WILD WEATHER CAN’ T STOP FLW’ S BEST
EDITOR’ S NOTE
WILD WEATHER CAN’ T STOP FLW’ S BEST
Summer is here, but we’ ve dedicated a healthy chunk of this issue’ s On Tour department to breaking down the winning tactics from tournaments held during a particularly soggy, stormy, crappy few weeks in late April and early May.
Unusually volatile weather during that stretch of time seemed better suited for testing rain gear than hosting bass tournaments, and it made life a little uncomfortable for anglers. It also created some serious headaches for FLW’ s tournament directors, who were left to rely on routinely inaccurate weather forecasts when trying to decide whether or not to send’ em out on tournament morning.
The eventual result was two weather-shortened Costa FLW Series tournaments, flooding that caused road closures and made it impossible to pass under a bridge into a major lake section during the FLW Tour event on Beaver Lake, a cancellation day for the FLW Expo in Rogers, Ark., many areas of the California Delta being placed off limits for the second stop of the Costa FLW Series Western Division, relocation for two High School Fishing derbies, and some shuffling of weigh-in equipment at lakeside venues.
FLW takes every precaution to keep anglers safe on the water, and cancellations occur when necessary. Stopping the tournament train once it’ s rolling, however, doesn’ t happen without a little whiplash. Changes affect everyone from sponsors and site hosts to local media to the hundreds of anglers and families who attend. They also have obvious impacts on tournament outcomes.
That’ s the interesting part for people like me who cover pro bass fishing. Unexpected changes such as a shortened tournament, coupled with extreme weather, lead to some creative fishing strategies that we get to write about.
Take the Costa FLW Series event on Grand Lake. Ohio pro Nick Prvonozac won the tournament by“ blind bed-fishing,” which isn’ t particularly unusual, but he did it by targeting areas where he’ d seen bass on beds during the 2016 FLW Series event at Grand when, according to local sources, the water was as clear as it had ever been. This year, stained water and high winds made sight-fishing near impossible, but the fish were in the same places, and Prvonozac worked the bedding program for the win.
Then, at Beaver Lake we witnessed some of the most extreme flooding in the history of the FLW Tour. Yet the fishing wasn’ t awful, and pros in the top 10 worked four distinct high-water patterns, led by Johnny McCombs’ buzzbait attack in flooded lakefront yards. Each pattern was unique and offered some lessons in dealing with rising water, but McCombs’ was most interesting because it was incredibly consistent despite the most inconsistent weather. He also revealed that he caught bass by casting around spawning carp, which is probably the first time that pattern has been covered in FLW history.
Another week, another bout of thunderstorms, as the Costa FLW Series travelled to Lake Chickamauga. Anglers dealt with murky, rough water and post-frontal conditions, with a second storm moving in the final day. Yet the Southeastern Division finale was dominated by seemingly ordinary postspawn tactics, including targeting bass around bluegill beds with a swim jig. Everyone in the top third of the field pretty well smashed’ em, too. Bad weather, great fishing – go figure.
It just proves that, no matter how awful the conditions, someone always figures out how to get it done.
Detailed reports on the three tournaments I mentioned here, plus several others, can be found in the On Tour department beginning on page 79. It reads like a guide to countering extreme springtime weather conditions. If spring 2018 is anything like the latest installment, you’ ll want to keep this issue handy for when next year’ s tournament schedule cranks up.
Curtis Niedermier, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher Irwin L. Jacobs
Editor-in-Chief Curtis Niedermier
Production Manager / Graphic Designer Michelle Dowling
Assistant Managing Editor Chad Love
Senior Editor Kyle Wood
Associate Editor Jody White
Editor Emeritus Colin Moore
Field Editors Rob Newell & Matt Williams
Contributors Joe Balog, David A. Brown, Dan Johnson, TJ Maglio, Sean Ostruszka, Tom Redington, Joe Sills, Richard Simms, Paul Strege
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 juLy 2017