Co-Angler King of the Ozarks
Steven Meador wins again from the back deck.
Steven Meador knows a thing or two about catching a bass from the back of the boat in the Ozarks. For the past nine years he has entered the FLW Tour events on Beaver Lake and any Costa FLW Series events that visit anywhere around his home in Bella Vista, Ark.
During that time he has scored 7 top 10’s, an FLW Tour win on Beaver and today he added a Costa FLW Series win to his back-deck resume as well. His winnings from the back of the boat in the Ozarks now total nearly $90,000.
“This is great – a little redemption from finishing second here at Grand last year,” Meador says. “Now I can’t wait to get to Beaver for the Tour next week.”
Meador has perfected the technique of dragging jigs on Ozark impoundments from the back of the boat. To win on Grand, he used two jigs: a 3/8-ounce War Eagle Heavy Finesse jig and a ½-ounce Bass-X football head jig. He matched the jigs with either a Zoom Baby Brush Hog or a Zoom Super Chunk Jr., depending on the conditions.
“I switch jigs and trailers depending on depth, terrain and conditions,” Meador says. “If it’s windy and there is a lot of ripple on the water, I’ll get more aggressive with my jig movement and use the Baby Brush Hog, which has more action. If it’s calm and slick, I’ll go to a chunk and just barely crawl it along the bottom as slow as I can stand it.”
During the week Meador used the jigs to sack up weights of 14-2, 13-7 and 11 pounds, respectively, for a three-day total of 38 pounds, 9 ounces.
As for his intentions to go pro – don’t look for Meador in the front of the boat anytime soon.
“I’m fine with cherry picking these Ozark tournaments as a co-angler when FLW comes out here,” Meador says. “It’s like a vacation to me. I work full time and have a family and I know I don’t have the time to dedicate to do it right on the pro side. So I’ll be staying in the back for a while longer.”