OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (Sept. 29, 2024) – Pro Jared Lintner of Covington, Georgia, brought a five-bass limit to the scale Saturday weighing 15 pounds, 15 ounces to win the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats at Lake of the Ozarks Presented by Suzuki Marine and earn the top payout of $38,289. Over the three days of competition Lintner weighed in 15 bass totaling 51-8 to earn the win by a 3-pound, 14-ounce margin over Dennis Berhorst of Holts Summit, Missouri, who finished second with a three-day total of 47-10, good for $15,837.
Three things you can count on in an early-fall tournament on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks: the bite might be inconsistent to tough, the lake’s multitude of docks will probably play a key role and the winner must avoid any costly one-day fumbles.
Check, check, and check for the Georgia pro, who made the most of an inconsistent fall bite at Lake of the Ozarks by running a wide-open, “hit and run” dock pattern for three days at the Plains Division season finale, wrapping up his first career Toyota Series win.
“We moved out here to be closer to lakes like these,” Lintner said as he accepted the trophy, referring to his move from Central California to Georgia two years ago. “Living where we do now, I can see a tournament like this on the schedule and go ‘Oh, I think I’ll fish that.’ I like fishing all of these Ozarks lakes, but I couldn’t really jump into tournaments like this living in California.”
The California transplant’s consistency was key at Lake of the Ozarks as he followed up a 16-3 first day with 19-6 on Day 2 and 15-15 on Saturday. Berhorst’s 19-4 on Saturday was the second-biggest bag of the event and followed up 16-3 on Day 2, but he only caught 12-3 on Day 1. Newcomb’s tournament was similar: 17-15, 16-15 and 12-15.
Lintner earned the nickname “The Milkman” when he worked as a dairy-delivery driver around his home in Arroyo Grande, California, before committing to a full-time pro career. His approach on Lake of the Ozarks lived up to his nickname – the Tackle Warehouse pro spent all three days with both his big motor and trolling motor warmed up at all times, running “at least 40 or 50 docks a day” in search of docks where he believed he could catch better-than-average fish.
“I covered a ton of water every day, looking for real specific docks,” Lintner said. “I wanted docks that were close to a main lake point and were somewhat isolated. If there were a bunch of docks together, that wasn’t the deal for me. I was looking for real specific areas where there was one, maybe two, docks in a quarter-mile stretch. And the bigger the dock the better.”
Lintner’s dock attack turned up 16-3 on Day 1, good enough for third place, most of it on a 5/16-ounce ARK Wes Logan Swim Jig in blue magic with a white Zoom Z Craw trailer, and a 1/2-ounce ARK Randall Tharp Flipping Jig in old-school brown. He spent that evening poring over the maps on his Garmin EchoMAP Ultra 2 in search of more isolated docks to add to his expanding collection of waypoints.
Day 2 brought clouds and shade on his docks, which Linter exploited with a 1/2-ounce Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammer (white/gold blade) with a white Yamamoto Zako trailer and the same ARK swim jig.
“Eighty percent of the water I ran every day was brand new,” Lintner said. “I’d pull up the map and zoom in on docks that looked like what I wanted, and I’d just spent the day running to those docks. That was a key for me in having consistent weights – the volume of docks I ran. I caught a ton of fish every day – probably 50 a day – but only had five to seven keepers a day. Getting those keeper bites was hard, but I think running all new water really helped me. There wasn’t really any reason why a 3 1/2- or 4-pounder would show up, I couldn’t replicate it. I had to just keep fishing as many docks as I could.”
Lintner returned to the reaction baits on the final day, weighing all but one fish on the ChatterBait and swim jig (but catching his biggest fish on the flipping jig).
“I’ve picked up that dock deal over the years fishing all of these lakes around here: Bull Shoals, Table Rock, Lake of the Ozarks,” Lintner said. “It’s something I knew coming into this week, and I caught fish at all kinds of depths doing it. I caught some as shallow as a foot and a half deep, and some where my boat was in 55 feet of water.”
