Mosley on Top at Arkansas River

Dawes wrangles co-angler title in Okie event

MUSKOGEE, Okla. – Brandon Mosley of Choctaw, Oklahoma, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 19 pounds, 13 ounces Saturday to win the second Walmart Bass Fishing League Okie Division tournament of 2015 the Arkansas River. For his victory, Mosley earned $5,349.

“These tournaments are pretty hard to win, even at the amateur level,” said Mosley. “I was thrilled to earn top honors.”

Mosley said that he began his day fishing between the locks en route to Kerr Lake. He threw a sexy shad-colored Strike King Rage Tail Shad and netted his first four keepers around 10:30 a.m.

At noon, Mosley arrived at his second spot near Kerr in the mid-lake area. He said he targeted spawning fish in the shallow water. 

“It’s river fishing. And the key to river fishing is that it doesn’t involve a special technique,” Mosley said. “I just went out there and threw to natural cover like branches and stumps.”

Mosley ended up catching 20 keepers, including four he brought to the scale on a chartreuse-colored spinnerbait.

“Everything came together when I was there on Saturday,” Mosley said. “During practice I figured I could get 14 to 16 pounds at this spot during the tournament. But the more I caught, the bigger the fish would get.

“I had no idea I was nearing a 20-pound stringer,” Mosley continued. “The catch was fast, furious and unexpected.”

The top 10 boaters:

1^st:          Brandon Mosley, Choctaw, Okla., five bass, 19-13, $5,349

2^nd:         Matthew Salyer, Owasso, Okla., five bass, 19-4, $2,675

3^rd:          Clayton Coppin, Grove, Okla., five bass, 18-14, $1,782

4^th:          James Scott, Norman, Okla., five bass, 17-4, $1,248

5^th:          Larry Crouch, Carthage, Mo., five bass, 16-11, $1,070

6^th:          Ray Stagner, Tulsa, Okla., five bass  , 16-10, $981

7^th:          Cameron Pappan, Winfield, Kan., five bass, 16-5, $892

8^th:          Shannon Prophet, Muskogee, Okla., five bass, 16-4, $802

9^th:          Alton Wilhoit, Harrah, Okla., five bass, 15-14, $713

10^th:        David Ryan, Levasy, Mo., five bass, 15-6, $624              

Complete results can be found here.

Stewart Ryan of Ada, Oklahoma, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $850.

Dawes takes co-angler title

Rick Dawes of Coweta, Oklahoma, weighed in a five-bass limit totaling 18 pounds, 9 ounces Saturday to win $2,675 in the co-angler division.

The top 10 co-anglers:

1^st:          Rick Dawes, Coweta, Okla., five bass, 18-9, $2,675

2^nd:         Bob Keeth, Dixon, Mo., five bass, 15-10, $1,337

3^rd:          Harry Segress, Vinita, Okla., five bass, 13-15, $891

4^th:          Beau Govreau, Cedar Hill, Mo., five bass, 13-14, $624

5^th:          Ben Blaschke, Muldrow, Okla., four bass, 10-3, $535

6^th:          Ronnie White, Gore, Okla., three bass, 9-15, $490

7^th:          Justin Kannady, Pocola, Okla., three bass, 9-11, $446

8^th:          Steven Dowty, Claremore, Okla., three bass, 9-10, $379

8^th:          Albert McCutchan, Tahlequah, Okla., three bass, 9-10, $379

10^th:        Jim McDevitt, Eldon, Mo., three bass, 8-12, $296

Dawes also caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division and earned the day’s Big Bass award of $425.

The top 50 boaters and 50 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 22-24 Regional Championship on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Missouri. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.