CODY MEYER: Gearing Up For La Crosse

It’s time to get ready for the second FLW Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit Super Tournament of the season, and I couldn’t be more excited. I had so much fun at the first one on Lake Chickamauga, and coming home with a fourth-place finish wasn’t too bad, either.

I have so many friends on the FLW side of things going back to the 10 years I fished with them, so it was really good to see everybody.

It was also refreshing to go back to fishing in the five-fish format for a little bit, because that’s what I grew up doing for years: working for the five biggest fish I can find that day. In MLF, we aren’t able to share information or talk to our fellow competitors about waypoints or how you got bit, but rules are different at FLW, so it was interesting to go back to the old ways for a little bit.

We fished on Lake Chickamauga last season on the Bass Pro Tour, and I came into the first Super Tournament in June confident in some places where I knew I could catch numbers of fish. But I wasn’t totally sure that those spots would win me the tournament or even keep me competitive. During practice, I was able to find a couple of spots that had some pretty big fish on them. I only got two or three bites at each spot, but I knew each bite would be a good one in the 4-pound range.

Luckily, that worked out for me in the long run.

Now that the Bass Pro Tour season is over, it’s such a great opportunity that FLW is giving us to fish these Super Tournaments. Before I fished at Chickamauga, I wasn’t really sure how it was going to go for me and for the other anglers. Seeing all the work that goes into these tournaments and how well it played out in Tennessee only made me more excited to get to fish in a couple more.

These tournaments are really important to us as anglers. With the spread of COVID-19, it cut our MLF season nearly in half. That’s three tournaments we didn’t get to fish and try to earn a paycheck. That can add up really quickly: This is our job and livelihood, and to have these extra tournaments really helps. I hope I can cut another good check at this one in La Crosse.

My game plan going into La Crosse is that I’m going to need to make a long run. There’s going to be more than 200 boats on the Upper Mississippi River, so I’m going to need to separate myself from the rest of the field.

We’re allowed to fish Pools 7, 8 and 9, so I plan on fishing Pools 7 and 9 a lot during practice to try and find something that can work for me there. Getting away from the crowds is going to be really important for my success instead of just trying to fight it out between 20 or 30 boats.

That being said, I can’t wait for next week to see all my old buddies again and hopefully come away with a win. See you out there!