OCTOBER 2017 I FLWFISHING.COM
From there it didn’t take long for
FLW’s on-the-water reporting team to
identify Atkins as one to watch in 2017.
Given today’s era of real-time reporting in
professional tournament fishing, Atkins’
natural knack with a rod and reel quickly
became apparent. He led the FLW Tour
Rookie of the Year race for much of the
season and eventually finished runner-up
with two top-10 tournament finishes.
By the end of the season, conversa-
tion among FLW pundits had turned
from if Atkins would win a Tour event to
when he would win a Tour event. And
that “when” just happened to be on the
sport’s biggest stage in Columbia, S.C.
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