It’s a constant grind on the FLW Tour. For those pursuing their dream of becoming the champion of the Forrest Wood Cup, tournament anglers understand the commitment involved. It’s a long winding road, that starts in Florida and covers an number of states as far north as Michigan. The weather changes, the competition is intense.
Three Canadians have been making an impact on the FLW Tour over the last three years. This past week, two of them, came through on the big stage once again. Chris Johnston and his brother Cory from Ontario have been pushing the envelope on the tour. In 2016 Cory qualified in second spot for the Cup, ultimately finishing in 8th.
Hooked contributor Jeff Gustafson has been right there as well. In 2016 he qualified just behind Chris in 5th place for the Cup.
At Lake Harris over the weekend in Florida, Chris Johnston took home the first-place prize of $125,000 and Gussy was a close second, earning a cheque of $30,000. The Canadians like to stick together, share information when they can. This was proved critical at Lake Harris. Gussy shared a spot with Chris early in the tournament and it was this area that allowed Chris to pull off the victory. Johnston totally credits Gussy for helping with the win and says both will be heading back to Canada breathing a huge sigh of relief and sharing in the spotlight.
Baits & Coverage
All week Gussy covered the hydrilla beds of Lake Harris with a 1/2-ounce Z-Man/Evergreen Jack Hammer ChatterBait
with a Z-Man RaZor ShadZ swimbait trailer.
This pattern held for Jeff all tournament and on Day 4 he was culling three pound fish with a six pound kicker fish in the well. The largemouth bass were keying in on spawning shad, so he switched over to white on white lure combination, which ended up making the difference.
The Canadians now have a short break before they head down to Georgia and Lake Lanier March 8th. Gussy narrowly missed qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup last year after qualifying in 5th place the year before.
All details of this past event including their tournament winning patterns are at