2018 Costa FLW Series on Lake Okeechobee Cancelled due to Tragedy.

Tournament cancelled after Day 1 due to missing anglers. 
By Luigi De Rose

Nik Kayler, wearing the blue jacket, and Bill Kisiah pictured here
before the start of Day 1.  (Photo: FLW)

On Thursday January 4th, the anglers of the Costa FLW Series were ready to kick off the 2018 season on Lake Okeechobee. Anglers were met with frigid temperatures and howling winds. As the scales closed on the first day, the weights were historically low but there was also a missing boat. Pro angler Bill Kisiah of Slidell, LA and Co-angler Nik Kayler of Apopka, Florida failed to check in and were considered missing some where on Lake Okeechobee.

FLW staff and friends of the anglers notified the authorities to start an official search. By 11:15pm, FLW posted an up-date stating that boater Bill Kisiah was found alive. His boat had washed up along the shoreline near He was initially transported to local hospital but later moved to Belle Glade, Florida. Bill was initially treated for exposure and hypothermia but by Friday morning local reports stated he was listed in serious condition.  

FLW quickly cancelled the remaining tournament days to focus on the search and for respect of the missing anglers and their families.

The search for Nik Kayler continued all weekend. Operations were being conducted under the guidance of the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Department, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard.

After exhausted searches by air and boat, Nik Kayler was yet to be found. 

The Mighty Kevin Van Dam Fails to Qualify for the 2015 Classic!

There will be no 2015 Classic appearance after 24 in a row

By Steve Wright

Originally posted on bassmaster.com

UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. — It didn't become official until Saturday's weigh-in at the Bassmaster Elite Series Cayuga Lake tournament was complete.

But it's a done deal now: Kevin VanDam, the most accomplished angler in B.A.S.S. history, didn't qualify to compete in what would have been his 25th Bassmaster Classic in a row.

Difficult to believe KVD will miss
a Classic.
(Photo: BASS)

That's almost unimaginable because VanDam has been so consistently good for so long.

KVD handled the bad news just like he's handled everything else in his brilliant career -- with class and honesty.

"I can promise you, I hate it right now," he said at the Frontenac Park weigh-in site.

"But I don't care who you are or how good you are, it's going to happen eventually. It's very humbling out here."

This season has been unfathomably humbling for the 46-year-old Kalamazoo, Mich., resident. Only a few years after he burst on the B.A.S.S. scene it was unquestionable that there was a Superman on the circuit and KVD were his initials.

Consider this: In the first eight seasons of the Elite Series, VanDam missed the top 50 cut (and the $10,000 check that goes with it) only four times.

That's cashing-in on 69 of 73 chances. But in 2014, VanDam doubled those sub-top 50 performances – four more in a single season, including the four worst finishes of his Elite Series career.