Day Two of the Costa FLW Series event on Grand Lake presented by Ranger Boats has been canceled due to severe thunderstorms and lightning.
The first round of storms hit the Grove, Oklahoma, region around 5 a.m. CDT, postponing the official takeoff time until 8 a.m. However, a more severe line of storms estimated to reach Grove at about 10 a.m. is what prompted the complete cancellation of the tournament day.
“Day Two has officially been cancelled,” says Costa FLW Series Tournament Director Ron Lappin. “We had some pretty bad storms through here early this morning, but there is a second round headed this way in a couple of hours that looks even worse. For the sake of safety for our fishermen, we are cancelling today’s round of competition.”
The tournament will resume Saturday with the full field fishing and the pro and co-angler winners will be determined by the cumulative weight of two days of competition instead of three.
Anglers will take off from Saturday from Wolf Creek Park, located at 963 N. 16th St. in Grove at 6:30 a.m. CDT. Saturday’s final weigh-in, originally scheduled to be held at Walmart, will now be held at Wolf Creek Park and will begin at 2:30 p.m. Takeoff and weigh-in are free and open to the public. The event is hosted by the City of Grove.
In Costa FLW Series regular-season competition, payouts are based on the number of participants competing in the event. At Grand Lake, pros will fish for as much as $40,000 and a Ranger Z518C boat with a 200-horsepower Evinrude outboard if Ranger Cup qualified. Co-anglers will cast for a Ranger Z175 boat with a 90-horsepower Evinrude outboard and an additional $5,000 if Ranger Cup qualified.
The Costa FLW Series consists of five U.S. 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 2017 Costa FLW Series Championship is being held Nov. 2-4 on Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tennessee.
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 2017 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW conducts more than 274 bass-fishing tournaments annually across the United States and sanctions tournaments in Canada, China, Mexico, South Africa 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.
By: Brian Johnson, FLW
