Defending his title as co-angler winner in the Costa FLW Series Southwestern Division finale, which was presented by T-H Marine, was impressive enough, but the way Steven Meador did it was truly remarkable. After earning the 2018 win on Grand by 3 pounds, 6 ounces, the Bentonville, Ark., co-angler repeated the victory with a three-day total of 27-15 for a much slimmer winning margin this time around – just 10 ounces.
Blake Dyer set the pace on day one with a 27-pound, 3-ounce bag and he never relinquished the lead in the Costa FLW Series Western Division event presented by Power-Pole on the California Delta. Weighing 15-8 on the final day, Dyer totaled 62-13 to stay ahead of a final-day charge from Jason Borofka. For his win, which is his first with FLW, Dyer takes home $31,114 and a trophy that will last forever.
He’s only been fishing for them for maybe 5 years, but Wayne Vaughan is eaten up with smallmouth. “They’ve become a burning desire for me,” says the Chester, Va., pro. “I absolutely love them. I make five, six trips a year up north to fish for them.” Well, this is one smallmouth trip he won’t soon forget. Making a key adjustment on the final day, Vaughan turned a small limit into a tournament-winning 20-pound, 11-ounce stringer to take home the victory in the Costa FLW Series Northern Division finale
The first two days of the T-H Marine Bass Fishing League (BFL) All-American on the Potomac River were all about Joseph Thompson, but Brennon McCord mounted a furious comeback on the final day to overtake the Pennsylvania boater and earn a $100,000 check and a berth in the 2019 FLW Cup and the 2019 Costa FLW Series Championship.
Four years ago, Hoyer decided to step up to the pro ranks of the National Walleye Tour, presented by Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s, after two successful seasons as a co-angler. His No. 1 goal in fishing was to win a National Walleye Tour event. Today, he fulfilled that goal in dramatic fashion.
Their 26.57 pound day one total had Korey Sprengel and Ryan Dempsey in fourth place about a pound and a half out of first place in the 2019 Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament. Day two had the walleye specialists within striking distance. Sprengel has fished the SBOBT a handful of years recently but never in a podium finish. Dempsey had never fished a single bass tournament in his life.
Fishermen often describe their best area of opportunity as “the juice” and Kyle Grover spared no effort in squeezing every drop out of his en route to notching a dominant victory in the Costa FLW Series Western Division event presented by Ranger Boats and hosted by Konocti Vista Casino Resort & Marina with a three-day total of 66 pounds, 13 ounces.
Eric Olliverson has dreamed since he was a kid of winning a big tournament on Table Rock Lake. Today, that dream came true. In what was a tight tournament throughout the week, the local guide and former FLW Tour pro managed to beat out current FLW Tour pro Dakota Ebare by 5 ounces to win the Costa FLW Series Central Division event, which was presented by Power-Pole and hosted by Explore Branson.
Back in 2013 Nick Thliveros earned the first win of his FLW career. He was a co-angler at the time, though getting that first trophy and check helped reinforce his desires to move to the front of the boat. In 2016, he committed to that dream, and now in his fourth year as a pro fishing the Costa FLW Series, Thliveros has a second win under his belt – this one from the front of the boat at the 2019 season opener for the Southeastern Division on Lake Okeechobee.
Ranger Boats pro Jordan Lee reasserted his standing as the hottest professional angler with a win at Stage One on Major League Fishing's Bass Pro Tour on Florida's Kissimmee Chain of Lakes and Garcia Reservoir. Lee owns the last two Bassmaster Classic titles, and continued his hot streak at the first-ever MLF event, besting a star-studded field to take the trophy and first-place purse of $100,000 plus an additional $10,000 from the Ranger Cup contingency program.
Escanaba, Mich.—Oct. 6, 2018—Iowa’s Tommy Skarlis and Jeff Lahr rallied on the final day to win the elite national walleye event, the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit’s 2018 World Walleye Championship Oct. 4-6 on Bays de Noc out of Escanaba, Michigan.
For three years, Johnny Burke, a 63-year-old retired county commissioner from Creek County, Oklahoma, has been fishing the Costa FLW Series as a co-angler just hoping he might score a top 10. Today, Burke not only scored his first top-10 finish, but he took it all the way to the top spot for the win.
Forgetting the past can be a hard thing for a bass fisherman to do. But for Jeremy Jawyer, it proved to be the right decision. When Lawyer left the dock this morning for the final day of the Costa FLW Series event on Lake of the Ozarks presented by Evinrude, he was in fourth place and just 2 pounds, 8 ounces off the lead. Being that the top-10 weights were so close, the general consensus was that whoever caught the biggest limit on the final day would likely be crowned champion.
The first time Steve Freeman of Eddysville, Ky., laid eyes on Lake of the Ozarks was just a few days ago. Now, he’s heading back to Kentucky with some hardware and a certificate for a Ranger Z175 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude outboard, plus $5,000 cash for being Ranger Cup qualified for winning the co-angler side of the Costa FLW Series Central Division event on Lake of the Ozarks presented by Evinrude.
The 2018 season opener was originally scheduled for the Mississippi River near Red Wing, Minn., but historic April snow lead to flood conditions and ultimately a change in venue. Sprengel was pleased with the switch, but at the time, felt largely unprepared to tackle his dynamic home water.
Rick Grover of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., rode the highs and lows of multi-day competition and won the co-angler division of the Costa FLW Series Western Division event presented by Evinrude at Clear Lake by weighing a tournament total of 42 pounds, 1 ounce.
Tournament fishing often presents the question: Do you “manage” your fish with long-term optimism, or do you get while the gettin’s good? Wayne Breazeale is happy he chose the latter strategy, because on day three of the Costa FLW Series Western Division event presented by Evinrude, Clear Lake did not make it easy for the local pro to complete his wire-to-wire victory.
The final day of the Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Kentucky Lake presented by Abu Garcia threw Wesley Strader the right pitch, and he knocked it out of the park. Strader, a first-year Elite Series pro from Spring City, Tenn., caught a final-day limit of five bass that weighed 20 pounds, 11 ounces and earned his first Elite Series victory with a four-day total of 80-4.
Bryant Smith had finally had his fill of getting beat because of the way he likes to fish and decided to do something about it. That “something” was a key bait change that led the Castro Valley, Calif., resident to his first pro victory with a three-day total of 53 pounds, 15 ounces in the Costa FLW Series Western Division event presented by Evinrude.