Foster Moves to First
Thrift slips, opens door for final-day showdown
The fishing was pretty tough on day one of the Costa FLW Series Championship at Kentucky Lake, and there’s no doubt it got tougher on day two. Kentucky Lake isn’t giving them up easily right now, but Chad Foster pieced together four quality fish to move from third to first with a total of 33 pounds, 6 ounces. Foster weighed 19-13 on day one – a strong sack that paled in comparison to Bryan Thrift’s 27-8 – but his day two catch of 13-9 has him in the lead by 1-13.
Running south toward and past New Johnsonville, Foster is focusing on isolated shallow spots with bait and a few other key ingredients.
“There’s a bunch of fish. I’m getting the bites, but they were biting weird today,” says Foster. “There were five or six of them that didn’t really eat the bait. I’d maybe have them on for a crank, and they’d come off. I feel fortunate to have four. I had the bites to have another 18 pounds, but making them commit is the hard part.
“It was slick calm this morning, and I think they were getting too good of a look at the bait. I caught my two biggest fish in three casts as soon as the wind started blowing.”
Slinging a topwater like many others, Foster isn’t just rolling down shallow main-lake bars. He’s targeting more specific locations.
“It’s all shallow. It’s 6 inches to 3 feet deep, but there has to be bait there,” says the Pequot Lakes, Minn., pro. “There’s one spot with schools of gizzard shad the size of the bait tanks. You’ll see them [bass] come blast them, and then I fire over there and they don’t hook up.”
Given more wind and perhaps more current, Foster could be in line for a good final day, but with weights so close and the lake so unpredictable it’s anyone’s game.
Top 10 pros
1. Chad Foster – Pequot Lakes, Minn. – 33-6 (9)
2. Larry Stoafer – Leavenworth, Kan. – 31-9 (10)
3. Bryan Thrift – Shelby, N.C. – 31-1 (7)
4. Bradford Beavers – Ridgeville, S.C. – 30-13 (10)
5. Tim Fox – Meridan, Miss. – 28-13 (8)
6. Jason Abram – Piney Flats, Tenn. – 28-8 (10)
7. Todd Hollowell – Fishers, Ind. – 28-7 (9)
8. John Soukup – Agra, Okla. – 27-7 (10)
9. Michael Matthee – Centurion, South Africa – 27-1 (8)
10. Bill Chapman – Salt Rock, W.Va. – 26-13 (10)
Current divisional leaders
A slot in the 2018 Forrest Wood Cup will be awarded to the top finisher at the Costa FLW Series Championship from each of the five U.S. divisions and the International Division. The next five highest finishers regardless of division also receive a spot at the Cup.
The International, Southwestern and Northern division Cup qualifiers are final after two days. The remaining division qualifiers will be determined on Saturday. Here are the division leaders after day two:
Southeastern Division – Chad Foster – 36 pounds, 6 ounces – first place
Central Division – Larry Stoafer – 31 pounds, 9 ounces – second place
Southwestern Division – John Soukup – 27 pounds, 7 ounces – eighth place
International Division – Michael Matthee (South Africa) – 27 pounds, 1 ounce – ninth place
Northern Division – Bill Chapman – 26 pounds, 13 ounces – 10th place
Western Division – Brent Shores – 24 pounds, 10 ounces – 14th place
Hicks extends co-angler lead
After taking a solid lead on day one with four fish for 16-13, Justin Hicks of Roanoke, Va., caught three more good ones on day two for 11 pounds even to push his total to 27-13. Heading into the final day, Hicks now leads by more than 7 pounds.
Hicks fished with renowned Kentucky Lake pro Jason Lambert on day two, and Lambert was able to put Hicks on some fish today despite the pro’s miserable day one.
“I talked to him last night on the phone and told him I was leading it, and he told me he didn’t have a chance of winning,” says Hicks. “He put me around them today. That’s all I can ask. He’s a good man.”
Throwing a topwater exclusively, Hicks got three bites and got them all in. He won in 2015 as a co-angler in the Northern Division event on Lake Erie, and he’s now just a few fish away from locking down another co-angler win.
“I just hope I can get ’em. Every day gets tougher and tougher. You just have to cover a lot of water and pray you get the bites,” says Hicks. “I think if I can get around them I can get the bites. I feel like I’m working my baits different than other people and throwing a different bait, but I’m not going to sound like a pro. I’m just getting the bites.”
Top 10 co-anglers
1. Justin Hicks – Roanoke, Va. – 27-13 (7)
2. Robbie Bartoszek – Hampshire, Tenn. – 20-6 (8)
3. Casey O’Donnell – Langston, Ala. – 18-0 (6)
4. Gabriel Scott – Stanardsville, Va. – 17-7 (7)
5. Chuck Laslie – Quincy, Fla. – 16-5 (6)
6. Heath Gilmore – Meridian, Miss. – 15-1 (5)
7. Andy Greek – Joplin, Mo. – 14-1 (5)
8. Gary Haraguchi – Redding, Calif. – 13-4 (5)
9. Austin Baskette – Leesburg, Fla. – 13-3 (3)
10. Michael Allbright – Athens, Texas – 12-7 (6)