OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – While the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Plains Division event at Lake of the Ozarks was tough on the pros, it was even tougher on the co-anglers. In fact, so tough that only five co-anglers managed to catch five or more fish over the entire three-day event. Earning the win, Mark Sloan caught one for 2 pounds, 14 ounces on Day 1, blasted 14-11 on Day 2, and his 16-15 total was all he needed. For the win, Sloan earned his second Phoenix Boats package in the last few months, plus the $400 Epic Award and $150 for Big Bass.
In second, Dan Bowman caught fish every day and finished up with 15 pounds for seven. In third, Drew Boehle also caught a keeper every day and weighed 12-3.
Huge Day 2 key for Sloan
In most events, there’s an element of luck on the co-angler side, as the pro matters a lot in the equation. As a co-angler, you want to draw a boater on some fish, but it’s best if they’re catchable from the back of the boat. In this event, pro Eddy May turned out to be incredibly key. On Day 1, Bowman drew May and weighed four for 9-7 to lead the event. On Day 2, it was Sloan’s turn, and he made magic happen.
“My boater yesterday went to a gravel point where they had caught all their fish previously the day before,” said Sloan. “My boater told me, ‘We’re going to sit here all day because this is the only place where I’ve had decent activity.’ And we pull up there, and about my third cast, I caught a 2 ¼-pound largemouth on a ¼-ounce finesse jig. And then about thirty minutes later, I catch a little Kentucky. And my boater, he caught his two keepers next.”
Still on the same point, it took until the afternoon for Sloan to connect with his kickers.
“About 12:00, I had my jig straight under the boat in about 30 foot of water,” he said. “I never even felt it bite. My line just got heavy, and I set the hook. And he came to the top, and he was the 5-2 that I caught. All day, my boater talk kept talking about how there should be a big one around because they previously caught a 3-pounder the day before. And about 30 minutes later, I made an almost identical cast that I made prior to catching that 5-2, and I called that 5-11 in almost 30 feet of water.”
On Day 1, Sloan caught his fish on a wobble head with a Bojangle Baits Bait Nos Craw. On Day 2, he caught his first fish dragging a 1/4-ounce Keitech Tungsten Football Jig and his bigger fish dragging a 1/2-ounce Keitech Tungsten Casting Jig.
A retired firefighter, Sloan had a long wait at weigh-in to see if he’d pull out the win – ordinarily impossible considering that he caught only one short fish on the final day.
“I was pretty nervous all day because I figured I’d need to at least one or two fish to seal the deal,” he said. “But, as tough as it’s been fishing, I knew that was going to be hard to get because we just fell on something special yesterday when I brought in that 14 pounds.
“So, it was a little stressful out there,” said Sloan. “I knew there was a chance that I might be able to win without catching anything, but I also knew that there was a really good chance that somebody could come in and have a really big bag like I did yesterday and take me out of it.”
Fishing from the back of the boat, Sloan has been on a run of success lately, as he also won a boat in the Phoenix Bass Fishing League Presented by T-H Marine Regional on Wright Patman Lake in the fall.
“That one still hasn’t sunk in yet, really,” he said. “And then this happens. Miracles happen, when it’s your time, it’s your time.”
Despite the rain of new boats, Sloan plans to continue on the co-angler side for the time being. Though he’s going to jump in the Arkie Division of BFLs on the boater side, he’s got plenty of co-angler events lined up.
“There’s always a day that you wish you were in the front of the boat, but I like traveling around and visiting different bodies of water, different types of water,” he said. “Being a co-angler helps me to be able to do that, time-wise and financially-wise, you can pay a lot more entry fees from the co-angler side, whereas, you know, I might only be able to fish one division as a boater, I can go fish two divisions as a co-angler.”
Considering how it is going of late, Sloan is probably wise to keep working the program – winning two boats in six months is pretty strong stuff.
Top 10 co-anglers
1. Mark Sloan – 16 – 15 (5) – $34,050
2. Dan Bowman – 15 – 0 (7) – $4,301
3. Drew Boehle – 12 – 3 (5) – $3,441
4. Douglas Guidorzi – 12 – 1 (5) – $3,011
5. Alan Bernicky – 10 – 8 (5) – $2,581
6. Todd Adamitis – 8 – 9 (3) – $2,151
7. Ryan Steinhoff – 8 – 9 (4) – $1,720
8. Anthony Scoma – 7 – 13 (3) – $1,505
9. Robert Hunt – 7 – 8 (3) – $1,290
10. Ken Coats – 7 – 7 (4) – $1,075