cosTa FLW sErIEs | lake okeeChobee – Jan. 31-feb. 2, 2019
nick Thliveros, st. augustine, fla.
46 lbs 1 oz
Winning pattern
Cold, dirty, low water forced Nick
thliveros to seek out a nontradition-
al winning area for okeechobee in
the spring. he ran into a canal
between henry Creek and the J&s
area and caught prespawn fish by
cranking a lucky Craft silent square-
bill over riprap. thliveros had anoth-
er rock spot near the ramp he also
cranked. by day three, however, an
adjustment was in order. the young
pro ran to the Monkey box and
flipped for spawners and schooling
fish with a Nichols jig with a strike
king Rage Craw trailer and a texas-
rigged bitters salty sling (finesse
worm) with a 1/32-ounce weight.
FLW Tour | lake toho – feb. 7-10, 2019
Buddy gross, Chickamauga, Ga.
Winning pattern
sprIng 2019 I FLWFIsHIng.com
85 lbs, 12 oz
one spot at the south end of lake
toho turned out 19 of the 20 keep-
ers that buddy Gross weighed. on
the surface, the spot showed as a V-
shaped notch in a grass mat that jut-
ted 50 yards into the mat and
opened up about 30 yards wide. on
the lake floor, two open lanes
coursed through the grass in 7 feet
of water. prespawn and postspawn
bass were positioned on grass
clumps spread out in between. Gross
caught almost all of his tournament
fish by rotating between a 5-inch
scottsboro tackle Co. swimbait on a
3/8-ounce, 8/0 owner beast flashy
swimmer and a homemade 1/2-
ounce white swim jig with a 4-inch
scottsboro swimbait trailer. he used
a black and blue jig with a Zoom
Z-Craw to find his fish in practice.
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