Australian Wins Lake Toho FLW Fantasy Fishing

$5,000 top prize awarded at first event

FLW Fantasy Fishing player Tom Slater of Indooroopilly, Queensland, Australia, correctly picked four of the top 10 anglers the Walmart FLW Tour event on Lake Toho presented by Mercury. For his picks, Slater won the season’s first FLW Fantasy Fishing event and its $5,000 top prize.

“I’ve been following U.S. professional bass fishing closely for about eight months now,” says Slater. “Many of the anglers are active on social media, so it makes it easy to see where they’re practicing and how they end up finishing on the FLW Tour.”

Slater says his strategy involved picking a mix of FLW Tour studs and wild card anglers.

“It seemed like JT Kenney was spending just about every minute he could on Lake Toho,” Slater says. “And after his lackluster season in 2014, he seemed determined. I figured Kenney would do well. He’s a Florida gunner.”

To round out his top-10 list, Slater decided to deviate from the norm and pick a unique group of anglers.

“Zack Birge was the 2014 Rayovac FLW Series champion from last year, so he’s on a good roll. I figured some players wouldn’t pick him, but instead go for a more established FLW Tour favorite like Ish Monroe,” says Slater. “I liked Stacey King as well. He’s a strong angler in a variety of conditions, so he was my wild card pick. In the end I picked anglers who were confident, and it ended up working out.”

Finishing in second place on the fantasy side for the Lake Toho event was Carl Bowser of Gas City, Ind., who won $1,000, and in third was Lonnie Miller of Broken Arrow, Okla., who won $500. Several other winners from across the globe took home prizes, including cash, ShopFLW gift cards, hats and baits.

To learn more about FLW Fantasy Fishing, head to FantasyFishing.com.