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Guy Wins Costa FLW Series on Sam Rayburn Reservoir
JASPER, Texas (Feb. 27, 2016) – Ricky Guy of Humble, Texas, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 11 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday to win the Costa FLW Series Southwestern Division opener on Sam Rayburn Reservoir presented by Mercury with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 61 pounds, 3 ounces. For his win, Guy earned a prize package worth $95,300, which includes a new Ranger Z518 bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard engine.
“I’m feeling pretty dang good right now,” said Guy, who earned his first career win in FLW Series competition. “I’ve fished a lot of these tournaments, so to finally come out on top is special. The FLW Series is truly one of the toughest tournament circuits in the country.”
Guy said he spent his first day running a red Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap in three mid- to upper-lake areas in Caney Creek and Veach Basin. He said he primarily targeted creek channels near spawning flats.
“I had four keepers in the boat within 20 minutes,” said Guy. “Around 11:30 a.m., I caught an 8-pound, 10-ouncer out of a ditch that had some grass in it. That really got me fired up.”
Guy said it was his technique that proved to be most effective in getting bass to bite the Trap.
“You had to be touching the grass with the bait,” said Guy. “It’s a lot of work to run it in all of that grass, but you had to fight through it. If you weren’t touching it, you weren’t going to catch the big ones.”
Guy said he returned to the same areas on day two, but found them overrun with tournament traffic. Confident in a flipping pattern that he had found in practice, the Texas angler made a run to a small area north of the Highway 147 Bridge known as The Canyons.
“I had a small, productive area where I focused on prespawn bass,” said Guy. “I flipped flooded brush that was mixed with Cypress and Willow trees using a black and blue-colored Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver. I also mixed in a Texas-rigged Strike King Rodent of the same color, but the Beaver ended up being far more productive.”
Guy said his day-two catch was anchored by a 10-pounder that he caught in buck brush around 10:30 a.m.
On day three, Guy said he returned to his original areas from day one, but again didn’t find any action on the Rat-L-Trap. He said he decided to go with what was working and made a run back north to The Canyons and flip for prespawn bass using the same Sweet Beaver presentation.
“I decided I was going to live or die by flipping,” said Guy. “It didn’t get me a lot of bites day on day three, but luckily the five I managed to get in the boat were enough to push me to the top.”
The top 10 pros on Sam Rayburn were:
1st: Ricky Guy, Humble, Texas, 15 bass, 61-13, $95,300
2nd: Lendell Martin Jr., Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 59-8, $20,500
3rd: Cory Rambo, Orange, Texas, 15 bass, 55-7, $14,500
4th: Kris Wilson, Montgomery, Texas, 15 bass, 55-1, $12,500
5th: Chris McCall, Brookeland, Texas, 15 bass, 53-14, $11,500
6th: James Caldemeyer, Gilmer, Texas, 15 bass, 53-3, $8,000
7th: Joel Baker, Talala, Okla., 15 bass, 53-3, $9,250
8th: Russell Cecil, Willis, Texas, 15 bass, 50-14, $7,000
9th: Brandon Mosley, Choctaw, Okla., 15 bass, 50-6, $6,000
10th: Kyle Cortiana, Tulsa, Okla., 14 bass, 48-14, $4,500
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Gene Eisenmann of Frisco, Texas, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Thursday, a brute weighing 10 pounds, 2 ounces that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $300.
