Dennis/Osgood Take Home Win in 14th Annual Tackle Shack 3 Day 3 Lake Bass Tournament

• Posted on 30 July 2025
• By Don Kelly
• 0

Team Dennis/Osgood take home the win in the 14th annual Tackle Shack 3 Day 3 Lake Bass Tournament, hosted by Tioga County Bass Anglers. This unique event features 1 day of fishing on each of Tioga County's Army Corps of Engineers Lakes- Hammond, Tioga, and Cowanesque.

The Tackle Shack 3 Day 3 Lake Bass tournament, hosted by Tioga County Bass Anglers, is an event like no other.  Anglers compete for 3 days on the Tioga County Army Corps of Engineers Lakes- Hammond, Tioga, and Cowanesque.  It's a unique format that forces anglers to adapt and catch fish in a variety of conditions with one day on each lake.  Also unlike most tournaments, the 3 day uses a 6 fish limit. Cash Prizes are awarded for the top 5 spots, and 6th place receives a Tackle Shack gift card.  Lunker prizes are awarded daily and the largest bag each day takes home the Daily Big Bag Bonus sponsored by Strike King Lure Company.

Day 1 - Hammond Lake 

Friday kicked off the event at Hammond Lake with a field of 23 boats.  Air temps pushed into the mid 80s after a hot week in the region.  Water temperatures hovered in the low the mid 80's too.  Anglers scattered throughout the lake with some fishing shallow and others offshore.  At weigh in time (2PM), 120 bass came to the scales.  104 largemouth and 16 smallies weighing in for a total of 219.62 lbs.  Over half the field weighed limits and every boat weighed in fish.  Team Hallett/Davis bested the field with a 19.03 lb bag, anchored by a 5.26 lb lunker largemouth.  The team capitalized on a topwater bite, catching fish throughout the day in shallow water, and taking home the Day 1 Strike King Daily Big Bag Bonus.

Team Hallett/Davis - Hammond Lake

Day 2 - Tioga Lake

In this tournament, Tioga Lake is always the great equalizer.  A strong lead can quickly vanish here and weights are almost always tight. Anglers motored down the channel as fog lifted in the morning.  Most noted a tough bite and many undersized bass caught and released. At weigh in, 84 bass came to the scales and Team Osgood/Dennis took the Strike King Daily Big Bag Bonus with 14.60 lbs.  Plus, their 3.26lb largemouth was good enough to squeak out the day's lunker by a fraction of an ounce.  Their efforts were good enough to take the lead with a 2 day total of 30.70lbs, just over 3lbs ahead of team Zinck/Zinck who jumped to 2nd place with a 12.17lb bag and the day's second biggest fish - a 3.25lb largemouth.

Team Osgood/Dennis - Tioga Lake

Team Zinck/Zinck with 4 of their 6 largemouth

Day 3 - Cowanesque Lake

Despite a strong lead, it was still anybody's game to win heading into Day 3.  Cowanesque is known for big ones and over the year's we've seen some big upsets with a few mega-sacks weighed in on the final day.  The lake's been fishing tough for many and flooding over the past few years has moved a lot of natural structure and inhibited weed growth.  Team Dennis/Osgood struggled missing and losing a few key bites.  They grinded through it and pulled out a solid bag of largemouth weighing 12.11 lbs.  Team Rupp/Otto weighed in the day's biggest bag of 16.75 lbs to take home the Strike King Daily Big Bag Bonus.  Many nice fish were weighed in, and Team Flynn/Flynn weighed the biggest fish of the event to take home the day's lunker prize - a 5.52lb largemouth.

Team Rupp/Otto with 4 of their 6 bass

Team Osgood/Dennis 

Team Flynn/Flynn - Day 3 lunker

Dennis/Osgood's grind paid off and their combined weight of 42.81 lbs took was good enough to win the event and take home the Tackle Shack $500 Cash Bonus prize. Rupp/Otto's bag helped propel them to 2nd place with 36.84 lbs.

Final Results

Winners - 1st-5th place (left to right)

Dennis shared that "targeting shady spots of shallow wood or grass was key on all 3 lakes for the majority of the fish we weighed. Fish were tight in the cover on the thickest parts of wood or what grass was found." 12 of 18 bass they weighed came from less than 3 feet of water, and half of the rest of his limit came in less than 6 feet of water.  

The 3 day continues to be a great success thanks to the hard work and dedication of Tioga County Bass Anglers. John and Cecil weighed nearly 300 bass over the course of the event, and members helped with permits, record keeping, and pictures.  It takes a great team to make tournaments run smoothly and TCBA has done an excellent job for the last 14 years!  Another big thank you goes out to our sponsor- Strike King Lure Company.  Each day, competitors with the largest weight took home a prize pack of Strike King Lures valued at over $150.

For more pictures from each day, head over to our Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/wellsborotackleshack

Check out the full Tioga County Bass Anglers tournament schedule at  http://www.tiogacountybassanglerspa.com/