College: Final Day with top teams

The final day of the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series Midwest Regional presented by Bass Pro Shops on Lake of the Ozarks started with temperatures in the low 40’s as the Top 20 teams headed out to battle for the win and also the 19 National Championship spots.

I followed the Day 2 leaders from Lake Superior State.

Nic Rand and Keegan Russell took the lead after Thursday’s weigh-in because of their 21-15 bag. They carried a 7-ounce lead into Championship Friday.

They had yet to catch a keeper in the first 45 minutes to an hour when I showed up.

They bolted from their starting spot in hopes of breaking the ice.

They idled to the back of a creek past a boatload of marina docks.

Then they started fishing, but they noticed immediately that the water had cleared up and also dropped a few degrees.

So they were cautiously pessimistic of their chances.

But they were making sure they didn’t miss out on any bonus fish, so they covered the area.

There were plenty of targets to sift through as they had docks, rocks and wood.

If you have never fished Lake of the Ozarks, there are more “No wake zone’s” than you could ever count.

Mostly because big condominiums like this one, house a bunch of boat owners.

Nic Rand sorts through some tackle to make a change.

That didn’t yield anything so they began to scramble after 2 1/2 to 3 hours passed.

I found the 2nd place team of Louie Dazzo and Collin Cropp of Wisconsin-Whitewater. They were hooked up when I got within sight.

Dazzo fights the fish around the bow of the boat and towards the net as Cropp gets ready.

Cropp stretches as Dazzo brings it close.

They net the fish and fill their limit.

That was a decent keeper for sure!

A quick celebration for the duo.

And a quick show for the camera as Dazzo takes it to the livewell.

They hooked up immediately after and this could be their first cull of the day.

Cropp scoops the fish.

And they believe it will cull.

Cropp heads to the back and picks up his rod and got a bite.

It just wasn’t the right species they were looking for.

Meanwhile Dazzo was eyeballing some fish in the bottom of the boat to make a cull.

Then they were back to fishing. Their early limit and cull put them around 13 to 14 pounds by their estimates.

They were fishing a rocky point. Lake of the Ozarks has plenty of those for sure.

Dazzo hooks up again.

This one seemed smaller, but Cropp was there with the net just in case.

It was indeed on the smaller side and wouldn’t help.

I looked over my shoulder and I watched a boat get towed at a quick pace.

After a few minutes the Whitewater teammates took off.

They moved near a marina where a man was sanding down the bottom of a boat.

Cropp was working a jerkbait from the back of the boat while Dazzo used a jerkbait on a spinning rod up front.

A blue herron lands on a point of rocks nearby.

A boat was running towards us with the city landscape behind them.

Then went into a flatter pocket and picked up a squarebill as they went down the bank.

Dazzo was using that as Cropp threw the jerkbait.

I left the 2nd place duo and found the twins from Heartland Community College.

Austin and Justin Carr are identical twins and were in 6th to start the day.

You could see a wad of brush under their boat via their electronics.

They had been catching them with jerkbaits throughout the week, but a jig played a big factor on the final day.

One of the twins (To be honest I don’t know which one) hooks up after flipping into the tree.

He swings in the largemouth.

But doesn’t think it will help.

After looking at it he realizes it won’t and throws it back.

The duo has been consistent on the leaderboard this week.

There was a sign on a tree that explained that hunting was prohibited in the woods of the State Park.