Berhorst best boater on Lake of the Ozarks - Major League Fishing

Berhorst best boater on Lake of the Ozarks

Unruh gets co-angler win
Image for Berhorst best boater on Lake of the Ozarks
Boater Dennis Berhorst of Holts Summit, Mo., won the Sept. 26-27 BFL Ozark Division event on Lake of the Ozarks to earn $5,761. Angler: Dennis Berhorst.
September 27, 2009 • MLF • Archives

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – Dennis Berhorst of Holts Summit, Mo., won the Walmart Bass Fishing League Ozark Division two-day Super Tournament on Lake of the Ozarks Sunday with a two-day total of 10 bass weighing 30 pounds, 3 ounces. The victory earned Berhorst $5,761 and solidified his ticket to the DeGray Lake Regional Championship in Arkadelphia, Ark., Oct. 22-24, where he could ultimately win a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck.

“I was due for a good win,” said Berhorst, who now has seven BFL wins. “I threw topwater early in the morning, then went deeper to ledges 25 to 30 feet deep with a 1-ounce homemade green-pumpkin jig with a lime-green skirt tipped with a Paca Craw.”

Berhorst now is setting his sights on the DeGray Lake Regional Championship in October.

“That lake is a good lake with a lot of big fish in it,” Berhorst said. “I was down there three weeks ago, and a guy I was with caught a 12-pounder. We caught them pretty good.”

Rounding out the top five boaters are Dewayne Fitzpatrick of Osage Beach, Mo. (10 bass, 28-9, $2,880); Mark Dunbar of Jefferson City, Mo. (10 bass, 28-8, $1,921); Duane Hanzlik of Lake Ozark, Mo. (10 bass, 27-8, $1,344); and Chris Jeffries of Lake Ozark, Mo. (10 bass, 26-6, $1,152).

Fitzpatrick and Mike Foree of Osage Beach, Mo., shared the Boater Division Folgers Big Bass award, each earning $382 for a pair of 5-pound, 8-ounce bass.

Chris Unruh of Lakin, Kan., earned $2,880 as the co-angler winner Sunday thanks to a two-day catch Chris Unruh of Lakin, Kan., earned $2,880 as the co-angler winner of the Sept. 26-27 BFL Ozark Division event.of eight bass weighing 15 pounds, 9 ounces that he caught fishing docks with a shaky-head rig.

Rounding out the top five co-anglers are Jason Perrego of Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. (seven bass, 14-7, $1,440); Kevin Crady of Desoto, Mo. (six bass, 14-1, $962); John Shartzer of Merriam, Kan. (five bass, 13-2, $672); and Jerry Maple of Mountain Home, Ark. (five bass, 12-2, $576).

Jay Myers of Fenton, Mo., earned $382 as the co-angler Folgers Big Bass winner after catching a 5-pound, 7-ounce bass.

The top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers in each of the BFL’s 28 divisions at the end of the season advance to a no-entry-fee Regional Championship where boaters fish for a new Ranger boat and a Chevy truck and co-anglers fish for a new Ranger boat. Seven regional championships will each send six boaters and six co-anglers to the no-entry-fee Walmart BFL All-American presented by Chevy, which features a $1 million purse and a top award of $140,000 in the Boater Division and $70,000 in the Co-angler Division. Anglers who compete in all five regular-season events within a division but do not advance to a Regional Championship are eligible to compete in the Chevy Wild Card, which will also send six boaters and six co-anglers to the All-American for a total of 48 boaters and 48 co-anglers advancing through BFL competition.

The winning boater and winning co-angler at the All-American will advance to the no-entry-fee Forrest Wood Cup in Atlanta in 2010. This event, featuring a top award of $1 million, is the most lucrative tournament in all of competitive bass fishing. In all, the BFL offers weekend anglers the opportunity to qualify for three no-entry-fee championships with total cash awards exceeding $3.5 million. Plus, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers from each BFL division may move up to the Stren Series for 2010 while All-American champions have the option to advance directly to the Walmart FLW Tour.

In BFL competition, boaters supply the boat and compete from the front deck against other boaters. Co-anglers compete from the back deck against other co-anglers.

As the nation’s leading provider of affordable, close-to-home weekend tournaments, the BFL is widely credited with opening competitive bass fishing to the masses. It also serves as a steppingstone for anglers who wish to advance to the Stren Series and ultimately the FLW Tour – bass fishing’s most lucrative tournament circuit.

FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. FLW Outdoors also has taken fishing mainstream with FLW Fantasy Fishing, offering the largest awards possible in the history of fantasy sports. Sign up for Player’s Advantage to get your edge and win.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.