The iconic Brush Hog is more than just a soft plastic lure among a group of highly accomplished tournament anglers from The Ozarks. It’s actually the nickname they’ve jokingly pinned on their traveling buddy Mark Patterson, given his love of the famous creature bait.

The retired aircraft salesman pitches it religiously around boat docks on a 3/0 hook with great success, but his greatest accomplishment to date was spawning two good men in Ryan, a veteran sales leader for Vexus Boats, and his brother Brandon, another great weekend stick, and a fulltime sales guy for Midwest Roofing.

The Pattersons comprise about one third of a fellowship-rich group of hard-core bass anglers who travel together on the Ozark Mountain Team Trail. They book VRBOs and grill Kansas raised beef after a long day on the water, while strategizing how to catch a fat limit on derby day, of course.

Ultimately, they make Vexus Boats more fishermen-friendly through their own on-the-water experiences.

“I can tell you with confidence our boats have the greatest co-angler rod storage system, landing net storage, and bump board storage in the business, directly as a result of this group’s input at OMTT tournaments,” says Vexus co-founder Keith Daffron.

“You don’t identify short-comings in a fishing boat by sitting in a corporate office. Instead, you discover them when you’re bouncing over cruiser waves on Lake of the Ozarks trying to get back to weigh-in,” he emphasizes.

But by no means are tournament weekends at famous fisheries like Bull Shoals, Table Rock and Grand Lake all about the marine business for Daffron. Instead, it’s much the opposite. Just ask the group’s most accomplished team, Buck Comstock and Greg Blair, two regional Ozark legends.

“We fish to have fun and being a part of this group makes sure the fun never goes away,” says Comstock, a physical education teacher. Retired police officer, Shawn Williams supplies reinforcement to the fun factor Comstock speaks of, being tagged the group’s sports psychologist, ever present to make sure nobody loses perspective.

While the level of competition is fierce among the roughly 100 boats who enter, friendship among this group of four or five successful teams is the cornerstone.

“When this crew started traveling together to places like Grand and Lake of the Ozarks we started functioning more as one unit than individual teams,” says Daffron, who is often the camp cook.

“Fellowship like this is what makes the world go around. The phone calls we share on the ride home after weigh-in are priceless. Everybody is excited for one another to do well, no matter how you and your teammate performed. It’s a sportsmanship thing that should never be lost in bass fishing,” he concludes emphatically.

First place is $5,000, and Vexus owners who win an OMTT event are eligible for an additional $5,000 in REV Rewards bonus money, plus a unique trophy Vexus belt buckle. But ask any one of the men you see pictured and they’ll tell you that while first place is always the clear objective, the friendships, laughter, good eats, and memories far outweigh the trophies and paychecks.