California’s Cody Meyer leads Day 1 of FLW Tour at Beaver Lake
Apr 28th, 2017 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Apr 28th, 2017 at 12:00 AM
Pro Cody Meyer of Auburn, California, caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 1 ounce Thursday to take the lead on opening day of the four-day FLW Tour event at Beaver Lake. The event, presented by General Tire, features a field of 322 of the world’s best bass-fishing professionals and co-anglers casting for top awards of up to $125,000 cash in the pro division and up to $25,000 cash in the co-angler division.
A rainy week has brought Beaver Lake water levels up drastically – as much as 8 feet – in the last seven days. As anglers launched from Prairie Creek Park Marina they faced a very different fishery than the one that they had experienced during practice. While many competitors fished shallow water, Meyer ran into a few smallmouth in deeper water with a drop-shot rig.
“Today was awesome, but I got really lucky,” said Meyer, an eight-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier. “I pulled up on a deep spot where I had gotten a bite in practice and caught four good smallmouth. It happened really quickly. I had a limit around 13 pounds or so, and I ended up making my way back to the check-in at Prairie Creek to end my day. I ended up catching two largemouth shallow just before checking in – my two biggest of the day. It was so random, but those big ones really helped.”
Meyer’s five-bass limit consisted of two largemouth and three smallmouth bass.
“I caught them on four different baits,” he said. “I flipped a couple, threw some little swimbaits and had a couple of different drop-shot rigs.
“I’m looking forward to going back out there tomorrow, but who know what’s going to happen,” Meyer went on to say. “I’ve been here so many times that I know it is very possible to go out tomorrow and not even get a bite. I’m very happy to be where I’m at, though.”
The top 10 pros after day one on Beaver Lake are:
1st: Cody Meyer, Auburn, Calif., five bass, 16-1
2nd: Christopher Brasher, Longview, Texas, five bass, 15-11
3rd: Mud Hole Custom Tackle pro John Cox, DeBary, Fla., four bass, 14-4
4th: Johnny McCombs, Morris, Ala., five bass, 14-3
5th: Daniel Kweekul, Bryant, Ark., five bass, 13-14
6th: Jason Reyes, Huffman, Texas, five bass, 13-13
7th: Keith Bryan, Novato, Calif., five bass, 13-5
8th: Nick Gainey, Charleston, S.C., five bass, 13-4
9th: Bryan Thrift, Shelby, N.C., five bass, 12-15
10th: Timmy Thompkins, Myrtle Beach, S.C., four bass, 12-10
For a full list of results visit FLWFishing.com.