Dickneite Tops At Lake of the Ozarks
Missouri pro surges from fourth for first Costa FLW Series win
The final day of the Costa FLW Series presented by Evinrude on Lake of the Ozarks was brutally tough on much of the top 10, but Andre Dickneite stayed steady to earn his first Costa FLW Series win on a lake he’s called home for the last 20 years. Weighing 16 pounds and change each of the first two days, the Freeburg, Mo., pro started the final day in fourth place. Adding another 15 pounds even for a 48-4 total, Dickneite moved up to first for a $40,000 payday.
Lake of the Ozarks is a big pond, and Dickneite passed up a lot of good water on the way to his fishing grounds. Running far up the lake to a selection of coves near Proctor, Mo., Dickneite didn’t bother with the more crowded sections down near the dam or the State Park or Hurricane Deck.
“I fish there, that’s just where I fish all the time,” says the Missouri pro, who has nine top-10 finishes in T-H Marine Bass Fishing League (BFL) competition on Lake of the Ozarks. “The BFL Super Tournament here was a few weeks ago and I had one of the most incredible practices I’ve ever had and I caught one keeper. It’s a feast or famine deal – you have to figure them out just like anywhere else on the lake and I got dialed in to one area up there and I got the right bait.”
When he does get the upper end of the lake going right, Dickneite believes it offers the best chance to be consistent, a trait that Brian Maloney predicted would be key for the winner of this event.
“Usually you don’t get all the fishermen going up there,” says Dickneite. “It’s a long way to go, and I really do good in multiple-day events there. If you want to catch a big bag you’ll catch bigger fish down here, but in your multiple-day events you have to be consistent. You’ve got to know where you’re going from the time you put the trolling motor down, but you don’t have all the competition.”
Flipping docks with a black and blue V&M Adrenaline Flippin Jig with a matching Strike King Rage Craw produced on days one and two. On the final day, Dickneite added in a red bug-colored Zoom Magnum Trick Worm on a ¼-ounce Texas rig for a different look as he re-fished his areas. Throughout, Dickneite says he focused on docks, some with brush and some without, and caught fish in anywhere from 9 feet of water to a foot deep.
Dickneite says he fished a healthy combination of docks between the backs of creeks and the main lake, but had one magic dock that produced six keepers during the course of the event. That particular dock was located midway back in a creek, lending credence to the idea that it was the area more than a specific pattern that produced.
On the second day, Dickneite recognized that the current was running and capitalized on that by concentrating on docks on the main lake and flipping just the up-current side. On day three, he fished some of those same docks but flipped his way all around them.
“Going down the lake yesterday I looked back and I saw the wind blowing in on a float on a dock and I turned the boat around,” says Dickneite of a key day-two decision. “I’ve fished that dock before and it’s taken me ten tries to get that jig back in there and yesterday the very first flip I flipped it right back in there and a 5-pounder smoked it. I don’t even need to win a dollar, it’s just so good to go out and figure it out and for it to come together.”
Top 10 pros
1. Andre Dickneite – Freeburg, Mo. – 48-4 (15) – $40,000
2. Roger Fitzpatrick – Eldon, Mo. – 45-12 (15) – $15,700
3. James Dill – Sunrise Beach, Mo. – 45-12 (15) – $12,100
4. Dylan Hays – Sheridan, Ark. – 45-7 (15) – $10,100
5. Dennis Berhorst – Holts Summit, Mo. – 44-4 (15) – $9,000
6. Shane Long – Willard, Mo. – 44-3 (15) – $8,000
7. Casey Scanlon – Lake Ozark, Mo. – 43-3 (15) – $7,000
8. Jeremy Lawyer – Sarcoxie, Mo. – 42-14 (15) – $6,000
9. Greg Bohannan – Bentonville, Ark. – 40-11 (15) – $5,000
10. James Watson – Lampe, Mo. – 34-15 (11) – $4,000