Scott Dobson of Clarkston, Michigan, weighed a five-bass limit totaling 21 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win the Costa FLW Series Northern Division event at 1000 Islands presented by Mercury with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 68 pounds, 8 ounces. For his win, Dobson earned $82,669, including a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.
“What a week this has been,” said Dobson, who earned his first career FLW Series victory. “I’ve been so close to winning in the past, and I knew that this tournament was mine to lose today. It was very tough today and my composure was really tested at some points, but it all worked out in the end and I am extremely happy right now.”
Dobson said that the majority of his fish came by rotating through three areas, keying in on spots that he said were, “snot free.
“If you got any of that slimy grass on your lures, it was over and the fish weren’t going to bite,” Dobson said. “We started to call it ‘snot’ because when that happens your bait is not getting bit. So I keyed in on a couple of isolated areas that were clean and ‘snot’ free.”
It worked for Dobson as he weighed a limit of smallmouth bass each day on a variety of baits, including a Ned rig, which he dubbed “Mr. Flanders”, a drop-shot rig, a jerkbait, a spinbait and a tube. He said that he averaged 9 to 10 fish each day, but only caught 7 keepers Saturday.
“The drop-shot rig caught the most and biggest fish, but the Ned rig and the Duo Realis Spinbait 90 caught some important fish for me today.
“I think the biggest key to my win were my eyes,’ Dobson continued. “I saw every fish that I caught, and my experience fishing shallow back home on Lake St. Clair taught me that bait presentation is everything. If you cast too close, you’ll spook them. If you cast too far away, they can’t see it. It had to be very precise to get them to bite.”
The top 10 pros at 1000 Islands were:
1st: Scott Dobson, Clarkston, Mich., 15 bass, 68-8, $82,669
2nd: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 61-4, $14,609
3rd: Cal Climpson, Sharon, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 58-8, $11,584
4th: Cory Johnston, Cavan, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 58-6, $9,425
5th: Bob Izumi, Milton, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 54-11, $8,482
6th: Dennis Carnahan, Cazenovia, N.Y., 15 bass, 53-3, $7,540
7th: Andrew Slegona, Walker Valley, N.Y., 15 bass, 48-12, $6,597
8th: John Vanore, Mullica Hill, N.J., 15 bass, 45-6, $5,655
9th: Joel Richardson, Kernersville, N.C., 13 bass, 42-4, $4,712
10th: Neil Farlow, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, 14 bass, 39-9, $3,770
Climpson caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the pro division Thursday – a bass weighing 6 pounds, 4 ounces to earn him the day’s Big Bass award of $274.
Joe Thompson of Clayton, Georgia, won the co-angler division and a Ranger Z117 with a 90-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard motor, with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 43 pounds, 7 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers at 1000 Islands were:
1st: Joe Thompson, Clayton, Ga., 15 bass, 43-7, Ranger Z117 w/90-horsepower outboard
2nd: Tom Streek, Belleville, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 41-13, $4,724
3rd: James Schneider, Rexford, N.Y., 15 bass, 40-8, $3,779
4th: Casey Casamento, Morrisonville, N.Y., 15 bass, 39-3, $3,307
5th: Heath Toler, Walnut Cove, N.C., 13 bass, 37-5, $2,834
6th: Rob Johnson, Schuylkill Haven, Pa., 15 bass, 36-1, $2,362
7th: Brian Kich, Berea, Ohio, 14 bass, 32-1, $1,890
8th: John Wilson, Six Mile, S.C., 14 bass, 31-3, $1,653
9th: William Clute, Hogansburg, N.Y., 11 bass, 29-6, $1,417
10th: Eric Correll, Birdsboro, Pa., 10 bass, 24-12, $1,181
Gary McClain of Chesapeake, Virginia, caught the biggest bass of the tournament in the co-angler division Friday weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces to earn him the day’s Big Bass award of $145.
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 at 1000 Islands was hosted by the Clayton Chamber of Commerce. It was the second Northern Division tournament of 2016.
The next Costa FLW Series tournament will be the third and final regular-season event in the Northern Division, held August 18-20, on Oneida Lake in Brewerton, New York. For a complete schedule, visit FLWFishing.com.
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
