FIVE
name
1. KYLE WALTERS
2. BRYAN THRIFT
3. ROBERT CROSNOE
4. JON GRIFFITH
5. BRYAN NEW
*Includes Ranger Cup
hometoWn
WeIGht
GRANT-VALKARIA, FL 44-03
SHELBY, NC
39-08
INVERNESS, FL
37-05
MESA, AZ
31-06
BELMONT, NC
30-00
competitors in another regional champi-
onship. Most of those anglers were sling-
ing spinnerbaits and other moving baits
out in the ditch adjacent to the mats, or
walking frogs up on top. Their pressure
probably drove new fish into the mat,
though the bass were also transitioning in
from deeper waters – evidenced by
lighter coloring on their sides.
Walters, along with fellow Florida pro
Robert Crosnoe (third place), stuck with
their flipping approach to target the mat
edges in the area with what they knew
was a higher-percentage pattern than
frogging. They shared some notes in prac-
tice and eventually discovered that they’d
dialed in on the same “juice,” or key
stretches in the mat. Crosnoe bounced
around on day one, and he had a tougher
day that kept him from hanging with the
pace set by Walters, who ultimately made
the winning decision to grind in the area
both days.
Two stretches in particular – one
above the bridge, and one below – pro-
duced all of Walters’ winning catches. The
upper spot was 4 to 5 feet deep, with a
mix of hydrilla and milfoil. Cut eelgrass
had blown in on top, creating dead,
brown grass mats. That’s where Walters
caught most of his keepers. Below the
bridge, hydrilla growing about 8 feet deep
formed a more rigid canopy of grass, and
Walters landed a key kicker from this area
in the afternoon each day.
The only real difference in Walters’
Costa pattern and his BFL Regional pat-
tern was that this time he flipped along
fIsh
10
10
10
10
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WINNING CO-ANGLER
WInnInGs
$92,700
$30,100*
$23,500*
$15,000
$11,000*
Jacob traba
Pacifica, Calif.
the ditch-side edge of the mat. In 2013,
he flipped hydrilla that had canopied over
the edge of the main river channel. That
part of the mat was washed away prior to
the Costa event.
Walters opened the tournament on a
windy, cloudy Friday in second place with
19-15. On Saturday, the clouds lingered
into the morning before the sun broke
through around 11:30 a.m., and the wind
was nil. The conditions had a major
impact on his success.
“[On Friday] I couldn’t pick out the
mats early, and the bite seemed to go
down between 10 and 2,” he says. “Today
[Saturday], I got there and was able to
pick the mat out and caught them early.”
Walters caught a 2 1/2- and 3-pounder
in the first 90 minutes on Saturday, then
went on a tear, catching three 5- to 6-
pound-class fish in the next 90 minutes. A
4-pounder culled one of his smaller keep-
ers at about 11:30 a.m. Then, a surprising
midday lull set in during what appeared
to be the perfect conditions – sunny and
calm – for driving fish into the mats.
“If you’d have told me before the tour-
nament I’d catch those big fish in the
morning when it was overcast and not get
bit when the sun was shining, I wouldn’t
have believed you,” Walters says.
On Saturday, Crosnoe checked in 23-5,
the second-biggest limit of the tourna-
ment behind Walters’ total of 24-4 that
day. The area was obviously champi-
onship-worthy, and Walters worked his
game plan perfectly for the biggest victo-
ry of his career.
Winning Weight:
23-12 (8 fish)
Winning program:
Jacob Traba, a helicopter
mechanic in the U.S. Coast
Guard, won’t ever forget his
2018 Costa FLW Series sea-
son. The Pacifica, Calif., co-
angler won the Western
Division finale on the
California Delta, which also
locked up the Western
Division Strike King Co-
angler of the Year title. Then,
a few weeks later, he won
the Costa FLW Series
Championship on Lake
Guntersville.
At the championship,
Traba used a trio of baits to
catch a trio of fish for 7
pounds, 6 ounces on Friday.
His bait list included a Bill
Lewis Rat-L-Trap, drop-shot
and umbrella rig.
On Saturday, he commit-
ted to the umbrella rig and
brought in an impressive
limit of 16-6.
“I think I had a limit by 9
or 10 o’clock. I kept upgrad-
ing from there,” he says of
his final-day performance.
For his win, Traba earned
a prize package worth
$30,000.
The top-finishing pro from each of the Costa FLW Series divisions at the 2018
championship qualified to fish the 2019 FLW Cup.
Southeastern – Kyle Walters (first place)
Western – Jon Griffith (fourth place)
Southwestern – Zack Birge (seventh place)
Central – Ryan Salzman (11th place)
Northern – Cory Johnston (12th place)
International – Erik Luzak (37th place; FLW Canada)
WInter 2019 I flWfIshInG.com
2019 FLW CUP QUALIFIERS
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