Matt Williams of Nacogdoches, Texas, won the co-angler division and a prize package which includes a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower Mercury outboard motor. Williams earned his win with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 45 pounds, 15 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers on Sam Rayburn were:
1st: Matt Williams, Nacogdoches, Texas, 15 bass, 45-15, $28,450
2nd: Randy Hicks, Lumberton, Texas, 14 bass, 44-8, $6,250
3rd: Dan Wilson, Pilot Point, Texas, 15 bass, 44-0, $5,000
4th: Paul Villarreal, Dallas, Texas, 12 bass, 42-10, $4,000
5th: Chaz York, Vidor, Texas, 13 bass, 38-7, $3,500
6th: Bill Fussell, Thibodaux, La., 13 bass, 36-8, $3,000
7th: Larry Foster, Galena, Mo., 14 bass, 35-13, $2,500
8th: Kerry Barnett, Waldron, Ark., 12 bass, 35-3, $2,000
9th: Taylor Ramey, Brandon, Miss., 15 bass, 34-15, $1,600
10th: Trey Sammons, Sherman, Texas, 12 bass, 34-10, $1,350
Michael Haffelder of Pearland, Texas, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Thursday, a bass weighing 9 pounds, 11 ounces that earned him the day’s Big Bass award of $200.
The Costa FLW Series consists of five divisions – Central, Northern, Southeastern, Southwestern and Western. Each division consists of three tournaments with competitors vying for valuable points that could earn them the opportunity to fish in the Costa FLW Series Championship. The 2016 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Nov. 3-5 on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri.
The Costa FLW Series on Sam Rayburn Reservoir was hosted by the Jasper-Lake Sam Rayburn Area Chamber of Commerce. It was the first Southwestern Division tournament of 2016. The next Costa FLW Series tournament will be a Southeastern Division event, held March 10-12, on Lake Santee Cooper in Manning, South Carolina. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.
For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the Costa FLW Series on Facebook at Facebook.com/FLWFishing and on Twitter at Twitter.com/FLWFishing.
About FLW
FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2016 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 235 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show, broadcast to more than 564 million households worldwide, while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Periscope: @FLWFishing.
Combs Joins Tackle Addict
Bassmaster Elite series pro and three-time Toyota Texas Bass Classic champion Keith Combs has signed a multi-year contract with Tackle Addict.
“I am very excited to become a member of the Tackle Addict team. The owners have a huge vision for the future of Tackle Addict and I believe their commitment to detail will set them apart from others. From the minute you walk in their store you understand the commitment to their customers. From the 800-gallon fish tank loaded with Texas-sized bass, to wall to wall tackle, they have it all” said Combs.
Tackle Addict owner Jeff Rood says “We are excited to have Keith on board. He has a great work ethic and is well respected in the fishing world”.
Tackle Addict is one of the largest independent tackle shops in the state of Texas with a new and unique ecommerce store.
To find out more check them out at www.tackleaddict.com
Go Ahead, Cheer for College Champ and Classic Underdog Trevor Lo
As you can see in the attached photo of reigning Carhartt College Series National Champion Trevor Lo, preparing for the chance to win $300,000 in bass fishing’s most prestigious event can be a little mind-boggling. Especially when you’ve only fished a dozen tournaments in your entire life.
Lo is the equivalent of a 21-year-old kid that played a few rounds of golf the past two summers at the local course, and now finds himself competing in the Masters at Augusta National.
Only in Lo’s case, it’s not 9-irons, azalea bushes and Jordan Spieth. Instead, it’s crankin’ rods, rocky bluffs, Jordan Lee and KVD at the upcoming 46th Bassmaster Classic on Grand Lake ‘o the Cherokees near Tulsa.
“The Classic will be the 12th tournament I’ve fished in my entire life. That’s crazy. Crazy!” emphasized the University of Minnesota angler, realizing the made-for-TV storyline in which he would play the main character, is actually real life.
Surely nobody will doubt whether Lo deserves a spot in bass fishing’s most prestigious event with a chance to win six figures worth of pizza money and college tuition, but if you do – know this, he climbed through the same bracket virtually thousands of other college anglers were eligible to fish, and mostly, he’s the kinda dude you want to cheer for.
On his Facebook page days after his win, he wrote, “It’s the most rewarding thing to have your parents voice the words “I’m so proud of you.””
At a time when self-focus and entitlement could have easily taken over, a college senior, far younger than most of you reading this – expressed gut felt gratefulness simply for the chance to make his parents proud.
