Toho Bound

Ish Monroe is ready for the first event of the year

(Editor’s Note: The writer's opinions and observations expressed here are his own, and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views, policies or positions of FLW.)

As I travel from the Classic to the Walmart FLW Tour season opener on Lake Toho I can’t help but be stoked for the upcoming event. Before I tell you why I am excited to go fishing, I first want to congratulate Casey Ashley on a great victory at the Classic. Casey also won the Walmart FLW Tour event on Lake Hartwell last spring and I can still remember going into that event with the feeling of being at a disadvantage like no other thanks to him.

You have to understand that having home field advantage in fishing is the absolute worst. There are so many demons; you have too much information, you start fishing the lake’s history – it goes on and on and it’s very hard for a professional angler to mentally break that barrier.

Casey, on the other hand, possesses the ability to stay so cool and so calm and to not let the demons take over his head. He stuck to what he knew at both events [the Walmart FLW Tour event and the Classic] and was able to win two major tournaments. It‘s a tremendously hard thing to do, not to mention that he did it with one bait for each event. Last year he did it on a jig and this year he did it with a spin jig designed by his dad. Kudos to the man!

With the Classic over I now have one focus – fishing. A lot of people love to fish in Florida at this time of year because of the weather. Being from California, I am used to having good weather. Florida is one of my favorite places to fish because, whether it’s January or March, spawning bass will be around. Florida is the only place in the country where you can find spawning bass 12 months a year.  It also holds the perfect combination for me: shallow water + big fish = Happy Ish. I get to throw a frog, use a flipping stick and fish lots of grass. There is no better combination.

Spring fishing is special because it’s probably the easiest and best time of year to catch fish. The majority of the fish are moving toward the bank. It doesn’t matter where you are, Florida or Michigan or California, they’re moving to shallow water to have their babies and bass love making babies. It’s the time of year when you will most likely catch the biggest fish of your life. Think about it, when was it that you caught your last biggest fish?

I’ll never forget mine, it was in April. I was practicing for a tournament on the Cal Delta, flipping, when I landed a 14-1 largemouth. That was fun!

I know there are some people out there that think you should leave spawning bass alone and that bed and sight fishing should be outlawed. The truth is that whether you are targeting a spawning fish or not, at some point you will bring one in — intentional or not. The population of spawning bass that we see is so miniscule compared to the actual number out there that I believe it [bed fishing] is no hindrance to the population.

It’s my opinion that what really hurts the bass is when you snag them, and we’re not doing that. We are catching them in such a manner that we are forcing them to eat the bait. There are also rules in place to ensure that we are catching fish in the mouth. Poor handling of fish by the anglers is what kills fish. It has been scientifically proven that fish are put back into the lake in better condition than before we caught them thanks to the treated water they are held in prior to release.

Anyway, there is nothing that compares to Florida fishing. The type of structure, the fact that a spawn is occurring somewhere every month of the year — it’s like no other place in the country. And I love it.

Practice starts on Sunday for the Lake Toho event. Ideally it will be a little chilly when we get there and as tournament time rolls around the weather will hopefully warm up just enough to really turn on the spawn. I’m expecting weights to be very large at this event. There are not many places that you can go and catch a 40-pound sack, but this lake at this time… it’s out there and I intend to catch it.

FLW has done a fantastic job with this year’s schedule. We’re fishing some of the best natural lakes, highland reservoirs and tidal waters in the country. This year’s Angler of the Year will truly have to be versatile. It’s hard to pick against my hero, Andy Morgan, but I’ve got my eye on that prize this year. I am truly looking forward to a fun and challenging season.

Flipping mats, flipping a jig, flipping a frog. . . Toho here I come!