Quick Bites: FLW Series Lake of the Ozarks, Day 4

Ledges prove to be the winning pattern, Missouri loves their Hibdons and Marty Sisk gets two

Wal-Mart FLW Series

Lake of the Ozarks, Osage Beach, Mo.

Final round, Saturday

Ledges not docks … Coming into the fourth qualifying event of the season, much of the talk centered around dock fishing. This technique largely dominated the 2006 FLW Tour Championship, with the key baits being little finesse worms. While it’s not entirely scientific, Lake of the Ozarks is said to have more docks than any other lake in the continental United States. Yet these shady, man-made bass magnets were ignored in favor of deep ledges – Kentucky Lake style. Both of the Hibdons targeted vertical rock faces that dropped anywhere from 10 to 30 feet down. In fact, very few of the final 10 pros used docks in their angling arsenal. Clark Wendlandt occasionally pitched crankbaits towards the docks and Andy Morgan basically fished whatever looked good to him. The highest-finishing pro who focused mainly on docks was probably Takahiro Omori, who finished 21st. Had the weather remained warm throughout the tournament, docks and topwater baits would have played a bigger role. Once the cold front reared its ugly head, the Lake of the Ozarks bass began migrating to their fall haunts. That meant tie on a jig or sink.

Missouri loves their Hibdons … All week long the spotlight glimmered brightly on both Dion Hibdon and his father Guido. Those two certainly didn’t disappoint, as they finished first and fourth in the Pro Division. But these Missouri fishing fans can’t seem to get enough of the Hibdons. Dion had a considerable following on the water today and he appreciated the encouragement. “The wind died today and you could really feel your bites,” said the younger Hibdon. “Fishing in front of a crowd is kind of cool. You don’t pay too much attention to them. You just focus on your job. At one point, they were cheering, hollering and laughing. For a couple hours, I was putting on quite a show for them. It’s great that we have a sport where other people can follow along and enjoy. They weren’t even catching fish and they were having a blast.” Indeed, the loudest applause of the week was heard when Dion placed his winning fish on the scale. After listening to the eight other pros, it almost sounded as though they were happy a Hibdon won. “If I happen to do it, I might not be real popular,” said Wendlandt, shortly before he unseated Guido. “I’m kind of like Clark, I don’t know if I’ll get out of here alive if I beat him,” said Larry Nixon, who ultimately finished second to Dion. I guess the fans came out to see a Hibdon win, and they got what they wanted. “It means everything to get the win in front of your hometown crowd,” said Dion.

Points update … With four of the five regular-season events in the books, Wendlandt owns a commanding 36-point lead in the standings over David Dudley, who has earned 717 points. Jacob Powroznik is third with 715 and Andy Morgan is fourth with 707. Rounding out the top five is Dave Lefebre, who has tallied 684 points. On the co-angler side, Kevin Koone holds onto the lead with 761 points. Following him in second is Chris Malone with 723 points, and Jason Hampson sits close behind in third with 722 points. Points are extremely important because only the top 30 pros and 25 co-anglers from the 2006 FLW Series will qualify for the 2007 Forrest Wood Cup. Oddly enough, those anglers that qualify will have done so before the 2007 FLW Tour season even starts.

Two is Marty’s number … This week marked yet another benchmark in the professional angling career of young pro Marty Sisk. A Wal-Mart BFL and Stren Series veteran, the Evansville, Ind., pro made the difficult decision to fish with the big boys this season. So far, the results have been impressive as the 25-year-old has already accumulated two top-10 finishes in the FLW Series. Alas, Sisk was only able to catch two keeper bass on day four to finish 10th. His consolation is a check worth $15,000 and major credibility with the best bass anglers in the world. Sisk also sits 37th in the points race, meaning he could qualify for the 2007 Cup with a good Smith Lake tournament.

Quick numbers

6-3: Hibdon’s massive margin of victory over No. 2 Nixon, in pounds and ounces.

19-9: Pounds and ounces of Hibdon’s day-four catch.

777,333: FLW Outdoors career earnings, in dollars, for the Stover, Mo., pro.

4: Number of pros who caught more than 15 pounds today.

7: Number of pros who weighed in a limit on day four.

5: Estimated number of inches that Lake of the Ozarks dropped over the course of the tournament.

Sound bites

“Hey, I think I’m related to half these people.” – Pro winner Dion Hibdon, after scanning the Osage Beach crowd.

“Bass boats and broken tailbones don’t mix.” – Trussville, Ala., pro Matt Herren, on his 2006 FLW Tour Championship experience.

“Anybody who says Lake of the Ozarks isn’t alive and well come fish with me.” – Fourth-place pro Guido Hibdon, a native of Gravois Mills, Mo.

“That son of a gun, he’s a liar.” – Guido Hibdon, talking about Nixon, who said before yesterday’s weigh in that he had 13 pounds in his bag. Nixon weighed 16-6 on the day, proving the elder Hibdon correct.

“I couldn’t wait for the clouds to come back in.” – Seventh-place pro Steve Kennedy, who earlier in the week discovered a solid buzzbait pattern.

The next event of the $6.5 million FLW Series season is slated for Nov. 15-18 on Lewis Smith Lake in Jasper, Ala.