Buzzer-Beater! Angler Catches $50,000 Crappie In Final Minutes Of Tourney At Lake Of The Ozarks

Catching fish is nothing new for Dave Dzurik. But landing one worth $50,000? That’s a different story.

With the clock ticking and more than 10 miles of water between him and the nearest weigh-in station, Dzurik had to race to claim first prize at the Big Crappie Challenge at Lake of the Ozarks—and he barely made it.

The tournament, held March 28–29 by the same group that runs the annual Big Bass Bash, brought 780 amateur anglers from 15 states to the Lake, all chasing fat crappie and big payouts.

There were 160 bi-hourly payouts between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., but the $50,000 prize went to the top crappie overall.

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Dzurik, a former Chicagoan who’s lived at the Lake of the Ozarks 1 Mile Marker since 2018, entered the event with his friend Adam Bliss. They pre-fished the Lake all week and ultimately decided to troll, allowed by a rule change this year.

“My life is fishing, fishing, fishing,” Dzurik said. “It's been my pastime hobby for the last 40 years. Adam and I go on bucket-list fishing trips around the country.”

That experience finally paid off with Dzurik’s first-ever tournament cash.

For most of the weekend, another angler held the top spot on the leaderboard. But at 2:22 p.m. Sunday, deep into the final time slot, Dzurik got his chance. Fishing in about eight feet of water on the Gravois Arm, Dzurik hooked into something different. When Bliss netted the fish, it was clear this wasn’t just another catch. This crappie was huge.

“This is a $50,000 fish,” Dzurik recalled after weighing it at 2.37 pounds in the boat. “I thought it was a striped bass at first. I mean, his mouth was so big you could put a pop can in it.”

With time running out, everything shifted into urgency.

“We threw it in the live well, took down all the rods, and bundled up all the gear to hammer down across the Main Channel,” he said.

They had less than 40 minutes to make the run to the weigh-in station at Alhonna Resort & Marina after catching the crappie. They made it with just 18 minutes to spare.

“It was a true buzzer-beater,” Dzurik said.

With his low-tech approach and having never won prize money in a tournament, Dzurik says his victory shows underdogs have a great shot in amateur events like this one. “The average person, without having all the high-tech electronics and crazy gear in the boat, has a chance to win some tournaments,” he said.

Adding to the moment, Dzurik caught the winning fish using his own product: Hawgjam, a garlic-based fish attractant he sells locally.

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After a required polygraph test, Dzurik and Bliss split the winnings, with Dzurik also earning the extra $1,000 for the largest fish of the day's final time slot. The pair plans to use the money for an elk hunting trip in Colorado next year.

“The people who run the tournament are fantastic,” Dzurik said, adding, “I’ll give the Big Bass Bash the college try too.”

Dzurik’s last-minute, Cinderella catch capped off the 2026 tournament, where more than $170,000 in cash and prizes were awarded.

The Big Crappie Challenge is set to return March 20–21 next year at Lake of the Ozarks, but the Big Bass Bash is next: that tournament annually draws thousands of anglers to Lake of the Ozarks for a spring and fall tourney, where the biggest bass of the weekend earns $100,000.

The Spring Big Bass Bash is set for April 18–19. Click here to register.