Akins Goes from Zero to Hero
California co-angler zeroes on day one before dropping the hammer
Jason Akins fished behind David Maes on day one of the Costa FLW Series presented by Ranger on Lake Havasu and didn’t catch a bass. He followed that up with 17 pounds, 14 ounces on day two and 15 pounds on day three to launch into first. For his efforts, Akins took home a new Ranger boat package valued at $27,000.
“I was at the very bottom, I had one bite on day one,” relays Akins, who fished with Shaun Bailey and David Valdivia on the final two days. “With my draw on day two I knew I was in it, Shaun was going to be around the fish. He fished slow, and we both sacked them up. It was the same today, David was around fish and he fished nice and slow.”
Akins put together two miracle days – it was tough for pros to catch bags in the teens, and he did it seemingly with ease to erase a huge deficit en route to the win. He did it all dragging a brown and green 3/8-ounce jig and fishing a 3/16-ounce drop-shot with brown and green Roboworm Straight Tail Worms. Akins says he tried to fish as slowly and patiently as he could, and it worked out.
“It’s an awesome feeling, man,” says the Apple Valley, Calif., pro. “I’ve never won, I’ve won local tournaments, but I’ve never won anything of this magnitude. I’m still in shock, it’s unbelievable.”