And then in the same post, he thanked former Carhartt Bassmaster College angler, turned influential media member and photographer, Shaye Baker, for “capturing this special life-changing moment for me and my family.”
Trevor Lo “gets it.” He’s rich with humility and knows that in fact cynical souls may question whether a college kid, who until now never paid much more than a hundred bucks to enter a Hmong Bass Club tournament, and a couple college derbies, should have a spot in the Classic.
This is also a kid who’ll be quick to tell you, that like many of us, he struggled to pass Chemistry, and can’t really afford to buy all the pricey Japanese jerkbaits several of his competitors are getting for free — comparable to playing the Masters with nine clubs, while everybody else has 14 in their bag. Indeed, he understands better than anybody – the long shot position in which he sits.
“I’m as prepared as I can be. Buckeye Lures gave me lots of jigs, 13 Fishing has helped me with rods and reels, and Z-Man has given me soft plastics, but yea, I could always use more jerkbaits,” admits Lo.
He took time in December to scout Grand Lake with his father who had a big hand in fostering Trevor’s passion for fishing. Neither of them had ever seen Grand Lake before, and Trevor jokes that Dad’s more familiar with pike than bass. A great contrast to Classic favorites Evers and Christie who live a short hop from the famed reservoir full of 4-pounders, and would both struggle to add-up the countless days spent – and checks they’ve cashed – from its waters.
“I may do awesome, and I may do terrible – but no matter what, I’ll take pride in the chance to be there, and hopefully represent the Carhartt Bassmaster College fishing anglers to the best of my ability,” says Lo.
Trevor Lo is arguably this year’s biggest underdog.
And in America, it’s hard not to cheer for the first ever college kid to win the Bassmaster Classic, in the same way golf fans cheered amateurs Ken Venturi and Matt Kuchar to nearly pull off a miracle at Augusta.
“Cinderella story, out of nowhere, former greenskeeper, now about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a miracle. It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole!” – Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) the movie Caddyshack
The Ike Foundation Giveaway for Kids at the Bassmaster Classic
Pittsgrove, N.J., February 25, 2016. The Ike Foundation is giving away 250 free Flambeau tackle boxes to children attending the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, OK, Friday through Sunday, March 4-6.
To receive a Flambeau tackle box, be one of the first 50 children to stop by The Foundation booth, #1044, Friday at 12 p.m., Saturday at 10 a.m and 1:00 p.m., Sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. The booth is located within the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo (free admission) at the Cox Business Center, 100 Civic Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103.
Parents can sign the Foundation’s pledge to take a kid fishing and learn more about the Foundation’s mission “to get kids hooked on fishing.”
Established in 2014 by pro angler Mike Iaconelli and his wife Becky, The Ike Foundation promotes the sport of fishing to America’s youth and works to develop their appreciation of the outdoors and our country’s natural resources. The Foundation donates fishing equipment to youth fishing clubs across the nation. For more information, visit MikeIaconelli.com/ IkeFoundation.
People can contribute to the purchase of new fishing equipment for the Foundation to distribute to children by sending a check to The Ike Foundation, P.O. Box 818, 625 N. Main Street, Elmer, NJ, 08318 or by credit card at MikeIaconelli.com/IkeFoundation. Donations are fully tax deductible.
About The Ike Foundation
Established in July 2014, The Ike Foundation is an IRS registered 501(c)3, non-profit foundation focused on promoting the sport of fishing to America’s youth and developing their appreciation of the outdoors and our country’s natural resources. Trustees include Michael J. Iaconelli, foundation president, Rebecca Iaconelli, secretary and Carol Muracco, treasurer. Gifts to the Ike Foundation are fully tax deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law.
JB Custom Rods – JC Pro Angler Series “Stump Jumper”
Looking for the perfect all around cranking rod? The STUMP JUMPER from JB Custom rods can throw them all, from square bills to 6XD’s!
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