think fish see a big flash.”
Frank Clark, who Ostmann was paired with on day two, was so impressed with the umbrella rig that he gave $100 to Ostmann to send him some.
Ostmann, on the other hand, was impressed with his boaters. He had nothing but good things to say about Clark and his day one boater Jason Abram and fellow winner Brent Butler.
“Jason was outstanding. Frank, yesterday, he let me have everything and Brent today, he was just awesome. To win one of these you have to have three good partners. These guys were the most unselfish fishermen that I’ve fished with. [Butler] brought in 37 pounds yesterday and I had an opportunity from the first cast.”
Having a great boater is nice. Having three is necessary to win, and so is making the most of opportunities. Ostmann did that, and in the process, he found redemption on Chickamauga in the form of a victory he always knew was possible.
The stars aligned this week,” he says. “That’s the way I look at it. It feels awesome. It feels validating. My wife laughs when she’s walking past me doing tackle for a week in the basement before I do these, so it’s nice to have some validation at the end.”
Top 10 co-anglers
1. Scott Ostmann – Cincinnati, Ohio – 54-12 (15) – $27,800 + Ranger Cup ($5,000)
2. Doug Iorio II – Kennerdell, Pa. – 41-15 (14) – $5,375
3. Kevin Gordon – Aiken, S.C. – 40-9 (12) – $4,350
4. Alan Hults – Gautier, Miss. – 38-14 (13) – $3,900
5. Josh Womack – Gallatin, Tenn. – 35-8 (14) – $3,150
6. Captain Don Lewis – Jacksonville, Fla. – 32-15 (10) – $2,650
7. Michael Leach – The Woodlands, Texas – 32-0 (10) – $2,150
8. Stephen Kocell – Waxhaw, N.C. – 25-15 (9) – $1,925
9. Josh Lockhard – Somerset, Ky. – 22-10 (10) – $1,530
10. Tony Prince – Pulaski, Tenn. – 22-7 (9) – $1,290