The top 10 pros on Lake of the Ozarks finished:
1st: Jared Lintner, Covington, Ga., 15 bass, 51-8, $38,289
2nd: Dennis Berhorst, Holts Summit, Mo., 15 bass, 47-10, $15,837 (includes $1,000 Phoenix MLF Bonus)
3rd: Andy Newcomb, Camdenton, Mo., 15 bass, 47-8, $11,787
4th: Brock Reinkemeyer, Warsaw, Mo., 14 bass, 43-12, $9,822
5th: Casey Scanlon, Eldon, Mo., 15 bass, 43-10, $8,615
6th: Chris Digino, Dallas, Texas, 15 bass, 42-11, $7,658
7th: Jake Lawrence, Buchanan, Tenn., 15 bass, 42-10, $6,701
8th: Corbin Bailey, Camdenton, Mo., 14 bass, 42-6, $5,743
9th: Jason Moppin, Cross Timbers, Mo., 14 bass, 39-12, $4,786
10th: Lawson Hibdon, Versailles, Mo., 15 bass, 39-6, $3,829
Complete results can be found at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Pros Brock Reinkemeyer of Warsaw, Missouri, and Jason Sandidge of Centerton, Arkansas, tied for the Berkley Big Bass award in the pro division Thursday, each catching a largemouth weighing 6 pounds, 2 ounces, to take home $250. On Friday, pro Aaron Johnson of Shreveport, Louisiana, earned the $500 Berkley Big Bass prize after bringing a 6-pound, 1-ounce largemouth bass to the scale.
Berhorst took home an extra $1,000 as the highest finishing Phoenix MLF Bonus member. Boaters are eligible to win up to an extra $35,000 per event in each Toyota Series tournament if all requirements are met. More information on the Phoenix MLF Bonus contingency program can be found at PhoenixBassBoats.com.
Mason Chambers of Galena, Missouri, won the Strike King Co-angler Division Saturday with a three-day total of 10 bass weighing 30 pounds, 3 ounces. Chambers took home the top prize package worth $33,500, including a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.
The top 10 Strike King co-anglers on Lake of the Ozarks finished:
1st: Mason Chambers, Galena, Mo., 10 bass, 30-3, Phoenix 518 Pro boat w/115-hp outboard
2nd: Shane Kuehn, Bennington, Neb., six bass, 21-7, $4,804
3rd: Albert (Skip) Rayborn, Hammond, La., nine bass, 21-0, $3,843
4th: William Hoffert, Columbia, Mo., eight bass, 18-4, $3,363
5th: Charley Slaton, Valliant, Okla., seven bass, 17-12, $2,882
6th: William Koerber, Phillipsburg, Mo., seven bass, 17-2, $2,402
7th: Clayton Hale, Grove, Okla., eight bass, 16-14, $2,071
8th: Dennis Meyer, Branson West, Mo., six bass, 16-3, $1,681
9th: Les Brandenburg, Springfield, Mo., six bass, 15-13, $1,441
10th: Kenny Miller, Fulton, Mo., seven bass, 15-9, $1,201
Dennis Young of Olathe, Kansas, was the Berkley Big Bass $150 award winner in the Strike King co-angler division, Thursday, with a 6-pound, 6-ounce bass, while the Day 2 $150 award went to Mason Chambers of Galena, Missouri, with a 4-pound, 14-ounce fish.
With all three regular-season events in the Toyota Series Plains Division now complete, pro Jake Lawrence of Buchanan, Tennessee, was crowned the Fishing Clash Plains Division Angler of the Year (AOY), earning the AOY payout of $5,000 with 773 points, while Dennis Young of Olathe, Kansas, was named the Strike King Co-angler of the year with 739 points, taking home the $2,000 prize.
The Toyota Series at Lake of the Ozarks, hosted by the Tri-County Lodging Association, was the third and final regular-season event for the Toyota Series Plains Division. The next event for Toyota Series anglers will be the Toyota Series Championship at Wheeler Lake – hosted by the Huntsville Sports Commission – Nov. 7-9, in Huntsville, Alabama. For a complete schedule of events, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The 2024 Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats consists of six divisions – Central, Northern, Plains, Southern, Southwestern and the Western Division Presented by Tackle Warehouse – each holding three regular-season events, along with the International and Wild Card divisions. Anglers who fish in any of the six divisions or the Wild Card division and finish in the top 25 will qualify for the no-entry-fee Toyota Series Championship for a shot at winning up to $235,000 and a qualification to REDCREST 2025. The winning Strike King co-angler at the championship earns a new Phoenix 518 Pro bass boat with a 115-horsepower Mercury outboard.
Proud sponsors of the 2024 MLF Toyota Series include: 7Brew, Abu Garcia, B&W Trailer Hitches, Berkley, BUBBA, E3, Epic Baits, Fishing Clash, FX Custom Rods, General Tire, Lew’s, Mercury, Mossy Oak Fishing, Onyx, Phoenix Boats, Polaris, Power-Pole, REDCON1, Simms, Strike King, Suzuki Marine, Tackle Warehouse, T-H Marine, Toyota, WIX Filters and YETI.
For complete details and updated information on Major League Fishing and the Toyota Series, visit MajorLeagueFishing.com. For regular Tackle Warehouse Invitational updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the MLF5 social media outlets at Facebook , Instagram and YouTube.
