Lajos Draviczki of Plainfield, Illinois, correctly picked seven of the top 10 finishers at last week’s Forrest Wood Cup championship on Wheeler Lake presented by Walmart. For his picks, Draviczki won $5,000 by playing FLW Fantasy Fishing, held in conjunction with the tournament.
“I’ve been playing FLW Fantasy Fishing since its inception,” said Draviczki. “I’ve always been an advocate of the organization’s online tools when picking my teams. There’s a ton of information. It was really the years of learning about anglers, lakes and patterns that got me to where I am.
“For the first part of my team, I chose anglers who excel in the summer,” Draviczki continued. “It’s a tough event, so Jacob Wheeler was a no-brainer. Quaker State pro Scott Canterbury was my second choice. He’s a local and has done well on Wheeler Lake. Third, I went with Quaker State pro Matt Arey. He was the one who I thought would win it all. He’s been on fire lately.”
Draviczki said he went on to choose Walmart pro Mark Rose and Michael Neal for their knowledge of Tennessee River fisheries.
“Not having them on your team would’ve been a mistake,” said Draviczki. “That was a common-sense decision for me.”
Draviczki said he added a few “sleeper picks” to anchor his team, or anglers who have a lot of potential to do well.
“Guys like Jeremy Lawyer and Bill Chapman ended up carrying my team,” said Draviczki. “There wasn’t a ton of information on them, but I did my homework and they were the difference makers.”
Finishing in second place was Steve Reed of San Francisco, California, who won $1,000, and in third place was Darryl Sanchez of Trenton, Florida, who won $500.
Several other winners from across the globe took home prizes including cash, ShopFLW gift cards, hats and baits.
The 2016 Fantasy Fishing season consists of seven tournaments surrounding the Walmart FLW Tour regular season as well as the season-ending Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing. Fans compete for more than $7,000 in cash and prizes from each of the six tournaments and a top prize of $5,000. The cumulative grand prize for the highest ranked player at the end of the season was $10,000.
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: Brian Johnson, FLW
