Co-angler Weaver Wins by an Ounce
Georgia angler rides it out after cracking 18-7 on day one
On day one of the Costa FLW Series event presented by Power-Pole on Lake Champlain, Daniel Weaver of Macon, Ga., smashed 18 pounds, 7 ounces down by Ticonderoga to take the lead on the co-angler side. Weighing 11-9 on the final day, he wrapped up the title by just 1 ounce with a total of 44-1. For the win, Weaver takes home a new Ranger Z175 with a 90-hp Evinrude and $1,000 in cold hard cash.
Champlain is a long way from Georgia, but Peach State pro Shayne McFarlin liked it a lot for the first two days, and it treated Weaver pretty well, too.
“This is my first time here,” says Weaver. “I think I’ll be back once or twice. It was fun.”
Weaver says he caught most of his weight on day one with a Gambler Big EZ, and his biggest fish with a Texas-rigged Strike King Rage Craw. Fishing up north on day two, he continued with the Big EZ and culled late with smallmouths caught on a River2Sea Whopper Plopper in the 90 size. On the final day, he made long casts behind Shayne McFarlin with a drop-shot to wrangle up his winning limit.
The brother of FLW Tour pro Joshua Weaver, Daniel has fished for a while, and has some lofty accomplishments to his name at the TBF level from high school, as well as one check cashed at the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League level.
“This tops all of them; it’s great,” says Weaver. “I got to fish the TBF Junior Championship when I was younger, but this tops it. It was a great feeling.”
Though he’s not putting anything in stone, it sounds like there might be two Weavers on Tour in a few years.
“Maybe in a couple years I’ll try to get in the front of the boat, but right now I’m just taking it easy and trying to learn as much as I can while I can.”
