Outdoors
Fishing brought Jim and Denise Dill together and drew them to making Lake of the Ozarks their home. PHOTO BY JOHN NEPORADNY
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Fishing for a Living STORY BY JOHN NEPORADNY JR.
ishing brought them together and has provided Jim and Denise Dill with a lifestyle that is perfect for Lake of the Ozarks. The Sunrise Beach couple vaguely knew each other when they went to high school at Cedar Hill, Mo., but during a chance encounter at a gas station about 16 years later they discovered a common bond. They renewed acquaintances when Jim was heading with his bass boat to a tournament at Lake of the Ozarks and pulled into the gas station at De Soto, Mo., while Denise was at the station after returning from a trout fishing trip. The couple discovered
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LAKE LIFESTYLES // JULY/AUGUST 2020
they both had a passion for fishing, which led them to dating and fishing together for the next four years until they married in 2004. They also had a fondness for Lake of the Ozarks which eventually steered them to moving to the Lake. “We both had been coming here all of our lives,� Jim says. He grew up visiting with his parents and staying at Bull Run Bluff Campground; Denise spent her childhood summers at Windermere camp. While dating, and after they were married, the couple competed together in the Guys and Gals bass tournament circuit and frequently fished the Lake of the Ozarks.
