FLW Report

Ron Nelson tops FLW Series Northern Division record 205-boat field, wins $96K including New Ranger Boat

Ron Nelson tops FLW Series Northern Division record 205-boat field, wins $96K including New Ranger Boat - Photo by Jesse Shultz

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (June 23, 2018) – Pro Ron Nelson of Berrien Springs, Michigan, brought a five-bass limit weighing 19 pounds, 8 ounces, to the scale Saturday to win the Costa FLW Series Northern Division opener on Lake Champlain presented by Power-Pole. Nelson’s three-day total of 15 bass weighing 60 pounds even was enough to earn him the top prize of $96,700 including a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower outboard engine.

Ron Nelson tops FLW Series Northern Division

Photo by Jesse Schultz

Nelson primarily fished the north end of the main lake around the Gut, which is the passage between Grand Isle and South Hero. He targeted smallmouth bass on beds, and largemouth near reeds, grass and docks. In the end, Nelson ended up weighing all smallmouth throughout the week.

“I caught my fish mostly sight-fishing this week. I found the beds pre-fishing and tried to find ones both deeper and shallow that the other anglers had missed,” said Nelson, who earned his third career FLW Series victory. “I fished beds that weren’t visually obvious to the average angler, and that made a big difference. I caught fish around guys all week. I didn’t have a secret spot or anything like that.

“I knew I had a lot of smallmouth from practice and figured I’d try to find as many as I could in the 4-pound category, and then kind of go blind-fishing for largemouth after I caught a solid bag of smallmouths,” Nelson continued. “On Day One, after I had my smallmouths, I actually ran to a largemouth spot and lost one in the 5-pound range that I thought would really hurt me, but I was fortunate enough to have a solid limit of smallmouth.”

Ron Nelson at Weigh-in

Photo by Charles Waldorf

Nelson caught his smallmouth on a Watermelon Gold-colored Poor Boy’s Erie Darter and a translucent Reaction Innovations Smallie Beaver rigged on a 1/4- or 3/16-ounce darter head. When he fished for largemouth, Nelson used a Yamamoto Senko and a jig.

Winning Baits

Photo by Charles Waldorf

“Today I switched to using the Darter on a drop-shot rig for a little bit because of the wind, but mostly fished the jighead,” said Nelson. “I was really happy with my equipment – everything worked well. I’m fishing the new 520L Ranger and it was a really nice haul.”

Nelson said one of the key parts to his success was how he broke down his areas.

“My biggest thing was being thorough and learning an area – that was the best strategy,” said Nelson. “There was no secret part of the lake that had bigger fish. It was tempting to find a 4-pounder then run five miles for another 4-pounder, but there might be another one only a hundred yards away. I’d find a solid fish and build off of it, and then go to another area and do the same thing.”

The top 10 pros on Lake Champlain finished:

• 1st: Ron Nelson, Berrien Springs, Mich., 15 bass, 60-0, $96,700
• 2nd: Brett Carnright, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 15 bass, 59-8, $20,500
• 3rd: Lowrance pro Austin Felix, Eden Prairie, Minn., 15 bass, 59-1, $14,600
• 4th: Chris Johnston, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, 58 - 1 (15) $12,500
• 5th: Chris Adams, Shrewsbury, Vt., 15 bass, 57-3, $11,500
• 6th: Ryan Latinville, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 15 bass, 57-0, $9,250
• 7th: J.J. Judd, Saint Albans, Vt., 15 bass, 56-11, $8,000
• 8th: Power-Pole pro Cory Johnston, Cavan, Ontario, Canada, 15 bass, 55-11, $7,300
• 9th: Joseph Wood, Westport, Mass., 15 bass, 54-7, $6,000
• 10th: Abu Garcia pro Bradley Dortch, Atmore, Ala., 15 bass, 49-8, $4,500