Picks and Predictions
Occasionally an FLW Cup plays out exactly how most folks predict. But that’s rare. Most of the time, the Cup is full of
twists, turns and the kind of heroic, unexpected performances that go down in history. We asked a few FLW experts to
offer their predictions for the usual subjects, and something a little more bold.
cURTIS NIEdERMIER
FLW editor-in-chief
Todd HoLLoWELL
FLW Live co-host and
former Tour pro
JoE opAGER
FLW director of
public relations
JUSTIN oNSLoW
FLW associate editor
pETER T
FLW Live co-host and
former Tour pro
whO wINS whAT wINS BOLD PREDICTIONS
BRYAN ThRIFT
His junk-fishing and fly-by-the-
seat-of-his-pants fishing style
are likely the exact ingredients
needed to win. Morning schooling bite and
afternoon dock bite
The pro who has a backup pat-
tern will take over the lead and
finish at the front of the pack. Grassroots-level qualifiers will
advance to day three. FLW has
the strongest grassroots-level
anglers in the world, and
they’ll show up.
JEREMY LAwYER
He’s fishing better than ever
and is an expert at fishing
docks, brush and clear water.
JOhN COx
He’s just had arguably the best
season of his career and is the
best in the world with topwater
baits and finding secluded
water that he has all to himself.
BRADFORD BEAvERS
I have a good feel-
ing about
Beavers, who’s
having one heck
of a rookie season.
BRYAN ThRIFT
He’s versatile and can go from
deep to shallow quickly. This
event may require a combina-
tion of patterns to win.
Morning topwater
My bet is the winning fish
come in the first 90 minutes
each day.
frogs and buzz baits
They just get big bites.
dock-fishing
The winning fish are going to
be pulled from under and
behind docks with finesse
baits and flipping rigs.
crankbaits and topwater
In open water, a mid-depth
crankbait will catch fish.
Topwater will work for school-
ers and up shallow.
We have a
wire-to-wire
champ that
wins big.
Hot Springs shatters FLW
attendance records, and the
2019 FLW Cup and Expo
becomes the highest-attended
FLW event in history.
I’d bet more than one of the
biggest names of the sport fin-
ishes in the top 10. Give me
John Cox, Bryan Thrift and
David Dudley in the top five
this year.
We’ll see
at least
one 6- to
7-pound
fish.
6. poINTS ANd STRUcTURE
Natural structure should hold
a few fish. Carolina rigs and
drop-shots are probably the best
bet.
7. SHALLoW JUNK
Running and gunning any and
every bit of shallow cover has
worked in August Cups before.
Frogs, jigs, Texas rigs, finesse
worms – the whole lot is in play
with this one.
8. THE UNKNoWN
Cochran credits the fact that
no one else was on the same
pattern as him as a big part of
why he dominated on the final
day in 2005. There could be
another unknown this year.
Perhaps a pattern far up the
Ouachita River, or some
unknown honeyhole in the back
of a cove, or a bream-based pat-
tern will be it.
SUMMER 2019 I fLWfISHING.coM
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