ON TOUR
COSTA FLW SERIES
COSTA FLW SERIES | CAL DELTA
By Justin Onslow
BETHEL ISLAND, CALIF.
PHOTOS BY JESSE SCHULTZ
WINNING ANGLER
Gregory troughton
Discovery Bay, Calif.
Winning Weight:
60-02 (15 fish)
details:
Sept. 27-29, 2018
Presented by Power-Pole
G
62
regory Troughton’s
first-ever FLW event
ended in the best
way he could have possibly
hoped for. The 55-year-old
Discovery Bay, Calif., angler
took to familiar waters and
sacked up 60 pounds, 2
ounces to claim victory at
the Costa FLW Series
Western Division finale on
the California Delta in late
September.
Troughton had a couple
patterns in his pocket that
he knew would work in fall
on the Delta. His winning
pattern – punching a green
pumpkin Yamamoto
Flappin’ Hog with a 1 1/2-
ounce River2Sea tungsten
weight through heavy cover
– led to two incredibly pro-
ductive days before high
winds demolished 90 per-
cent of the grass he was
fishing to start the tourna-
ment. Troughton used a
4/0 Gamakatsu Super
Heavy Cover Flippin’ Hook
and a Paycheck Baits
punch skirt in a craw color.
He threw that on a Powell
Max 3D 806 rod and a
Shimano Core reel spooled
Hosted by Russo’s
Marina and Sugar Barge
RV Resort & Marina
Western Divison
with 80-pound-test Stren
Sonic Braid line.
On day three, after after-
noon winds on day two
ruined the grass he was
previously fishing,
Troughton turned to a few
other baits he’s found suc-
cess with on the Delta: a
ChatterBait, a popper and a
stick bait.
“The wind came up and
blew 25 to 30 mph, and it
basically ruined the grass,
the cheese and the habitat
that I was punching the big-
ger quality fish out of,” he
says. “In the wind, the
ChatterBait works really
well, and I had to mix it up,
so that’s what I did.”
Despite landing the
biggest bass on day two of
the tournament (a 9-pound,
4-ounce behemoth) punch-
ing heavy cover, Troughton
had to turn to those other
tactics to secure his day-
three bag of 12-13, which
was more than enough to
seal the victory after
anglers had to deal with
incredibly tough fishing
conditions.
“I wish I had more, but
knowing how tough it was, I
felt like with the 6 1/2-pound
lead I had [after day two], I
felt pretty confident that I
had given myself a really
good chance to win,” he
admits. “Someone had to
stack a huge bag to come up
and beat me, and the condi-
tions were just not good
enough for that to happen.”
WINNING CO-ANGLER
Jacob traba
Pacifica, Calif.
Winning Weight:
40-02 (14 fish)
Winning program:
Finesse tactics domi-
nated Jacob Traba’s
approach en route to a
huge win on the co-
angler side at the Delta.
He primarily relied on a
drop-shot with a mar-
garita mutilator 7-inch
Roboworm, though a
switch to a wacky-rigged
Yamamoto Senko on day
three led to a few more
key fish that ultimately
pulled the Pacifica, Calif.,
angler ahead by 1
pound, 3 ounces.
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