ON TOUR
COSTA FLW SERIES
COSTA FLW SERIES | LAKE OF THE OZARKS
OSAGE BEACH, MO.
By Kyle Wood
PHOTOS BY JESSE SCHULTZ
WINNING ANGLER
Jeremy lawyer
Sarcoxie, Mo.
Winning Weight:
46-03 (15 fish)
details:
Oct. 11-13, 2018
Presented by Evinrude
J
eremy Lawyer has
accomplished a lot
throughout his FLW
career, dating back to the
early 2000s. Still, prior to this
season he only had one win:
the 2016 T-H Marine FLW
Bass Fishing League All-
American.
Now, his win total has
doubled. Lawyer won the
Costa FLW Series Central
Division finale at Lake of the
Ozarks in October.
Being from Sarcoxie, Mo.,
Lawyer is very familiar with
the Ozark impoundments,
but he was careful about
how he applied his firsthand
knowledge.
“Earlier in the year, before
the first Central Division event
on Table Rock, I erased all my
Hosted by Tri-County
Lodging
Association/CVB
Central Divison
waypoints there and had a
good finish,” Lawyer says. “I
just got a new Ranger before
coming [to Lake of the
Ozarks], and I didn’t transfer
any of my waypoints over. You
can get in trouble sometimes
when you try to fish history,
and I just wanted to go fish
what looked good and what
was right for the conditions.”
Conditions changed daily
throughout the event, and
covering water was how
Lawyer stayed on fish. His
main targets were wind-
blown points and the first
few docks inside a pocket,
close to the main lake.
“Every day I’m on the
water I change my trail color
on my Lowrance,” Lawyer
says. “So, I went to pockets
PICK THE RIGHT ROD FOR PLOPPIN’
66
that looked good in the area
I was fishing, but I hadn’t
been in yet. The points lead-
ing into the pockets were
good, and if there were scat-
tered docks – one, two or
three spaced out – I’d hit
them. If there were 10 or 12
docks in a row, I’d pass on
them because it takes so
long to fish them.”
Lawyer basically fished
from the toll bridge down to
the Gravois Arm in the
northeastern part of the
reservoir. He covered water
with a River2Sea Whopper
Plopper and Freedom Tackle
Swing Buzz buzzbait. When
flipping docks, Lawyer used
a prototype JaKKed Baits
shaky head sporting a Zoom
Magnum Trick Worm.
River2Sea Whopper Ploppers and Ozark lakes go together like peanut butter and jelly.
The bait is easy to use and has a unique sound that calls in bass, which is why the Plopper
has caught fire across the bass fishing landscape.
As easy as the Plopper is to fish, there are some subtle gear details that, when chosen
properly, can result in more fish in the livewell.
“So many guys had the opportunity to do well with that Plopper, and they just lost them,”
Lawyer says. “I was fortunate enough to not lose them when they bit. I really credit my 7-foot, 6-
inch Team Lew’s Custom Pro Speed Stick Magnum Heavy Cover rod for that. It’s a heavy-duty
rod, but still parabolic. It takes a little bit of the shock out of them when you initially set the hook.”
WINNING CO-ANGLER
steve freeman
Eddyville, Ky.
Winning Weight:
33-12 (13 fish)
Winning program:
Steve Freeman got a
tip from his buddy,
Drew Sanford (55th-
place pro), that most co-
anglers use light, finesse
presentations on Lake
of the Ozarks, so
Freeman did the oppo-
site in what turned out
to be a successful
attemp. He dragged a
Texas-rigged Zoom
Magnum Trick Worm
with either a 1/2- or
3/4-ounce weight
through brush.
flWfIshInG.com I WInter 2019