Monsoor motivated by elusive Tour win

Homemade baits, detailed preparation key to fifth-place AOY finish

Tom Monsoor once thought he’d located a long-sought treasure, but time had reduced his find to minimal value. Today, the La Crosse, Wis., pro lives in hot pursuit of a different objective – one that promises far more current reward.

A 14-year veteran of FLW competition with more than three decades of local tournament experience, the 62-year-old Monsoor has spent all of his professional life commercially netting carp, sheepshead and other rough fish in Wisconsin lakes and the Mississippi River. It was the latter that yielded a nearly life-changing catch.

While seining the river, Monsoor and his crew found their hopes aloft when they hauled in an old safe. Along with a four-barrel pistol later dated to the late 1800s, the safe contained a pile of cash. Only problem is that the badly rusted safe bore clear signs of fire damage and all the bills were charred and ruined.

“One of those old barges on the Mississippi River must have burned and all of the money inside was burned so we didn’t get anything out of it,” Monsoor lamented. “But, that’s one thing I always wanted to find – a safe full of money.”

That brings us to the other treasure Tom Monsoor seeks – a particular tournament win. First, though, let’s establish who we’re talking about. Since 1997, Monsoor has fished over 120 FLW events, including four Forrest Wood Cups, with 32 top-10s, six victories, and over half a million dollars in winnings. One of his victories came June 16, 2001 at the first EverStart Northern Division event, held in his hometown. The other five were BFL wins.

In addition to his FLW success, Monsoor said he has recorded 50-plus wins in local competitions. His record bespeaks the kind of career to which many aspire, but still there remains an elusive summit.

“There’s one thing I haven’t done yet – I haven’t won an FLW Tour event yet,” Monsoor said. “I haven’t fished a (currently active) circuit where I haven’t won a tournament, or lots of them. I’ve had seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths – everything in the top-10 but a first. I’ve even led them without winning them. But I want to win an FLW Tour event.”

All in to win

Although he’s an admitted junk food junkie, with Mountain Dew and Hostess snacks his main fuel, Monsoor is all business when it comes to chasing his FLW Tour dream. Details matter much and he can’t stand the thought of leaving any pertinent task for tournament morning.

“I really try to be prepared,” Monsoor said. “I learned a long time ago that it’s the little things that matter. I see a lot of guys rigging their boats in the morning; I never do that. Everything I do is ready to go the night before when I go to bed. I have back-up tackle ready and (whichever) lures I’m throwing, I’ll have two or three spares sharpened and ready to go. To me, that’s the level of fishing you need to be at (for the FLW Tour), but I do that even at BFL events. It’s just a matter of being prepared for what you’re doing if you’re serious about it.”

To this end, Monsoor designs and builds his own swim jigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and flipping jigs on his kitchen table. From December through January, he’ll make upwards of 3,000 baits in preparation for the upcoming season. Although he has no formal sales program, a few of his baits find their way into the tackle boxes of other anglers. Like the creator, anglers who fish a Tom Monsoor bait recognize a commitment to quality that translates into tournament confidence.

“I make them beautifully,” Monsoor said. “I buy the best hooks and put them on my baits. When you buy (some commercially produced baits), they want to spend a penny or two on the hook. I’ll spend as much as 50 cents on a hook and that makes a big difference to me. It’s all about that preparation.”

His Tom Monsoor Swim Jig is his weapon of choice and he relishes visiting weedy southern lakes like Okeechobee where the jig produced a pair of 10-pounders during the 2011 FLW Tour opener in Clewiston, Fla. He also grabbed the Snickers Big Bass award a few months later at Lake Chickamauga when the swim jig fooled a 9-11.

On the road, Monsoor listens to classic rock and FOX News, but once he reaches a tournament site, it’s game-on. He works hard to pare down his tournament trips to a streamlined, no frills existence that keeps him focused on the task at hand. However, despite the machine-like discipline, Monsoor says his deep, abiding love for the sport is what keeps him calm.

“I just get up early, go fishing, come home, get a good meal and get all my tackle ready for the next day; – it’s all about fishing,” he said. “I just love to fish, otherwise I wouldn’t be there doing it. That’s what I do even after I get home from a tournament for fun.

“Believe it or not, it’s really relaxed and enjoyable. When I’m out on the water, it’s a marathon, but I don’t think it’s a marathon. I’ve done this so long it’s all I’ve ever loved, so for me it’s all natural.”

Personal glimpses

Monsoor was a state wrestling champ at 145 pounds in his senior year at Quinas High School in La Crosse. He excelled elsewhere in the athletic spectrum, but everything took a backseat to his outdoors addiction.

“When I was young, I hunted every day,” he said. “I got kicked off (my high school) football and track teams, but I wrestled because that was the only sport where there wasn’t any (overlapping) hunting or fishing seasons.”

Today, Monsoor is all about the fins and when he’s not competing in tournaments he maintains a presence in the commercial fishing operation that his son Jedd now oversees. Much of the business comes through state contracts for thinning out Wisconsin lakes that have become overpopulated with rough fish.

Although Monsoor lists Larry Nixon, Rick Clunn and Kevin VanDam as his angling luminaries, he reserves the “hero” title for his brother and Vietnam veteran, Edward. Monsoor said he has parlayed difficult feelings about the post-war treatment of Vietnam vets into resolute appreciation for the current generation of American soldiers. A supporter of the Wounded Warriors program, Monsoor said his bass boat is always open to U.S. veterans.

“Those (men and women) deserve all our respect,” he said. “I think it’s the neatest thing in the world that finally (the troops) are getting what they deserve with respect when they come home.”

Victory road

In fall 2011, Monsoor missed out on an opportunity to compete on the United States Fishing Team at the Sport Fishing World Championships in Italy when a sponsorship issue derailed the plan. He said he was greatly looking forward to the international experience, but he had to file that one under “wasn’t-meant-to-be.” However, with his preparations under way for another FLW Tour season, victory No. 1 remains a live target – one that Monsoor hopes will follow the course he’s found throughout his tournament career.

“My theory is once you win one, you win a lot of them,” he said. “Once you crack that nut, you got it. It was the same way in the BFL. When I first started, they were so hard. And then all of a sudden, I started winning them. And then I won a lot. Once you do it, it just keeps happening and that’s my goal – to have that happen.”

In the meantime, Monsoor maintains a measured ambition that he believes will position him for success.

“My goal every tournament is to make the top 10 – that’s all I care about. Nobody knows who’s going to win a tournament. That’s the variable of fishing. But being in the top 10 shows your caliber, I believe.”

Driven by a pure passion for the sport and armed with an arsenal of lures crafted to his personal specs, it’s a good bet that Tom Monsoor will get his shot at claiming the prize he seeks. And this time the money won’t have charred edges.