The Costa FLW Series is headed to Lake Shasta Feb. 18-20 for a tournament presented by Minn Kota when as many as 300 pros and co-anglers will take to the water for the first stop of 2016 in the Western Division.
“Lake Shasta is a world class spotted bass fishery and I think we’re hitting it at just the right time,” said Walmart FLW Tour pro Charlie Weyer of West Hills, California, who finished in ninth place at the Tour season opener last weekend on Lake Okeechobee. “The spotted bass are coming up and starting to stage and I would be surprised to see a few 20- to 25-pound limits of spots weighed.”
Weyer said that he believes the winner will most likely be fishing in the Sacramento River arm, or the main lake. He said that limits of bass would be plentiful on a variety of baits, but the big fish would most likely come via swimbaits and umbrellas rigs.
“Shaky-head and drop-shot rigs, darters, football jigs and jerkbaits are all going to catch a lot of fish, but I think you’re going to be fishing for 50th place if you don’t fish an Alabama rig or swimbait.”
Weyer predicted that the three-day winner would likely weigh a cumulative total between 42 to 50 pounds.
Anglers will take off from the Bridge Bay Resort located at 10300 Bridge Bay Road in Redding, at 7 a.m. PST each day. Weigh-in will be held on Thursday and Friday at the resort beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the resort beginning at 3:30 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public. The event is being hosted by the Redding Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Pros will fish for a top award of $40,000 plus a Ranger Z518C with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award consisting of a Ranger Z175 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and $5,000 if Ranger Cup guidelines are met.
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.
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.
By: Joe Opager, Director of Public Relations
