Illinois’ Peterson Grabs Co-Angler Title

BRANSON, Mo. (March 18, 2019) – Boater Dustin Lippe of Lampe, Missouri, caught five bass weighing 17 pounds, 15 ounces, Saturday to win the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) Ozark Division tournament on Table Rock Lake. Lippe earned $6,229 for his efforts and 250 points in the Ozark Division presented by Bassing Bob standings. Should he go on to win the division’s Angler of the Year title, he will earn another $3,000.

Lippe said he spent his day fishing deep points, mid-lake, up the Long Creek, White River and the James River arms.

“I was targeting standing pole timber in the 25- to 35-foot range,” said Lippe, who now has back-to-back victories in BFL Ozark Division competition on Table Rock Lake. “I decided to fish out deep on the main-lake and main-river points because of the weather we had on Saturday – bluebird skies and no wind.

“I had around 13 keepers on the day. I ran a lot of spots and I probably burned around 40 gallons of gas,” continued Lippe. “I weighed a mixed bag – one smallmouth, one Kentucky bass and three largemouth.”

Lippe used 2.8- or 3.3-inch, Tennessee Shad-colored Keitech Fat Swing swimbaits on a ¼-ounce, shad-colored Jewel Gem Shad Swimbait hook on a 7-foot medium-action Denali Lithium drop-shot rod and Lew’s spinning reel.

“The rod was pretty crucial – you could really feel them load up on it,” said Lippe. “Once the wind picked up I also caught a good one – a 5-pound, 1-ounce largemouth – on an umbrella rig with [Albino Shad-colored] Zoom Super Fluke Jr. swimbaits.”

The top 10 boaters finished the tournament in:

1^st:          Dustin Lippe, Lampe, Mo., five bass, 17-15, $6,229

2^nd:         Austin Lowrey, Webb City, Mo., five bass, 16-4, $2,614

3^rd:          Brent Algeo, Ozark, Mo., five bass, 16-3, $2,045

4^th:          Wes Endicott, Joplin, Mo., five bass, 15-14, $1,220

5^th:          Chris Macy, Diamond, Mo., five bass, 15-4, $1,046

6^th:          Andy Newcomb, Camdenton, Mo., five bass, 15-1, $959

7^th:          Jeremy Medina, Camdenton, Mo., five bass, 15-0, $1,686

8^th:          Steve Gregg, Florissant, Mo., five bass, 14-13, $940

8^th:          Steve Grizzle, Edwardsville, Ill., five bass, 14-13, $740

10^th:        Bryan Tracy, St. Peters, Mo., five bass, 14-7, $710

Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.

Medina caught a bass weighing 6 pounds even – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $815.

Mark Peterson of Bethalto, Illinois, won the Co-angler Division and $2,614 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 17 pounds, 4 ounces.

The top 10 co-anglers were:

1^st:          Mark Peterson, Bethalto, Ill., five bass, 17-4, $2,614

2^nd:         Josh Rushing, Point Lookout, Mo., five bass, 13-9, $1,307

3^rd:          Brent Luers, Johnston, Iowa, five bass, 12-0, $872

4^th:          Jonathan Jones, Grain Valley, Mo., five bass, 11-11, $710

5^th:          Crosley Welch, Branson, Mo., four bass, 11-1, $573

6^th:          Ryan Jobe, De Soto, Kan., five bass, 11-0, $479

7^th:          Paul Davis, Battlefield, Mo., four bass, 10-14, $436

8^th:          Jeff Moss, Oronogo, Mo., five bass, 10-11, $392

9^th:          Derek Henderson, Saint Charles, Mo., four bass, 10-8, $349

10^th:        Carl Breeden, Valley Park, Mo., three bass, 9-15, $305

Johnny Ward Jr. of Waynesville, Missouri, caught the largest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 6 pounds, 6 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $407.

The tournament was hosted by ExploreBranson.com.

The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 24-26 BFL Regional Championship on Grand Lake in Grove, Oklahoma, presented by Mercury. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.

The 2019 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2019 BFL All-American will be held May 30-June 1 at the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland, and is hosted by the Charles County Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism and the Commissioners of Charles County. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.