Andre Dickneite of Freeburg on Sunday claimed his fourth major career FLW bass tournament win, with a haul of 18 pounds, seven ounces during the one-day event at Lake of the Ozarks.
“I’ve had a pretty rough year, so it was great to get out on the lake and come home with a win,” said Dickneite of the Bass Fishing League event rescheduled from the spring due to COVID-19. “I’ve been able to get out some weekends and practice, and it paid off.”
With nearly 100 boats roaming Drake Harbor, just below Truman Dam, the competition was pretty stiff but Dickneite said it came down to three things: wind, shade, and shad.
“I found a dock when I was out on Labor Day that just looked like it would be a perfect place for bass,” said Dickneite. “That time on the water was critical. I probably fished 40 docks on Sunday but I was making my way to one dock in particular.”
As he approached this dock, Dickneite decided to retie his line after feeding four or five feet of fresh line. “You know, it gets nicked and dinged up after casting for a while, and I just felt it would be better to retie it,” he said.
His first flip on the final dock put the dancing jig in the water near a monster, which snapped it immediately. “He took me around a pole on the dock, and my co-angler said there’s no way I should have landed that bass,” said Dickneite, who fought the fish to the boat to complete his haul. “If I hadn’t retied the line, he would have snapped it off.”
That bass weighed 4.5 pounds and was the final keeper of the day, giving him an average of 3.74 pounds for each of the five bass at the final weigh-in.
“I made a lot of noise when I got that one in the boat, I can tell you that,” said Dickneite.
He earned $9,794 for first place, which included $3,794 in first-place prize money, plus incentives of $5,000 for using a Nitro Z-21 boat, and another $1,000 for his 250 Mercury motor.
“You want to have the right product in place,” said Dickneite. “When the stars align like they did Sunday, you can win more from incentives than prize money, but it feels really good to win another tournament.”
It was an emotional day for Dickneite. “I called my dad and thanked him for taking me fishing,” he said. “My dad got me started.”
Dickneite passed that love of fishing to his children, and his son, Noah, earned 14th place Sunday as a co-angler in the same tournament. “Noah and three of his buddies are all co-anglers and they have a blast,” said Dickneite. “They started out pond-fishing and it grew from there. Noah really has a passion for it, and that makes me very proud.”
Dickneite added that he believes that while fishing isn’t for everyone, it’s a sport that anyone can embrace, especially those who don’t find another sport in which to thrive.
“Fishing is an opportunity for anyone to compete,” he said. “Youth should be encouraged to go fishing, even if it’s just for fun. You never know what might come of it.”
Dickneite has won three BFL tournaments and one hosted by Costa while earning 19 top-10 finishes in 109 events.