He got bumped from the top spot by an ounce on day one, and slipped the third on day two. But Erick Fernengel of Lake Waukomis, Mo., finally ended up on top when it mattered most.
He only brought in three fish on the final day of the Costa FLW Series Central Division finale presented by Evinrude on Lake of the Ozarks, but that was one more than any other co-angler, with half of them blanking. Thus, his 6-12 bag was more than enough to push him to victory with 27-7 total.
“Feels great, man,” says Fernengel. “Finally had a tournament where I fished pretty clean. The last two years, that little luck aspect wasn’t there and things didn’t go my way. So it feels good to finally get one where I’m not going home [thinking about missed opportunities].”
Be it coincidence or fate, Fernengel actually drew FLW Tour pro Casey Scanlon on days one and three, with Matt Massey on day two. Yet, despite the familiarity, the tactics changed considerably.
“We fished totally different from Thursday to today,” says Fernengel.
On day one, the co-angler did the majority of his damage dragging a black-and-blue Strike King Rage Bug as the duo fished out off the bank the majority of the time. Yet today, Scanlon spent a lot of time paralleling the bank looking for a big bite. So Fernengel switched to a War Eagle Spinnerbait.
“I just fished it erratic around where all those shore minnows were skipping,” says Fernengel. “I only caught three keepers, but three was enough.”
Top 10 co-anglers
1. Erick Fernengel – Lake Waukomis, Mo. – 27-7 (11) – $27,100
2. Roger Olson Jr. – Eagle River, Wis. – 24-8 (7) – $4,581
3. Jamie Eynard – Jefferson City, Mo. – 21-11 (10) – $3,665
4. Justin Hake – Conway, Ark. – 21-10 (8) – $3,207
5. Andrew Hegerty – Colgate, Wis. – 20-9 (10) – $3,049
6. Joe Tucker – Osceola, Mo. – 18-9 (8) – $2,441
7. Joe Lee – Midlothian, Texas – 17-15 (8) – $1,832
8. Rob Crane – Fairview Heights, Ill. – 17-12 (8) – $1,603
9. Ryan Jobe – De Soto, Kan. – 17-10 (8) – $1,374
10. Justin Layton – Forsyth, Mo. – 15-11 (7) – $1,145