EDITOR ’ S NOTE
A COVER NOD TO FLW ’ S FUTURE
ATour pro , the All-American champ , one of the best sticks in all of Texas , two college championship contenders and a couple of high school standouts all gather at a boat ramp at dawn .
It ’ s not the start of a weird joke . It ’ s the scene of an early morning photo shoot the day before the start of the Costa FLW Series Championship at Table Rock Lake that produced this issue ’ s special cover . For the record , it ’ s the largest group of anglers ever assembled on the cover of FLW Bass Fishing and the first cover to feature a high school angler – in this case , two of them .
But this cover represents an even greater milestone than a cool piece of art . FLW ’ s efforts are at an all-time high to provide tournament circuits for everyone and a way for beginner anglers to learn skills and advance up the ranks . The anglers shown symbolize that successful system , as all of FLW ’ s tournament circuits are represented here not just by anglers , but by highly skilled , experienced tournament fishermen . Everyone here has accomplished something significant on the water . They all have sponsors , either personally or through a club or school . And they ’ re all highly competitive at their respective levels .
They are , from left to right : brothers Tate ( 16 ) and Eli ( 18 ) Brumnett of Wagoner , Okla ., winners of the 2016 Student Angler Federation High School Fishing FLW / TBF Open at Grand Lake ; 2016 T-H Marine Bass Fishing League All- American champ Jeremy Lawyer of Sarcoxie , Mo .; FLW Tour pro Greg Bohannan of Rogers , Ark .; Costa FLW Series pro Russell Cecil of Willis , Texas ; and Taylor Schmitt and Curtis Lilly , who make up one of five McKendree University teams to qualify for the 2017 FLW College Fishing National Championship . What a crew , huh ? FLW truly is the tournament organization of inclusion . Yeah , I ’ m tooting the company horn a little bit , but I ’ m proud to do it . I ’ m particularly proud of the “ downward growth ” trend that ’ s led to the development of more opportunities for young anglers recently .
Today there are more than 700 colleges and universities participating in FLW College Fishing . FLW and The Bass Federation are rolling out a greatly expanded High School Fishing program this season that ’ ll include 76 tournaments ( see more on page 10 ), and projections are for more than 20,000 students to participate in 2017 . New programs are even in the works for middle school and elementary fishing programs , as well as a mentoring project that ’ ll pair high school kids who hope to compete at the next level with current college anglers . The nonprofit FLW Foundation is also expanding its youth outreach and fishing programs at more tournaments around the country .
FLW is growing , and in this editor ’ s opinion , it ’ s growing in the right direction .
Curtis Niedermier , Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO BY D . W . REED II
Publisher Irwin L . Jacobs
Editor-in-Chief Curtis Niedermier
Production Manager / Graphic Designer Michelle Dowling
Senior Editor Kyle Wood
Associate Editor Jody White
Editor Emeritus Colin Moore
Field Editors Rob Newell & Matt Williams
Contributors Joe Balog , Tyler Brinks , David A . Brown , Brian Cope , Bryan Hendricks , Dan Johnson , TJ Maglio , Sean Ostruszka , Dan O ’ Sullivan Marc Rogers , Richard Simms , Paul Strege
Editorial Intern Dominick Schenewerk
Graphic Designer D . W . Reed II
Graphic Designer / Illustrator Matt Pace
Director of Advertising Al Chapman | 270.252.1628
Senior Web Content Manager Jesse Schultz
Social Media and Communications Specialist Chris Burgan
Letters to the Editor FLW Bass Fishing 30 Gamble Lane , Benton , KY 42025 flwfishing @ flwfishing . com
Chairman & CEO Irwin L . Jacobs
President of FLW Marketing Division Trish Blake
President of FLW Operations Division Kathy Fennel
Chief Financial Officer Dave Mahler
Vice President , Controller Tommy Boaz
Vice President of Marketing Patterson Leeth
Vice President of Operations Dave Washburn
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FLWFISHING . COM I JANUARY 2017