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Leeper and Bartoszek win $10k at LAND BIG FISH Tournament Of Champions
The LAND BIG FISH Tournament Of Champions is a one-day shootout that brings division winners, big bass winners, and top finishers together from across the country with a chance to win big. This year's event was held on Pickwick Lake and the team of Zach Leeper and Robbie Bartoszek won $10,000 with a 20.04lb total weight.
The duo qualified for the event after catching the biggest bass of the season in their home region, the Pickwick Tailwater Division. Being from the area, they had a plan to attack Pickwick during this event.
"We knew the wind was going to get up so we had to adjust our plans and where we fished," said Bartoszek. "We caught four good ones first thing in the morning on a shad spawn bite. We had them by 7:30 and knew we would need to have plenty of time to get back to the ramp. On the way back, we stopped and caught our final keeper. Then we culled up again closer to the ramp in the last 15 minutes."
The shad spawn bite in the morning was critical and produced the event's big bass, a 6.44lber, but they also fished some other patterns.
"Our fish later in the day came out of brushpiles," he said. "We felt pretty good once we had a limit because it's been pretty tough out there. With around 20 pounds, we knew we had a shot. But living here, we know what the lake is capable of producing, so you never know."
Top 5 Finishers
- Zach Leeper / Robbie Bartoszek 20.04
- Mike Foster / Jacob Lynch 18.72
- Tim Robinson / John Watson 16.94
- Jordan Hartman / Will Gentry 15.85
- Tom Statler / Dillon Statler 14.89
Full Results
To qualify for the event, there are five ways.
- Be a Divisional Champion of any USA BASSIN Division during the season
- Catch the Biggest Bass of a Division, in an Open Event or in a Regional Event during the season.
- Finish the season with 1,000 points or finish the season in the top 200 in the national points.
- Finish in the top 3 at a Regional Event
- ▪ Finish in the top 3 at any LAND BIG FISH Open Event held during the season
