Monsoor stout
Wisconsin pro takes over FLW Atchafalaya; co-angler leader bridges huge gap
MORGAN CITY, La. – It would have been a cut-worthy weight in almost any Wal-Mart FLW Tour opening round, but Tom Monsoor’s two-day total of 32 pounds, 11 ounces at the tough-fishing Atchafalaya Basin this week was a true jaw-dropper. He leads the Pro Division by almost 3 pounds after amassing over 16 pounds each of the first two days.
Monsoor – the La Crosse, Wis., pro who placed second Wednesday with a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 6 ounces – managed to duplicate his day-one efforts by catching another limit Thursday weighing 16-5. It was an especially remarkable feat considering many of yesterday’s top pros – including the leader, Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C. – bonked and fell out of contention today.
“This is great,” a smiling Monsoor said. “I couldn’t feel prouder. I couldn’t feel happier.”
In many cases, the weights dropped considerably Thursday. Just 22 pros caught limits. The culprit: the weather. Not only did temperatures fall throughout the day (with highs barely scraping the 45-degree mark), the incessant rain made it seem like the basin was located somewhere near Seattle. Sprinkle in a healthy north wind with heavy currents throughout the basin to muddy up the water in most places, and it made for one miserable day of fishing.
“The water was like chocolate this morning,” said pro Alvin Shaw of State Road, N.C., who fell to 21st place Thursday after placing seventh Wednesday.
But Monsoor – a BFL Great Lakes Division standout who won that circuit’s points title for three straight years from 1999 to 2001 – somehow persevered. He said that he’s fishing several areas where the water remained somewhat cleaner, located about a half hour to 45 minutes away from takeoff at Belle River Boat Launch. Working his homemade “Tom’s Swimming Jig” with a Yamamoto grub, he caught “a couple limits” of bass. His biggest fish was a 4-pounder, but all five of his fish we’re quality keepers. It’s his jig – which he doesn’t mass produce and the details of which he guards fiercely – that might be Monsoor’s secret weapon in the backwaters and vegetation this week.
“It’s just made to go through wood and weeds,” he said. “I spent a lot of time making it perfectly balanced so it doesn’t roll over in that stuff. I have three kinds (of jigs). One of them I give to my friends and my partners if they want it, but two of them I don’t give to anybody.”
Still, Monsoor said the conditions Thursday troubled him a little bit, too. “The first day was different. I caught about 50 fish. It was just catch, catch, catch. Today it wasn’t like I could just keep throwing and catching. The mud could really hurt me if I get it tomorrow.”
Bird dogs his way into second
Also using his own bait for most of the day was pro Cody Bird of Granbury, Texas. He landed another quality limit Thursday – 14 pounds even – and slid up to second place with an opening-round total worth 29-13.
Bird found an area where “the dirty water meets the clear water,” he said. “It’s trying to change a little bit, but there’s enough fresh water in there to keep pushing the muddy water out. There’s just a ton of fish in there.”
The bait he’s using is a prototype creature bait he designed last fall that he calls the “Bird Dog.” Designed specifically for flipping, he said it has done wonders at Atchafalaya this week. Unfortunately, he ran out of them Thursday and had to switch over to a Lake Fork craw tube.
“I’m out of baits,” Bird said. “I wish I had some black-and-blue ones to fish down here.”
Baumgardner third, Rose fourth, Rojas fifth
Chris Baumgardner of Gastonia, N.C., made the pro cut in third place with an opening-round weight of 26 pounds, 10 ounces.
Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., made his return to the final cut by placing fourth with an opening-round weight of 26 pounds, 5 ounces. After several top-10 finishes in his first few years on tour, Rose had an off year in 2003 and never made a single FLW cut.
“Last year was a blaze of glory for me,” he said. “So it’s good to get back into the thick of it.”
Dangerous Dean Rojas of Grand Saline, Texas, rounded out the top five pros in the opening round with a weight of 25 pounds, 6 ounces. He’s made the cut in both of the first two FLW tournaments of the year and is positioning himself as a top contender for Angler of the Year.
“I feel that I’m on enough fish to win it,” he said.
Rest of the best
Rounding out the top 10 pros to make the cut are Mike Surman of Boca Raton, Fla., with an opening-round total of 24 pounds, 13 ounces (sixth place); Steve Tosh of Waterford, Calif., with 24-2 (seventh); Randy Blaukat of Lamar, Mo., with 23-11 (eighth); Sam Swett of Covington, La., with 23-10 (ninth); and Bill McDonald of Indianapolis with 23-7 (10th).
Sean Hoernke of Euless, Texas, caught a 6-pound, 8-ounce largemouth Thursday to win the $750 Snickers Big Bass Award in the Pro Division.
Co-angler Bridges spans the gap from last to first
In the most amazing rebound of the day, co-angler William Bridges of Tallapoosa, Ga., leaped from 96th place Wednesday – the lowest ranking of co-anglers who weighed in fish – to the first qualifying spot heading into Friday’s finals. Bridges – who caught just 1 pound, 8 ounces on day one – pulled off the feat by hammering a 15-pound, 8-ounce limit on day two.
“I know,” Bridges said in the understatement of the day. “It felt good.”
Fishing with pro partner Steve Tosh, Bridges caught his limit – and then some – using a 3/8-ounce jig armed with an 8-inch Yamamoto grub and a 5-inch, black-and-blue craw. He culled “two or three” fish and his limit contained two bass weighing over 5 pounds each. His biggest weighed 5-13 and won the $500 Snickers Big Bass Award on the co-angler side.
“We were working mats in clear water,” he said. “We just kept circling the same area. We had about five spots in between the mats.”
Second place in the Co-angler Division went to Arch Cornett of Huntsville, Ala., for a two-day total of 16 pounds, 9 ounces.
Greg Gulledge of Monticello, Ark., qualified for the co-angler finals in third place with an opening-round total of 15 pounds, 5 ounces, and Donald Braud of Woodville, Miss., qualified in fourth with 11-12.
Day-one leader Judy Israel of Clewiston, Fla., took the fifth qualifying spot with a two-day weight of 10 pounds, 11 ounces.
Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers to make the cut into Friday’s finals are Simon Morrow of Alexander City, Ala., with an opening-round total of 10 pounds, 6 ounces (sixth); Asa Godsey of Clewiston, Fla., with 9-9 (seventh); William Drown of Roseland, Fla., with 9-6 (eighth); Mark Martin of Vidor, Texas, with 9-5 (ninth); and Leon Williams of Fairdale, Ky., with 9-4 (10th).
The top 10 anglers in both divisions advanced to Friday’s competition, which begins at the 8 a.m. CST takeoff from Belle River Boat Launch in Belle River, La. Weights are cleared for Friday’s competition, and co-anglers will fish for one day with the $15,000 winner crowned at weigh-in. The 10 pros continue competition Saturday, with the $100,000 winner determined by the heaviest two-day weight.
Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 973 Highway 90 E. in Bayou Vista, La., at 5 p.m. and 3 p.m. Central, respectively.