BETHEL ISLAND, Ca. - Choosing to have faith in their abilities rather than their first day limit, Juan Acosta and Mark Gomez applied both discipline and focus to dominate a strong field of competitors in last Saturday’s 2019 Ultimate Frog Challenge event, winning their first UFC title, and proudly securing their place in the Gone Fishin Marine - UFC Hall of Fame.
“We covered a lot of water, an burned alot of fuel to get that 26-pound limit", noted Mark Gomez as he and partner Juan Acosta graciously accepted two custom frog trophies and close to $5,000 in cash for their victory.
Reluctant to provide specifics about their techniques as they plan to fish other upcoming events on the delta, it is without a doubt that these two seasoned anglers will be ready for action at next year’s UFC event, with the hopes of becoming its first - and only, 2-time champions.
Congratulations Juan and Mark on a job well done!
UFC's Am division comes on strong
The Am division’s talent pool for this event ran deep, as the total weight numbers within this division of competitors, were not too far off from those participating in the pro division.
Moua Lee, Brian Bota took the Am division’s 1st place honors, on the strength of a 6-fish limit that went 24.26 pounds, and, using a wide variety of frogs, took advantage of the freedom they had to “switch up” and change frog bait brands as conditions dictated.
For their victory, they received $2,200, two custom trophies, and memories that will last a lifetime.
Strike King’s KVD “Sexy Frog” edges out Teckel Frog for Manufacturer’s Cup title
Strike King proved that frogs can indeed be “sexy,” as the team of Billy Hines and Cody Meyer – representing the Strike King brand, broke away from what was a virtual day one “deadlock” with Teckel Frogs, to capture the coveted UFC "Manufacturer’s Cup" award for the Strike King corporate offices.
“The action on the KVD “Sexy Frog” (both sizes) is unbelievable and has the ability to call the fish up to strike – even when they seem reluctant to commit”, noted Cody, who fishing MLF tour events across the nation, relies heavily on Strike King baits to catch winning limits of quality fish when big money is on the line.
Team Strike King: Billy Hines, western rep Angelo Alorro, and Cody Meyer took home the gold!
Partner Billy Hines, who fishes the FLW Tour, also commented on how many strikes the Strike King frog bait produced for them, and how it gave them the opportunity to “cull up” and bag nearly 20 pounds of fish.
In addition to winning the event’s custom Manufacturer’s “Top Frog” trophy, Strike King will also receive one full-year of promotional consideration with Angler’s Press Outdoors for their line of products.
Teckel makes a good run
Team Teckel made a valiant run at the “Top Frog” trophy and taking 2nd place in the Manufacturer’s Cup competition, as Ed Everhart member of the popular RBBass group (rbbassfishing.net), used Teckel’s “Sprinker Frog” to stay in the hunt. “These frogs are no joke - they catch good fish” noted Ed, who explained that their 18-pound bag was caught on the Sprinkler Frog and that they also received a good number of heart-stopping blowups on them.
Well ...UFC5 is a wrap, but Angler’s Press Outdoors still has a few exciting events on the 2019 calendar for you to enjoy, including the 1stannual Gone Fishin Marine Customer Appreciation Spectacular, coming to Lake Berryessa on Sept 21st.
Please visit www.anglerspress.comfor more details about this spectacular upcoming event!
Good fishing!
Angler's Press Outdoors