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