Lake of the Ozarks pro division winner Berhorst

The second event of the 2007-08 Heartland Pro-Am season sponsored by Tracker Marine/Nitro Boats and O’Reilly Auto Parts, was extremely difficult. Winter finally released its icy grip on the lake during the tournament but few anglers found the relatively warm weather much help to the fish. Only two 5 fish limits were brought in from the Pro Division and merely one 3 fish limit on the Amateur side. The bass were found on secondary points in creek arms but an abnormal winter with cold, heavy rains had made the fish very lethargic. The normal stickbait pattern wasn’t trustworthy and dirty water made most fish suspend away from structure. The slight warming of the day moved fish up shallow and the anglers at the top of the heap managed to follow the fish on an extremely tough day.

Local stick Dennis Berhorst can be counted on to challenge for the title any time he drops his boat into Lake of the Ozarks. Dennis paired up with his brother-in-law, Roger Fitzpatrick, to grab 2nd Place the day before in the Team Series event. The duo had to part ways during the Pro-Am and Dennis decided to fish close from the Grand Glaize arm to the Lodge of the Four Seasons. Roger gambled on a different area but came up snake-eyes. Dennis was able to cull through ten fish on an all day bite to amass 17.26 lbs with a 4.80 lb kicker fish.

This was Dennis’ second Heartland win worth $2100. Dennis focused on steep, chunk rock secondary point in feeder creeks to fill his livewell. He was one of the fortunate ones to have an all day bite. Dennis did find the fish to be grouped up, when he caught one the bank was usually good for two or three more fish. If he fished 100 yards of bank without a hit, Dennis felt the fish just were not there to be caught. The key to his bite was focusing on big broken ledge rock while his boat sat in 20 feet of water. Dennis’ kicker fish did come from a boat dock in the back of a pocket but he fished another 20 docks without another bite.

The baits of choice were a 3/8 oz Chompers brown/green Brush Jig and a Megabass Ito Natural jerkbait. The jig fish were relatively shallow in the big rock but the stickbait fish were out a little deeper in 10-12 feet of water. Dennis is sponsored by Evinrude Motors, Gamma Line, HumminBird, Mertens Boats & Motors, MinnKota, Ranger Boats, St. Croix Rods, TH Marine and Yo-Zuri.

2nd Place – Gil Boden of Springfield, MO

Long time Heartland angler Gil Boden made the right adjustments and almost took home the Pro-Am title. His highest Heartland finish was one fish short of a limit with 14.68 lbs backed by a 4.09 lb kicker and Gil lamented of lost fish due to such a light bite. The day was started by throwing a Wiggle Wart crankbait but Gil didn’t find any takers. He thought the cold water demanded a slower presentation so he tied a ¼ oz brown/chartreuse homemade jig with a watermelon red Zoom speed craw to his 14 lb Berkley fluorocarbon line. Gil’s bite was slow but the jig produced the quality he needed to be near the top of the leader board.

Gil started the day at the mouth of the Niangua arm and ended up at the back end. He targeted sharp points with slab rock and pitched the jig right to the bank. The fish were holding in less than 4 feet of water and most bites came after the first hop of the jig. Gil didn’t boat a short fish and because the fish were biting on the fall, it was hard for him to detect strikes. He pocketed $1300 for 2nd Place. Gil is sponsored by Champion Boats, Snider Insurance Company and Ulrich Marine.

3rd Place – Mike Mills of Ozark, MO

After making a big adjustment following the Team Series on Saturday, Mike

• St. Croix rods

• Team Diawa reels

• 10 lb Gamma fluorocarbon line – jerkbait

• 14 lb Gamma Fluorocarbon line - jig

Mills dropped only the second limit on the scales weighing 13.55 lbs to seal up 3rd Place. Mike fished the Niangua arm and focused on the bluff-to-gravel transitions. He only had one fish in the livewell early in the day from 9 feet of water. After 1 pm the lights turned on and he finished his limit from 1 foot of water. The key to his bite was the afternoon wind from the southwest warming his transition banks.

A Knuckle Down Lures 3/8 oz brown Knuckle Buster flipping jig matched with a green pumpkin trailer was the productive bait of the day fished on an Eiron Breaker finesse jig Hammer rod. Mike runs a new Nitro Z-9 CDC and took home the Tracker Trophy incentive money worth $1600 in addition to $900 for the bronze medal. Mike is sponsored by Nitro Boats, Mercury Marine, Tracker Marine, and Bass Pro Shops.

Paul Wyatt Wins Amateur Division...