Bass Fishing Jan 2018 | Page 74

ON TOUR COSTA FLW SERIES COSTA FLW SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP | KENTUCKY LAKE PARIS, TENN. By Jody White WINNING ANGLER Bradford Beavers ridgeville, S.C. Winning Weight: 45-12 (15 fish) details: nov. 2-4, 2017 presented by Costa Sunglasses hosted by henry County tourism authority B radford Beavers has qualified for the Forrest Wood Cup in back-to-back years via the Costa FLW Series Championship. It’s no sur- prise that Beavers, who hails from the bass-rich lowlands of South Carolina, has excelled in the Southeastern Division, but lately he’s displayed a talent for tackling tough fall tour- naments in other regions as well. At the champi- onship on Table Rock in 2016, his strong start by FORREST WOOD CUP qUALIFIERS the top finisher from each division, as well as the next five highest finish- ers overall, quali- fied for the 2018 Forrest Wood Cup. 72 cranking offshore rock car- ried him into the top 10 and the Cup. And in 2017, the Ridgeville, S.C., native took to the shallow bars of Kentucky Lake to triumph over a field loaded with the best the Costa FLW Series has to offer. Fishing shallow bars in the fall on Kentucky Lake is nothing novel, but it nearly didn’t happen for Beavers, who crashed and burned the first few days of prac- tice when the weather was frigid and the forecast for dIvISIonaL WInnerS Southeastern division – bradford beavers Central division – todd hollowell Southwestern division – John Soukup International division – Michael Matthee (South africa) northern division – bill Chapman Western division – brent Shores the tournament was down- right foreboding. However, on the final prep day, Beavers found his winning holes just north of New Johnsonville, Tenn. “I wanted to fish down there because I saw it had more shallow water, and that’s where the grass used to be from what I read,” says Beavers, who needed 35 hours in practice to catch his first keeper. “But when I saw the forecast I was a little bit scared of the wind. I know it gets rough addItIonaL QuaLIFIerS Larry Stoafer tim Fox Chad Foster Jason abram Sheldon Collings flWfIshIng.com I january 2018