Quick Bites: FLW Atchafalaya Basin, Day 4

Swett sweats out a win, Monsoor loses heartbreaker and Bird’s huge surge falls short

Wal-Mart FLW Tour

Atchafalaya Basin, Morgan City, La.

Finals, Saturday

Hometown hero makes good … Sam Swett of Covington, La., knew it was going to be close – very close. With eight anglers already weighed out during the finals, Swett found himself in a nerve-wracking battle for first place with Wisconsin native Tom Monsoor. Like a heavyweight prize fight, and to the delight of the capacity crowd, Swett and Monsoor duked it out round by round. Finally, Monsoor produced his fifth and final fish, grabbing a 1-pound, 4-ounce lead in the process. However, Swett still had one more fish to go. Slowly, the Louisiana native reached into his bag and pulled out a small keeper. But would it be enough? “I figured I had about 8 or 9 pounds of fish,” said Swett. “But the fish here are short and more compact, so it was difficult to tell. Until Tom pulled out that last fish, I really didn’t know if I had enough or not. And even then, I wasn’t completely sure.” With the crowd on the edge of their seats, FLW Outdoors host Charlie Evans put Swett’s fish on the scales. After a deafening pause, Evans announced the weight – 1 pound, 14 ounces. The partisan crowd, who had cheered Swett on from the start, went crazy. In the blink of an eye, Swett had won his very first FLW Tour title, claiming the winner’s check in the amount of $100,000. “It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Swett, searching for words. “This is my first major win. And to do it right here in Louisiana was really special.”

Keys to victory … According to Swett, his main strategy all week was to find clear water and remain patient. “I had three fish by about 8:30 this morning. But then the wind started pushing the muddy water into my area, so I left,” said Swett, who made a 50-mile run in today’s finals. “From that point on, I was just trying to pick off a fish here and there. But I stayed patient. Eventually the wind changed direction and I was able to go back to my spot at noon. I had about 200 yards of clear water and I was able to catch my limit.” Swett said that he basically fished the same bayou all week. “I found that spot using aerial maps which I almost never use,” he said. “It’s not really marked or anything and it doesn’t have a name. I wound up fishing that spot for four days. I just hoped that it would hold up. And it did. I just felt like I was in a zone all week.” In the end, Swett recorded a 10-pound, 11-ounce limit in the finals for a two-day total of 23 pounds, 9 ounces.

Heartbreak hotel … With any close contest, there is always one angler who winds up on the outside looking in. At the Atchafalaya Basin, that angler was Tom Monsoor. Despite a valiant effort, Monsoor came up just 10 ounces short after compiling a two-day catch of 22 pounds, 15 ounces. “I missed five fish today, and I didn’t miss five fish all week,” Monsoor said. “And they were nice fish. Clearly, it wasn’t meant to be.” Monsoor, who netted more fish over four days than any other angler, said that although the finals were a bit discouraging, he wasn’t going to get too down on himself. “I have a third-place finish, and now I have a second-place finish. I’ll take it. We’re heading in the right direction. All I have to do now is finish first.” Monsoor, who was swimming a homemade jig all week, won $37,000 for his efforts.

Bird flies under radar to claim third … Languishing in eighth place with a catch of 5 pounds, 7 ounces heading into the finals, Cody Bird of Granbury, Texas, could have easily gone through the motions in today’s competition. After all, he was nearly 8 pounds behind the top competitor. And with seven of the nation’s best anglers between him and the lead, his prospects looked grim. However, Bird gave it his all and it paid off. Recording the largest stringer of the day at 13 pounds, 5 ounces by flipping mats, Bird catapulted all the way to third place – netting a $25,000 payday in the process.

Quick numbers:

275,000: Total collective winnings, in dollars, of top 10 pro finalists at the Atchafalaya Basin.

55-2: Total weight, in pounds and ounces, of fish caught by the top 10 pros during the finals.

14: Total number of ounces separating first and second place in the pro finals.

3: Number of pros – Sam Swett, Bill McDonald and Steve Tosh – making their first top-10 appearance on the FLW Tour.

3: Number of limits caught in the finals.

0: Number of FLW titles Sam Swett had won before today’s final weigh-in.

Sound bites:

“I’ll tell you what, I had to do this for Louisiana.”

– FLW pro Sam Swett of Covington, La., on his extra motivation to win the tour title on the Atchafalaya Basin.

“Today I don’t know whether to be embarrassed or excited.”

– FLW pro Mark Rose of Marion, Ark., who walked away with a check for $13,000 despite not landing a fish in the finals.

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“I can catch them too.”

– FLW Tour pro Dean Rojas after being informed that Japanese angler Shinichi Fukae was hot on his heels in the race for 2004 FLW Tour Angler of the Year.

“With 200 pros in the tournament, I don’t care who you are. To make the top 10 is something special.”

– FLW Tour pro Randy Blaukat on the excitement of fishing on the final day of competition on the FLW trail.

“People moved out of their house and let me and my son move in for two weeks They even did our laundry. These are some of the best people I’ve ever met.”

– FLW Tour pro Steve Tosh of Waterford, Calif., paying tribute to the warm hospitality of the Louisiana people.

“I’m just a country boy from Texas. But if I had to move anywhere else in the world, it would be here.”

– FLW Tour pro Cody Bird of Granbury, Texas, echoing the sentiment shared by nearly every top-10 finalist.

FLW Tour action resumes March 10-13 at Old Hickory Lake in Gallatin, Tenn.